2005 Ojai Grenache Santa Barbara County

The lean, austere 2005 Grenache (some Mourvedre and Syrah are blended) reveals some rough tannins along with attractive, sweet kirsch and licorice notes, medium body, and a soft style. It is meant to be consumed over the next 2-3 years. Tasting through three vintages of Adam Tolmach’s Syrahs is an education in how different these three years were in Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara County. 2004 was a warm year, 2005 was a cool year with high yields and good acids, and 2006 was a challenging vintage that required substantial work in the vineyards as well as tremendous patience at the end when it appeared a freakish hot spell might ripen everything at once. 2005 is a very strong vintage at Ojai, and all of the single vineyard offerings were deeper and richer than their 2006 counterparts. Tel. (805) 649-1674