Chris Knap, Wine Columnist for the Orange County Register,
“…First on the must-try list was this week’s wine, Santa Barbara Winery’s Rosé of Syrah. This is another gem from Bruce McGuire, winemaker for Santa Barbara and LaFond.
Normally when I am pontificating about these wines, you hear “dry, dry, dry,” but this wine tastes as if it retains a small amount of residual sugar, making it better with salads, slightly spicy fare like Thai chicken satay, sirloin marinated in a chimichurri sauce, or even beef tacos.
Like the Chilean rosé I wrote about a few weeks ago, McGuire destems the clusters and lets the juice and skins soak overnight before pressing the fruit off the skins.
Next comes temperature-controlled fermentation in stainless steel, the better to retain fruit flavors and stop fermentation before it’s bone dry.
The wine ends up with a cranberry color and flavors of tart strawberry and cherry. McGuire didn’t reveal the exact percentage of residual sugar, but it’s very small – the wine’s not sweet.
This is one of SB Winery’s small-lot wines, meaning only a few hundred cases were made and you’re not likely to find it outside the winery in Santa Barbara (or through its wine-club mailing).
As for me, it’s a good thing the marine layer rolled back in ’cause I’m fresh out of rosé. But don’t worry – I’ll be back with more of these in just a few weeks.”
Region: Santa Rita Hills
Varietal: Syrah
Price: $15
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