Herman Story Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah, Santa Maria Valley, USA 2021
We're cooks, not chemists. You might be saying, what about terroir? Science? The technical details I read on that one critic's vintage report? Don't worry, that's all part of it. Get grapes from exceptional vineyards, make careful decisions in the cellar, be relentless about quality, you'll be turning out showstoppers.
At the end of the day, we make wines that'll pair just as well with a triple-stacked bacon cheeseburger as they will with an extravagant eight-course tasting menu. Wines you can contemplate at a massive mahogany desk or chug while your friend falls from a keg-stand into an inflatable pool of Jello. Either way, they're a damn good time.
This is a breakneck jai alai match on a warm Miami night. Watch the ball rebound off red-berry graffitied walls, whipping through air hazy with cherry cola and Arturo Fuente cigar smoke. All that chili-flake velocity, corralled and redirected into sweet tomato and paprika-dusted depths. Ricocheting from one to the next faster than you can track—a stunning dichotomy of raw power and obsidian calm. And when someone hands you a wicker scoop, all you can do is close your eyes, let it rip, and hope you don’t catch it with your face.
"I always love Russell’s take on this vineyard and the 2021 Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard is up with the best I’ve tasted from him. Sporting a deep purple hue as well as a gorgeous perfume of ripe red and blackberries, spring flowers, graphite, black pepper, and hints of game, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, spicy, incredibly complex style, polished tannins, and fabulous length on the finish. This ripe, blockbuster-styled Syrah stays flawlessly balanced, has polished tannins, and no hard edges. I love it today, yet it will keep for a solid decade." Jeb Dunnuck 98