Located in Santa Barbara County’s Santa Rita Hills AVA, Rancho Santa Rosa represents one of the most ambitious hillside endeavors in the country. The historic 460 acre ranch was once part of the original Spanish land grant of the same name. Purchased in 1998 by William P. Foley II, the property boasts a magnificent 230 acre, south-facing hillside vineyard. With elevations that range in excess of 1000 feet above sea level, the property has a variety of soil types and exposures. It’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean creates an ideal cool-climate setting for the cultivation of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Summer temperatures are moderated by the continual on-shore flow, lengthening the growing season and allowing a longer, steadier ripening period.

Rancho Santa Rosa Vineyard is farmed with painstaking care and attention usually associated with much smaller properties. Actually conceived as multiple micro-vineyards, it is divided into 59 unique blocks averaging less than four acres a piece. While this process of micro farming is unusual in this country, it is commonplace in the famed Cotes d’Or of Burgundy.

Winemaking notes
Our 2005 estate produced Syrah incorporates fruit from sub-blocks 1A and 1B, with two clones (Clone Noir, Clone 1) being represented. Handpicked in October, the grapes were carefully de-stemmed and moved to small open-top tanks for inoculation with yeast, and fermentation. After fifteen days, with fermentation complete, the new wine was pressed and pumped into French oak barrels for aging. The wine was aged for seventeen months, then bottled. Dark purple in color, the wine is noted for its abundant blueberry/ boysenberry aromas, with spice notes of white pepper and cocoa. It has a dense mouth feel, rich in texture, with tannins that are firm without seeming harsh..