A Study in Syrah: The Block Six Vertical

On Sun­day, July 27, 2025, we con­duct­ed a ver­ti­cal tast­ing of sev­er­al stand­out vin­tages of our Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard Block Six Syrah. It was a spe­cial expe­ri­ence for the 35 atten­dees, who had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to taste through six vin­tages of Block Six, paired with in-depth insights about the vine­yard, the wines, and the con­di­tions that shaped each year.

For this tast­ing, we revis­it­ed the 2005, 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2022 vin­tages — along with a sneak peek at the 2023 vin­tage still aging in bar­rel. It was a tremen­dous­ly suc­cess­ful event that show­cased the aging poten­tial of what we con­sid­er our finest Syrah.

History of Block Six

Block Six was orig­i­nal­ly plant­ed in 1999 dur­ing the third year of devel­op­ment on Purisi­ma Moun­tain. Locat­ed at the very top of the moun­tain, it is one of the most unique Syrah blocks in all of San­ta Bar­bara Coun­ty. Its dis­tinc­tive­ness comes from a com­bi­na­tion of fac­tors: steep slopes, south­west expo­sure, high ele­va­tion, and the chalky lime­stone soils that dom­i­nate the block.

The wine is always com­posed of the three Syrah clones plant­ed in Block Six: Clone 174, Clone 383, and the Estrel­la Selec­tion. Clone 174, hail­ing from Her­mitage, brings the most com­plex, aro­mat­ic, and min­er­al-dri­ven char­ac­ter­is­tics. Clone 383, from Langue­doc, con­tributes dark, fruity, juicy, and savory notes. The Estrel­la Selec­tion rounds it out with dark fruit, pep­per, and flo­ral tones. Each vin­tage fea­tures a dif­fer­ent blend of these three clones, yet a dis­tinct through­line con­nects all the wines from this excep­tion­al block.

The Wines

Below is a quick run­down of the vin­tages we tast­ed, along with notes from our pre­view tast­ing. We hope this offers a glimpse into how these wines are cur­rent­ly show­ing and devel­op­ing in bottle.

2005
A deep gar­net col­or with some light­en­ing at the rim. The 2005 vin­tage came from one of the cold­est and wettest sea­sons we’ve ever had on Purisi­ma, with delayed bud break and a late har­vest. Aro­mat­i­cal­ly, the wine shows clas­sic aged Syrah notes: earth, toma­to vine, dried cran­ber­ry, and cher­ry. On the palate, it’s sur­pris­ing­ly live­ly with great acid­i­ty and a round­ed, seam­less tex­ture. Sweet fruit fla­vors emerge along­side earthy, pep­pery spice, and a touch of tan­nin on the fin­ish. This Syrah is slight­ly past its peak but remains very enjoy­able. Drink now.

2016
From a mild vin­tage with low rain­fall, the 2016 shows a dark gar­net hue and youth­ful aro­mas of roast­ed notes, espres­so, wood spice, and black fruit. On the palate, it’s rich and round, with seam­less tex­ture and lay­ers of dark fruit, choco­late, and pep­per. Excel­lent acid­i­ty keeps it ener­getic, with youth­ful tan­nins lin­ger­ing on the fin­ish. It’s live­li­er than expect­ed and has a beau­ti­ful, long, sat­is­fy­ing fin­ish. This wine is still young, with anoth­er 3 – 5 years before ter­tiary char­ac­ter­is­tics emerge. Drink now or cel­lar for 15+ years.

2019
A com­plex wine from a mild vin­tage with ample rain­fall. Youth­ful aro­mas of pep­per, lift­ed black fruit, wood spice, and vio­lets are bright and invit­ing. The palate is smooth and sup­ple, with inte­grat­ed tan­nins and notes of deep fruit, choco­late, pep­per, and a juicy, flo­ral fin­ish. The most ele­gant wine of the tast­ing, it’s drink­ing beau­ti­ful­ly now and will con­tin­ue to evolve grace­ful­ly. Enjoy now through the next 12 – 15 years.

2020
From a hot and dry year, the 2020 is a block­buster. Deep in col­or, with big, ripe, and pow­er­ful dark fruit lay­ered with pep­per and flo­ral tones. The entry is sweet and mouth-coat­ing, with a smooth, round tex­ture and opu­lent depth. Backed by great acid­i­ty and ripe tan­nins, it fin­ish­es with impres­sive length and inten­si­ty. Despite the chal­leng­ing sea­son, this wine proves how spe­cial this site is. Still youth­ful but drink­ing well. Cel­lar or enjoy over the next 20+ years.

2022
From anoth­er extreme­ly hot and dry vin­tage, the 2022 is a stand­out. Aro­mas leap from the glass — pep­per, flo­rals, game, leather, wood spice, and dark fruit. On the palate, it’s intense, round, and struc­tured, with notable tan­nins and ener­gy. This wine unique­ly cap­tures the ripeness of a warm vin­tage with the savory, spicy char­ac­ter of a cool­er year on the fin­ish. The result is a com­plex, lay­ered Syrah with a lit­tle bit of every­thing. Cel­lar for 1 – 2 years, then enjoy over the next two decades.
→ Shop 2022 Block Six

Purchase Block Six

At the event, most of the wine was sold, but we still have lim­it­ed quan­ti­ties of the more recent vin­tages avail­able: 2019, 2020, and our new­ly released 2022. The 2019 and 2020 are cur­rent­ly in our library — please con­tact us direct­ly to inquire about avail­abil­i­ty. The 2022 can be ordered through our tast­ing room or online.