2016 Wine Advocate Reviews Are In!

The Wine Advo­cate is one of the most trust­ed and well respect­ed pub­li­ca­tions in the wine indus­try. Once a year, we sub­mit a selec­tion of wines to be reviewed and scored. The fol­low­ing wines were reviewed by Jeb Dun­nuck in the 2016 August Issue 226.

2014 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Syrah Clone #1

Rat­ing: 94
Drink Date: 2017 – 2024
Date Tast­ed: July 11, 2016
Slight­ly less aro­mat­ic than the Block 6, which is a touch more high toned, the 2014 Syrah Clone No 1 Purisi­ma Moun­tain (100% Syrah aged 16 months in 45% new French oak) reveals ter­rif­ic, meaty, savory notes of black fruits, smoked earth, choco­late and caramelized meats. Rich, full-bod­ied, con­cen­trat­ed and nice­ly struc­tured on the palate, it needs 2 – 3 years of bot­tle age and will keep through 2025.

2014 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Rat­ing: 93
Drink Date: 2015 – 2025
Date Tast­ed: July 10, 2016
Mov­ing to the reds and one of the top Bor­deaux blends com­ing out of the San­ta Ynez Val­ley, the 2014 Caber­net Sauvi­gnon San­ta Ynez Val­ley offers clas­sic notes of mint, plums, spring flow­ers and graphite in a full-bod­ied, rich­ly con­cen­trat­ed and tex­tured pack­age. Despite being a big, rich, con­cen­trat­ed wine, it always stays fresh and live­ly and has ter­rif­ic puri­ty of fruit. I actu­al­ly like it today, but it will no doubt drink nice­ly for a decade or more.

2014 TLB

Rat­ing: (92 – 94)
Drink Date: 2015 – 2025
Date Tast­ed: July 11, 2016
Tast­ed out of tank, the 2014 Syrah / Caber­net Sauvi­gnon TLB Estate Cuvee is a ter­rif­ic blend of 85% Caber­net Sauvi­gnon and 15% Syrah that will see 18 months in 55% new French oak. It has fab­u­lous tex­ture and rich­ness, with clas­sic Caber­net notes of crème de cas­sis, lead pen­cil shav­ing, tobac­co leaf and graphite. Rich, con­cen­trat­ed, pol­ished and incred­i­bly drink­able, it too should drink nice­ly for a decade.

2014 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Block Six Syrah

Rat­ing: (92 – 94)
Drink Date: 2015 – 2025
Date Tast­ed: July 12, 2016
Anoth­er inky black col­ored effort, the 2014 Syrah Block No 6 Purisi­ma Moun­tain gives up lots of crème de cas­sis, crushed flow­ers, spice box and hints of choco­late in a full-bod­ied, pure, ele­gant pack­age. Com­plete­ly destemmed and aged 18 months in 55% new French oak, it shows plen­ty of fine grained tan­nin on the fin­ish and will keep for a decade or more.

2013 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Block Six Syrah

Rat­ing: 92
Drink Date: 2017 – 2024
Date Tast­ed: July 12, 2016
Last­ly, and com­ing from a sin­gle block of Syrah vines from the estate Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard locat­ed at the top of Bal­lard Canyon, the 2013 Syrah Block No 6 Purisi­ma Moun­tain gives up notes of liq­uid black­ber­ries, cracked pep­per, graphite and hints of crushed rock. Rich, inky col­ored, full-bod­ied and with bright acid­i­ty and fine tan­nin, it will be at its best from 2018 – 2025.

2014 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Grenache

Rat­ing: 92
Drink Date: 2015 – 2020
Date Tast­ed: July 12, 2016
A sup­pler, more fruit-for­ward and sexy release than the whole clus­ter bot­tling, the 2014 Grenache Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard has ter­rif­ic sweet­ness of fruit in its black­ber­ry, pep­per, crushed flower and bak­ing spice-dri­ven aro­mas and fla­vors. Full-bod­ied, sweet­ly fruit­ed, round­ed and down­right sexy, drink it over the com­ing 4 – 5 years. Note, the blend for the 2014 is 88% Grenache and 12% Syrah, all of which saw 16 months in 15% new French oak puncheons.

2014 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Syrah

Rat­ing: 92
Drink Date: 2015 – 2021
Date Tast­ed: July 9, 2016
A fab­u­lous val­ue that deliv­ers on all accounts, the inky col­ored 2014 Syrah Purisi­ma Moun­tain (100% Syrah aged 16 months in 35% new French oak) knocks it out of the park with its ripe, deca­dent black fruits, bar­be­cue smoke, licorice and smoked meat-laced aro­mas and fla­vors. Rich, fat and unc­tu­ous on the palate, with plen­ty of fresh­ness and puri­ty, it tastes like it costs two to three times the price.

2013 Cuvee le Bec

Rat­ing: 90
Drink Date: 2015 – 2020
Date Tast­ed: July 10, 2016
Made from 45% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 8% Counoise and the rest Mourve­dre, the 2013 Cuvee le Bec is a smokin’ val­ue and savvy read­ers should buy a case. Giv­ing up lots of ripe dark fruits, ground herbs, licorice and wood smoke, it’s ripe, mouth­fill­ing and loaded with charm. Drink bot­tles over the com­ing 4 – 5 years.

2014 Cuvee le Bec

Rat­ing: 90
Drink Date 2015 – 2019
Date Tast­ed: July 11, 2016
Lead­ing off the reds and California’s take on a qual­i­ty Cotes du Rhône, the pep­pery, black and blue fruits and flo­ral-scent­ed 2014 Cuvee le Bec is plump, medi­um to full-bod­ied, round­ed and beau­ti­ful­ly tex­tured on the palate. Drink it over the com­ing 2 – 4 years. Note, the blend here is 50% Syrah, 35% Grenache, 8% Mourvè­dre and 7% Counoise, which spent 16 months in neu­tral oak barrels.

2014 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Grenache Whole Cluster

Rat­ing: 90
Drink Date 2015 – 2020
Date Tast­ed: July 10, 2016
Pos­sess­ing exot­ic slants in its ripe plum, blood orange, straw­ber­ry and pep­pery herb aro­mas and fla­vors, the 2014 Grenache Whole Clus­ter (100% Grenache fer­ment­ed with 30% whole clus­ters) from the Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard hits the palate with medi­um to full-bod­ied rich­ness, lots of fruit and a great fin­ish. It too should have at least 4 – 5 years of prime drinking.

2014 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc

Rat­ing: 90
Drink Date: 2015 – 2016
Date Tast­ed: July 10, 2016
Start­ing out and a ter­rif­ic Sauvi­gnon Blanc that offers lots of pret­ty, cit­rus, mint and flo­ral aro­mas and fla­vors, the 2014 Sauvi­gnon Blanc Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard is medi­um-bod­ied, pure and down­right classy on the palate. It’s a more fruit-dri­ven effort that will drink nice­ly over the com­ing year.