I bought ten bottles of this when it came out. I am now down to five after another one tonight. It’s still cranking on all cylinders with bloody, meaty deep fruited goodness. The depth on this wine makes it one of the top values I have ever bought in California. Along with the Idlewild Flora & Fauna Red Wine it’s my go-to for instant red wine happiness.
The 2018 and 2019 Cali Syrahs were some of the best values I have ever found. Just amazing varietal character and depth for the price point.
I will say I tried my first 2020 the other day and the comparison to those two vintages was a little rough. It’s not bad by any stretch but not on the same level. I know they lost a lot of the usual vineyard sources due to smoke and didn’t have some of the usual components available, whereas Morgan noted at release that the 2019 benefitted from a lot of juice that usually would have been in SVD bottlings.
To me, this was a little more candied and had less of peppery and meaty notes I loved in the prior two vintages. It did improve with air and isn’t a bad buy at all for $19, but it isn’t quite on the level of its predecessors.
I am still a buyer moving forward.