Day in and day out I drink a lot of interesting wines and I try to find the good in all of them, but every so often you open something that just blows you away in its absolute grasp of perfection. SOOOO much beautiful St. Joseph Syrah situation laid down here, from the greasy bright nose muddled down into Pinot territory, but with that tincture of citrus unmistakably Rhone, into fruit so chalkily ripe and effortlessly expressive of berry and briar, down onto a finish of petrichor and cellar-floor spiced up with cravings of goth black lipstick bitterness and forever loveliness. Here at 6, this thing is just barely beginning to sing: they are raspy and craving at release, gradually morphing to calm elegance mid-point and headed directions of ethereal in another 20. Stolo ranks up there with Bassi in SLO Coast AVA greatness–long before SLO Coast AVA even became a thing. Rash in acidity and delectable in careful concentration: THESE are the unsung heroes of the Central Coast and nothing can stop them.

2019 DELMORE WINES #syrah Stolo Vineyard Cambria #SLOcoastava San Luis Obispo Co. 13.4