Library Syrah Horizontal

Critic Reviews

• Jeb Dunnuck

  97 POINTS

  2021 PMV Block Six Syrah

  Last of the Syrahs and from vines plant­ed in 1999 by Steve Beck­men, the 2021 Syrah PMV Block Six (100% Syrah aged 23 months in 58% new bar­rels) reminds me of a great Her­mitage with its dark­er cur­rant and cas­sis fruit as well as scorched earth, smoked herbs, ground pep­per, and vio­let-like aro­mat­ics and fla­vors. Con­cen­trat­ed and medi­um to full-bod­ied, with a focused mouth­feel, it’s up with the finest Syrahs I’ve ever tast­ed from this estate (and it pret­ty much stopped me in my tracks.) I love it today, yet it will ben­e­fit from a year or two of bot­tle age and blow you away over the fol­low­ing decade. Matu­ri­ty 2026 — 2036.

• Wine Enthusiast

  95 POINTS

  2021 PMV Block Six Syrah

  Edi­tors’ Choice

  This is bold for a San­ta Bar­bara Coun­ty-made Syrah, start­ing with unc­tu­ous aro­mas of elder­ber­ry, blue­ber­ry, pur­ple flower and crushed mint. Mouth­coat­ing and firm fla­vors of blue­ber­ry are enhanced by tar­ragon and cracked pep­per on the palate, prov­ing spicy, struc­tur­al and elegant. 

• Vinous

  95 POINTS

  2021 PMV Block Six Syrah

  The 2021 Syrah Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard Block Six is anoth­er stel­lar wine from Steve Beck­men. It cap­tures all the savory and min­er­al inten­si­ty of Block Six, along with the brac­ing per­son­al­i­ty of this cold vin­tage. Red fruit, chalk, blood orange, mint, crushed flow­ers, slate and dried herbs all race across the palate. I espe­cial­ly admire the ener­gy here. Drink­ing Win­dow 2024 — 2034.

• Jeb Dunnuck

  95 Points

  2020 PMV Block Six Syrah

  Brought up in 65% new oak, the 2020 Syrah Block Six Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard is more up-front, per­fumed, and exot­ic, with loads of blue­ber­ry and plum fruits sup­port­ed by notions of spring flow­ers, vio­lets, under­brush, and leafy herb notes. Plump, full-bod­ied, round, and exot­ic, this lift­ed, incred­i­bly com­pelling Syrah will evolve for a decade.

• Wine Enthusiast

  94 Points

  2020 PMV Block Six Syrah

  Cel­lar Selection

  Clean while rich aro­mas of black cher­ry, elder­ber­ry, pep­per­corn and dark herb shine on the nose of this bot­tling. Grip­py tan­nins wrap around the elder­ber­ry, pur­ple flower and cracked pep­per fla­vors of the palate. Drink now – 2035.

• Vinous

  94 Points

  2020 PMV Block Six Syrah

  The 2020 Syrah Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard Block Six is a dense, unc­tu­ous wine. The warm year and a few more months in oak yield a wine of sump­tu­ous inten­si­ty that will appeal most to read­ers who enjoy opu­lent Syrahs. Inky dark fruit, choco­late, leather, licorice and cloves all meld togeth­er in this flam­boy­ant Syrah. Har­vest was about a month ear­li­er than in 2021! This is very much a win­ter wine to enjoy with sim­i­lar­ly hearty fare. Drink­ing Win­dow 2024 — 2033.

• Jeb Dunnuck

  94+ Points

  2019 PMV Block Six Syrah

  The par­cel selec­tion 2019 Syrah Block Six Purisi­ma Moun­tain Vine­yard is also all vari­etal and spent 22 months in 65% new French oak. Dark­er black and blue fruits, chalky min­er­al, choco­late, liq­uid vio­lets, and white pep­per all flow to a con­cen­trat­ed, pow­er­ful, nice­ly struc­tured Syrah that will ben­e­fit from a few years of bot­tle age. It should have a slight­ly longer drink win­dow than the Clone 1, which is more open and complex.