7 Great Santa Barbara County Wineries for Syrah
A syrah tasting flight at Sunstone Winery. Photo credit Pam and Gary Baker
Santa Barbara County’s east-west mountain ranges allow ocean breezes and fog to flow from the Pacific into its valleys, creating numerous microclimates and ideal growing conditions for chardonnay and pinot noir. But on a recent trip to this diverse wine region, it was the savory, aromatic syrah that surprised and delighted us.
Discovering Santa Barbara Syrah
Estate vineyards at Fess Parker Winery. Photo credit Pam and Gary Baker
On our first trip to Santa Barbara wine country, we were working our way through a tasting flight at Fess Parker Winery, enjoying the bright chardonnays and earthy pinot noirs we expected from the region.
Then came the syrah. One sip of its savory aromatics, cool-climate spice, and lingering finish caught us by surprise. It was the kind of wine that made us look at each other with a did you taste that? expression. Santa Barbara syrah had our attention. We wanted to understand what made it so distinctive.
Why Santa Barbara Syrah Is So Distinctive
Vineyards at Sunstone Winery, which is part of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA. Photo credit Pam and Gary Baker
Santa Barbara County’s maritime influence, large diurnal temperature swings, and persistent winds create conditions perfect for growing syrah, a grape most associated with France’s Northern Rhône. Here, it can develop the savory character that hooked us, with notes of black pepper, olive tapenade, smoked herbs, and wild berries. Winemaking choices like whole-cluster fermentation, native yeasts, and neutral oak can further shape its style and character.
Santa Barbara County has seven AVAs, but Ballard Canyon has become particularly associated with syrah, with more than half of its planted acreage devoted to the grape. Syrah is also produced in Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara, Sta. Rita Hills, Los Olivos District, and Alisos Canyon.
To learn more about the vineyards, microclimates, and winemakers who shape this distinctive wine, we came back one year later. We followed syrah across Santa Barbara County and narrowed it down to our seven favorite producers.
Zaca Mesa’s 2019 Eight Barrel Syrah. Photo credit Pam and Gary Baker
Founded in 1973, Zaca Mesa was the third winery established in Santa Barbara County and a pioneer of syrah in the region. In 1978, after several years of experimenting with what would thrive in its higher-elevation vineyards, the winery planted syrah from Estrella clones in its acclaimed Black Bear Block. Today, more than half of Zaca Mesa’s vineyards are planted to syrah.
The winery also became a training ground for many of the region’s influential vintners. In 1995, its 1993 Zaca Mesa Syrah became the first Central Coast wine to crack Wine Spectator’s annual Top 10.
The 2019 Black Bear Block Syrah, the winery’s flagship bottling, is savory and dark-fruited, with notes of dried sagebrush, olive brine, wild blueberries, and peppercorn. The 2019 Eight Barrel Syrah began as a 1993 experiment that produced just eight barrels, with concentrated fruit, pie crust, spice, and a luxurious mouthfeel.
“I always think of my grandmother’s mixed berry pie when I drink it,” says Hilarie Key, the winery’s Direct-to-Consumer Manager.
The 2022 Fess Parker Rodney’s Vineyard Syrah. Photo credit Pam and Gary Baker
Fess Parker, best known for playing Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone on television, made the leap to a new frontier in the late 1980s when he started a winery in the Santa Ynez Valley. Many of Santa Ynez Valley’s renowned winemakers, in fact, got their start at Fess Parker Winery, earning it the nickname “the University of Fess Parker.”
Parker was especially fond of syrah, so it’s no surprise that the winery produces several syrahs. The 2021 Bien Nacido Syrah, made with fruit from Block 11F of the acclaimed Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, is smoky and savory. The bold, powerful 2021 Colson Canyon Syrah, made with fruit from a vineyard owned by fellow Santa Barbara syrah producer Tensley Wines, quickly became one of our favorites.
The 2022 Rodney’s Vineyard Syrah comes from the family’s estate vineyard, named for Parker’s late son-in-law, Rodney Shull. This was one of the first syrahs Fess produced and was known as his favorite. It has the slightly smoky character we encountered in syrahs throughout Santa Barbara County.
The ivy-covered tasting room at Andrew Murray Vineyards. Photo credit Pam and Gary Bake
Andrew Murray planted his first vines in Santa Ynez Valley in 1990 and has spent more than three decades specializing in Rhône varieties. Today, syrah accounts for more than 90% of Andrew Murray Vineyards’ production, and his widely available Tous Les Jours Syrah has earned a reputation as one of America’s best red wines for the price.
One of the winery’s most distinctive bottlings, the 2023 Syrah Roasted Slope, is a Côte-Rôtie-inspired blend of 92% syrah and 8% viognier. The wine traces its origins to a 1996 nursery mistake that left a syrah vineyard interplanted with about 8% viognier. Murray decided to co-ferment the grapes, creating a dark, brooding wine with a luxurious mouthfeel and lingering finish that will leave you dreaming of the Northern Rhône.
Our favorite was the 2022 Syrah Estate Grown, a complex wine with a gamey nose, cherry and blackberry fruit, white pepper, and a long finish.
Wine educator Nicole Liddi holding a bottle of syrah at Stolpman Vineyards. Photo credit Pam and Gary Baker
Located in Ballard Canyon AVA, Stolpman Vineyards grows syrah and other Rhône varieties on the canyon’s windy, limestone-rich slopes. Vineyard manager Ruben Solorzano, known as “the Grape Whisperer,” oversees a full-time vineyard crew and has played a central role in shaping Stolpman’s farming.
Stolpman makes a wine dedicated to its vineyard workers called La Cuadrilla, which means “The Crew.” The winery’s La Cuadrilla program gives crew members their own vineyard blocks to farm and uses the fruit in a blend of syrah, grenache, and sangiovese, with profits from the wine returned to the crew.
Among the syrahs, the 2022 Hilltops Syrah offers raspberry, blueberry, peppercorn, and spice, with structured tannins and a lingering finish. The 2024 Angeli, a single-block syrah named in honor of Tom Stolpman’s wife, Marilyn, and her family, is richer, with cocoa, dark fruit, and black currant.
The 2023 Ruben Solorzano Syrah, inspired by Côte-Rôtie, comes from the vineyard’s one-acre Great Places block, planted with a mix of old syrah vines. Its savory notes of meat, smoke, peppercorn, and dark fruit give way to cocoa and a creamy richness on the palate.
A block of syrah at Roblar Winery. Photo credit Pam and Gary Baker
Kevin Gleason established Refugio Ranch in Santa Ynez Valley in 2006, and the Gleason family acquired Roblar Winery in 2017. Today, both wineries are part of Gleason Family Vineyards, with Max Marshak overseeing winemaking for both.
While Roblar focuses primarily on Bordeaux varieties, Refugio Ranch specializes in Rhône varieties, particularly syrah. Both produce syrahs using fruit from the family’s vineyards.
At Roblar, the 2022 Estate Syrah combines syrah from the estate vineyard with fruit from Refugio Ranch. Bold and dark-fruited, it has notes of green and black peppercorn and a rich mouthfeel.
At Refugio Ranch, syrah takes center stage. If you only try one of the Refugio wines, make it the 2021 Refugio Ranch Time for Time made from 100% syrah. This dark, brooding wine is estate-grown and aged for 40 months in barrel. It offers aromas of blackberries, black cherry, and mocha followed by flavors of raspberry, cranberry sauce, and vanilla bean.
Tasting the 2021 Sunstone Estate Syrah. Photo credit Pam and Gary Baker
Located in Santa Ynez Valley AVA, Sunstone Winery produces estate-grown syrah from its certified organic vineyards along the Santa Ynez River. Planted in 1990, Sunstone was Santa Barbara County’s first organic vineyard estate and is now its oldest continuously organically grown vineyard.
If Fess Parker first sparked our interest in Santa Barbara syrah, Sunstone helped seal the deal. The 2021 Syrah Estate offers notes of boysenberry, mission fig, black cherry, and cedar, with smooth tannins and dark fruit and spice on the finish. The 2022 Syrah SYV is medium-bodied, with boysenberry, cherry, and cocoa notes, a spice-driven palate, balanced tannins, and a lingering finish, making it a syrah we’d happily bring to a barbecue.
Hooked on Syrah
We were already familiar with syrah from other wine regions, but Santa Barbara County surprised us. What began with an unexpected glass at Fess Parker became a search for the vineyards and winemakers behind the region’s distinctive expressions of the grape. These seven producers became our favorites, and we hope they help you find yours.