2019 The Pursuit | Bien Nacido Vineyard

75 cases produced

If this wine was the start to a story, it would begin, "it was a dark and stormy night ... " Bien Nacido is one of the Central Coast's most historic vineyards tracing its grape-growing history back to the days of the Spanish land grants. The fruit from these vines is sought after by regions' best winemakers. By chance and destiny, we were able to source our elegant hillside-grown syrah in 2019.

 

Bien Nacido Syrah is a sumptuous and luxurious display of pure velvet on the palate. It's a full-bodied wine with ripe, round tannins. Hints of creme de cassis punctuate an inky black fruit profile. This wine clearly shows the classic iodine and pepper tones that are emblematic of this iconic and storied site. It's slightly wild, with an undercurrent of earth and encapsulates the sheer poetry of 2019's superior harvest. 

 

Manual cluster and berry sorting. 100% destemmed. Cold pre-fermentation maceration. Fermented in stainless steel. Cap managed with punch down, pumpover and pneumatage. Lees stirring in barrel. Aged 20 months in 67% new French oak. 
 

VARIETAL: 100% Syrah I Clone Estrella 
VINEYARD: Bien Nacido Vineyard I Block 11 B 
APPELLATION: Santa Maria Valley 
COUNTY: Santa Barbara 
TERROIR: Tierra loam/sandstone, chamise shaly loam 
HARVEST: Hand harvested in October 2019 

 

96 pts, Wine Enthusiast

 

95 pts, Jeb Dunnuck | The 2019 The Pursuit Bien Nacido Vineyard is slightly riper, with more blackberry fruits as well as notes of ground pepper, iodine, and cracked pepper. It's another pure, medium to full-bodied, wonderfully balanced, elegant wine that has tons of character. It too will keep for at least a decade.