UPPER CRUST, SYRAH
Rancho Sisquoc, Santa Maria Valley

Over the years I have made a number of wines from fruit grown at Rancho Sisquoc, located at the eastern end of the Santa Maria Valley . It’s always been a dependable vineyard, be it for Riesling or Merlot or just about anything.

In 2001, vineyard manager Ed Holt was in the process of developing a sizeable new vineyard out on a series of mesas located on the breezy, western end of the ranch, and Syrah was on the menu. Before Ed had made this decision, he had grafted a tiny bit of the original Sisquoc Vineyard to Syrah, just so he could see what it would be like. So, as all this started to play out, the first Rancho Sisquoc Syrah was actually in barrel and could be tasted.

On a day when I was over there to look at these new vineyard sites, he said, “Yea, we actually did crush some last fall. You want to stop at the winery and taste it on your way out?” Now I already had Radical and Frying Pan and our Estate Nook & Cranny Syrahs in barrel. It was going to take a lot to impress me. “Sure,” I said to myself. “What do I have to lose?” I began thinking in my mind how I was going to politely tell Ed that I just had too much on my plate.


So we went in to the winery, tasted the wine, and there I experienced one of the most interesting Syrahs I had ever had. And that was only their first wine. It was off of newly grafted vines. In theory, it should only get better. I started to think that I better find some room somewhere on my proverbial plate for another project.

So, of course, driving home, I’m thinking to myself, why? Why was that wine so good? It was telling me it was the right varietal growing in the right place. Though Syrah does well in a wide range of climates, the ones I always seemed to like the most were in the middle. In fact, the place on my mind was Ballard Canyon where Steve Beckmen, Tom Stolpman and Michael Larner grow great Syrah.

So what about Rancho Sisquoc? My mind was telling me that it’s a Ballard Canyon set up that’s best for Syrah. But I had just tasted one of the most interesting Syrahs ever. So, I grabbed the new Santa Barbara County viticulture maps and drew a line north of Buellton and Ballard Canyon, and ― guess what’s about 20 miles due north, with the same proximity to the ocean? Rancho Sisquoc. With Ed Holt telling me, “We will plant your section any way you want,” I decided to go for it.

The wine is called UPPER CRUST for a few reasons. First, these new western mesas are stacked upon one another, with the one to the north being the highest up. That’s where our section is, and so that’s the “Upper” part of the title. Secondly, when I asked Ed what the soil type was, he said, “it’s a Pleasanton Clay Loam that is super concreteous.” In other words, when it gets dry, the soil becomes so hard it’s like cement. So, that’s the “Crust” part of it. Lastly, it’s a play on words. The upper crust is the upper class. Usually it pertains to a social structure. In this case we are applying it to a wine. And when you taste it, you will know what I am talking about.

The first vintage of Syrah "Upper Crust" was sent to our Terroir Exclusives and Terroir Exclusives PLUS wine club members in November 2009. 2007 "Upper Crust" Syrah was sold out upon release.
For a vintage note on the 2007 Syrah "Upper Crust", click here.