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Antonio Galloni’s August 2020 Vinous Ratings

Posted: Aug 7, 2020

We are hon­ored to share our wines every sum­mer with wine crit­ic and jour­nal­ist Anto­nio Gal­loni of Vinous. Below are the reviews and rat­ings from his August 2020 tast­ing, San­ta Bar­bara: An In-Depth Look at the 2018s.

2019 Santa Ynez Valley Sauvignon Blanc: 92 points

The 2019 Sauvi­gnon Blanc is a gor­geous wine that melds togeth­er expres­sive, vari­etal aro­mat­ics and a good bit of tex­ture to back it up. Lemon peel, sage, mint and crushed rocks all race through this expres­sive, invit­ing Sauvi­gnon Blanc from Steve Beck­men. This is such a classy, pol­ished wine. Drink­ing win­dow: 2020 — 2025.”

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2019 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Viognier: 91 points

The 2019 Viog­nier Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard is airy and beau­ti­ful­ly per­fumed. There is plen­ty of vari­etal Viog­nier char­ac­ter, but the 2019 is more about ener­gy than the hon­eyed expres­sion of fruit that is typ­i­cal. Beck­men’s 2019 will appeal most to read­ers who like flo­ral, crisp, dry whites. Jas­mine, mint and can­died lemon peel linger on the fin­ish. Drink­ing win­dow: 2020 — 2025.”

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2018 Estate Grenache: 92 points

The 2018 Grenache Estate is gor­geous. Fresh, per­fumed and nice­ly lift­ed, the 2018 offers tons of vari­etal char­ac­ter. Sweet dried cher­ry, tobac­co, cedar and dried leaves add shades of aro­mat­ic com­plex­i­ty to this ethe­re­al, mid-weight Grenache. Drink­ing win­dow: 2020 — 2028.”

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2018 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Syrah: 94 points

The 2018 Syrah Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard is a fab­u­lous wine that cap­tures the essence of Bal­lard Canyon. Dark cher­ry, pep­per, spice, leather and tobac­co are all sig­na­tures of a Syrah that bal­ances pow­er, finesse and ener­gy. Laven­der, sage and dried herb over­tones add an attrac­tive savory char­ac­ter to the fin­ish. Drink­ing win­dow: 2020 — 2030.”

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2018 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Clone #1 Syrah: 95 points

The 2018 Syrah Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard Clone #1 is a dense, pow­er­ful and plush wine. Blue, black fruit, leather, spice and men­thol infuse the 2018 with tremen­dous depth. A touch of new oak works beau­ti­ful­ly to wrap every­thing togeth­er. This heady, sump­tu­ous Syrah has so much to offer. More­over, it is a ter­rif­ic exam­ple of what Bal­lard Canyon has to offer. Drink­ing win­dow: 2021 — 2030.”

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2017 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Block Six Syrah: 94 points

The 2017 Syrah Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard Block Six is per­haps a bit less imme­di­ate than some of the oth­er wines in this range, but it has plen­ty of char­ac­ter. Iron, blood orange and firm tan­nins bring out the more fer­al side of Syrah. Here, too, time in the glass helps great­ly in allow­ing the wine to show off the full breadth of its per­son­al­i­ty. A year or two in bot­tle will do won­ders. Drink­ing win­dow: 2021 — 2029.”

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2017 TLB: 93 points

The 2017 Red Wine TLB is a blend of Caber­net Sauvi­gnon and Syrah. Those ele­ments come togeth­er so well here. A burst of sweet red cher­ry, red plum, mocha and rose petal con­veys strik­ing imme­di­a­cy. This gor­geous red hits all the right notes. Drink­ing win­dow: 2020 — 2027.”

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2018 Santa Ynez Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: 94 points

The 2018 Caber­net Sauvi­gnon (San­ta Ynez Val­ley) is rich and explo­sive out of the glass. Inky dark fruit, grilled herbs, leather, licorice and a host of earthy notes flesh out in an expan­sive wine endowed with tremen­dous depth and com­plex­i­ty. This is such a gor­geous Caber­net Sauvi­gnon. Drink­ing win­dow: 2021 — 2030.”

Not Yet Released

2018 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon: 95 points

The 2018 Caber­net Sauvi­gnon Estate (Los Olivos Dis­trict) is a total knock-out. Beams of sup­port­ing tan­nin wrap around a core of deep, inky fruit. Blue­ber­ry jam, grilled herbs, laven­der, sage and spice meld togeth­er effort­less­ly. The 2018 is a gor­geous, expan­sive wine that only con­tin­ues to gain vol­ume with time in the glass. Drink­ing win­dow: 2021 — 2030.”

Not Yet Released

2018 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Grenache: 93 points

Steve Beck­men’s 2018 Grenache Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard is an absolute­ly joy­ous wine. Crushed rasp­ber­ry, straw­ber­ry and flo­ral notes abound in this beau­ti­ful­ly per­fumed, expres­sive Bal­lard Canyon Grenache. The 2018 is not super-com­plex, but it is irre­sistibly deli­cious and total plea­sure to taste. Drink­ing win­dow: 2020 — 2028.”

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