If you like big, dense red wines, Syrahs from the West Coast should be on your radar. In contrast to the East Coast Syrahs I covered in my last column, the West Coast wines — many of them from California’s Santa Barbara County and Washington State — tend to be quite a bit higher in alcohol and more tannic, making them natural pairings for grilled and roasted red meats, pork, and other hearty foods.
While the New York State wines I tasted from the Finger Lakes and Long Island are generally light in color with red fruit flavors and robust acidity, West Coast Syrahs are dominated by dark fruit notes with hints of smoke and meat and a good deal of oak. Despite this, some of the coastal and high-elevation sites on the West Coast can bring out the variety’s leaner, cool-climate expressions.
As I was reminded in my tastings, many of the wines need some time in the bottle. When very young, some can taste harsh, with the fruit obscured by oak and aggressive tannins. With some aging, even a couple of years or so, they relax, so to speak, and their generous fruit emerges.
That’s the case, for example, with Foxen’s superbly balanced 2020 Syrah from its Williamson-Doré Vineyard in the Los Olivos District AVA of Santa Barbara County. No hard edges here in one of my favorite wines of the tasting.
In her important reference, “The Wine Bible,” Karen MacNeil notes that these Santa Barbara AVAs (what
