Syrah, Santa Maria Valley, The Language of Yes 2020
Parker 94 (2022); James Suckling 93
Mix any six bottles and you pay the Any 6+ price at checkout — no code needed.
£10 tracked UK delivery, however many bottles.
We pack and send twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, by Royal Mail Tracked 48.
Members pay £28.40 — £7.10 less on this bottle. Membership is £120 a year and carries the EDKA Promise. Membership terms
Why this wine
Randall Grahm argued for decades that California should plant Rhône varieties rather than copy Bordeaux, and this single-vineyard Syrah from one of the state's coolest valleys is that argument in a bottle. Whole clusters, co-fermented Viognier, used oak, no fining or filtration. Peppery and savoury, for anyone who finds Californian reds too sweet.
At a glance
- Grape
- Syrah 87%, Viognier 13%
- Region
- California, USA
- Alcohol
- 14.00%
- Body
- Medium
- Acidity
- High
- Tannins
- Medium
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Short (3-5 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Red Meat, Spicy Dishes, Cheese
How it tastes
Vivid black pepper, black olive, violets and liquorice over dark fruit, with white flowers behind. Lively acidity keeps it fresh rather than heavy, the texture is smooth and the finish long. Syrah 87%, Viognier 13%.
The producer
Randall Grahm made his name as a pioneer of Rhône varieties on California's Central Coast, and The Language of Yes is his latest project, an attempt to capture the essence of Old World wine through the uniqueness of the vineyards and the sunny disposition of California; the name translates La Langue d'Oc, the phrase medieval southern France used to describe itself by how it spoke. The Syrah and Viognier both come from Rancho Réal, a single vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley and one of the coolest sites in which vines are grown successfully in California, where Guyot-trained vines planted in 2010 sit at 200 to 290 metres in sandy loam; the long, cool growing season favours the rotundone that gives the wine its pepper, and the vines are certified sustainable. After picking, the grapes were dried briefly on trays in the shade of the vine to concentrate them and ripen the stems, then the two varieties were co-fermented in stainless steel with 50% whole clusters for a slow, controlled fermentation, aged twelve months in used barriques with heavy lees contact and little or no racking, and bottled without fining or filtration. 2020 was an excellent year on the Central Coast, with consistent temperatures, no major weather events and an even, healthy crop, despite wildfire smoke elsewhere in California.
Food and drinking
Serve at 16°C, with roast lamb, peppered steak, merguez sausages or a hard sheep's cheese. Drink over the next three to five years; an hour in a decanter opens it up. Sealed with a screwcap. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.