2021 Desire Lines Wine Co, Syrah “Winds of Change” California.
The purple/garnet full bodied 2021 Desire Lines Winds of Change Syrah is rocking good with loads of ripe and supple dark fruit and northern Rhone character, it shows of boysenberry, blueberry damson plum and huckleberry fruits, as well as hints of game, briar, pepper, tapenade, violet florals, black licorice, cassis, sandalwood and sweet and tangy herbs. Sometimes a Rhône blend, the Winds of Change red as gone almost exclusively Syrah and is now labeled as such, which fine by me as winemaker Cody Rasmussen is very gifted with this varietal as seen here. Like the delicious 2020 version of Winds of Change, the 2021 Syrah includes a good chunk, as Rasmussen says, of Syrah grapes from Santa Barbara County, which he adds, made up 68% and includes some amazing vineyard sites, to be exact, with the remainder of fruit coming more from the North Coast. A couple of lots of those included some Viognier as a co-ferment, for an average, he describes as just about one percent of the blend. All lots were fermented with some whole cluster and partial stem inclusion, and the wines, as Rasmussen likes for Syrah, were raised almost exclusively in 500L barrels without racking. No new oak barrels were used here and that shows in the transparent, raw and pure natural of the Winds of Change Syrah.
Rasmussen, who is an assistant winemaker at Bedrock Wine Company under Morgan Twain-Peterson, and his wife Emily’s Desire Lines Wine Co. label is certainly one of California’s next generation stars, based on what I’ve tasted over their first five years, especially with what they’ve done with Syrah and Dry Riesling! This latest set of wines being an exceptional collection, with his pure Syrah bottlings from Griffin’s Lair in the Petaluma Gap and Shake Ridge Vineyard, being amazing efforts as well as Cody’s fantastic Wily Vineyard and Cole Ranch Dry Rieslings and I love the Carignan based Evangelho Vineyard Red and this Winds of Change Red, they are deftly blended and exciting wines that are tremendous values! Syrah fans should be on the Desire Lines mailing list and for fans of these modern California wines too, especially since Rasmussen has added some exciting other whites and reds to the lineup, including Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier to his whites and he even now has a chewy old school Cabernet Sauvignon that pays tribute to Phillip Togni and Cathy Corison in style, less alcohol and pure Cab punchiness. If you’ve not had bedrock or these Desire Lines wines, now is a great time to do so, and again Rasmussen is a huge talent, especially with his Riesling and the Syrah bottlings, like the single vineyard Shake Ridge and this value priced Winds of Change Syrah.
($25 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive