Well, I hope THIS one isn’t sold out. I keep reviewing these Dusty Nabor’s just a *little* too late! So hopefully, I’ll get the jump on this one for you… It’s a beauty, and like the 2018, keeps the fruit a simple, streamlined affair within the wine’s clear focus on mineral edge and foundational typicity. Manageable alcohol and a reluctance for TO THE MOON! concentration so common in these parts only adds to the appeal. Clear ruby in the glass, with a rim of bluish purple. Thick earthiness on the nose bring rock and dank briar to the fore-front–the under-pinnings anchored in dense–but un-slutty–cherry with notes of maple syrup and fall leaves.
Lord knows I’ve written some caustic things about Ballard Canyon over the years, but there is a *moth-to-the-lightbulb* mentality with me when I see it on a label, as I continually seek out those doing it right. In the mouth, this is a shockingly austere wine. It is not thin, it is not meager, it is not under-stuffed, it is not fruitless or vapid. Here, the structure overwhelms the fruit–not in obliteration, but in highlighting its clarity and raison d’être. The floral glow in the bouquet translates perfectly into the crispness of the berry, violent riffs of acid and tannin taking little time for formal introduction.
This is a SERIOUS cellar-candidate, one drinking ridiculously *barrel-sample-y*, but without the characteristic ‘green-wine’ yeasty nuances common there. It’s ready for bottle, but it is also ready for plenty of time to ‘settle down’. Drinking it now will titillate numerous palates, but true virtue will be in patience. This is a rosy, reasonably generous wine with a clairvoyant monster lurking around the corner. You WILL want some of this on-hand in a decade.
2019 DUSTY NABOR Syrah Kimsey Vyd Ballard Canyon Santa Ynez Valley Santa Barbara Co. 14.0
Stephen McConnell 