Reviews

2006 Barrel Zotovich Family Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills

Barrel 27's second Pinot Noir release showcases Santa Rita Hills' excellent Zotovich Family Vineyard, which formed the core of the 2005 Central Coast Pinot. Located across the 246 highway from Melville, this vineyard is quickly attracting the notice of wineries like Brewer-Clifton, Tantara, Gainey and Palmina. A dense dark red color is followed by a captivating nose of sweet red and black cherry, rose petal, dried strawberry and kirsch, with notes of cinnamon, red plum and cocoa adding layer after layer of complexity.  Broad and filling on the palate, the intense red fruit characteristics are elevated by the wine's superb acidity and fine, integrated tannins, all of which lead to a long, pure finish.  More classically styled than Barrel's first Pinot Noir release, this is a finesse driven Pinot of remarkable elegance and complexity. 300 cases produced.

2006 Barrel 27 "Rock and a Hard Place", Central Coast Grenache

2005 Barrel 27 Bull by the Horns

Barrel 27 releases another powerhouse wine, and it's first big blend red, Bull by the Horns. A nod to the great wines of Rioja and Toro, Bull by the Horns is equal parts Tempranillo and Syrah with a tiny dollop of Petite Verdot thrown in for extra fat. Almost black in color with a neon red rim, the wine boasts an enormous nose of fresh roses, dark chocolate, black berry liqueur, sweet black tea, warm road tar, raspberry extract, blood orange juice, black pepper and a hint of vanilla.  And the scents continue to emerge and multiply as the wine opens up. Awesomely weighty on the palate, flavors of spiced dark chocolate, raspberry, rose water, red plum and Chinese tea predominate, surrounded in a haze of orange rind, sweet cherry, roasted vanilla and cracked pepper notes. Definitely a Bull sized wine, with a huge fruit, big, round tannins, a long, long finish and enough weight to crush an army of matadors. Perhaps the world's most perfect steak-wine. The only flaw in this wine is that so little was produced, less than 125 cases.

2006 Barrel 27 "High on the Hog"
French Camp Vineyard, Paso Robles White Wine
Release date 06/01/07

Barrel 27 introduces its awesome Rhone-style white blend, the "High on the
Hog"! A blend of 42% Viognier, 34% Roussanne, 24% Marsanne with all the
fruit coming from Paso Robles' s French Camp Vineyard, one of the best on
the Central Coast. A straw gold / brass in color, with an intense,
sumptuous nose of honeycomb, Meyer lemon zest, marzipan, lemongrass and wet
slate, with secondary notes of jasmine, Kaffir lime, petrol, paraffin, and
bacon fat. On the palate, the wine is lush and weighty, dominated by flavors
of lemon drops, slate, petrol and honey, followed with hints of lavender,
cured ham and mint all of which intermingle and integrate through the long,
uplifted finish. Almost baby-oil like amounts of glycerin capture the masses
of fruit and exotic aroma and flavor components, while the wines excellent
acidity keeps the whole package lively and fresh and lifts the wine through
the long, focused finish. A study in paradoxes, how can a wine that starts
out this fat end on such a focused note? Grab as much as you can as fast as
you can, only about 1200 cases produced. Hugely enjoyable immediately, we
have a feeling that this wine will be able to hold its own well past the
next couple of releases.

2005 Barrel 27 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir
Release date 03/01/07

Barrel 27 is releasing its first Pinot Noir! Sourced from a single vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills, Mac Myers and Russell From have crafted a classic SRH Pinot, dark, dense and powerful which still maintains its elegance and finesse. The color is a saturated dark ruby, nearly black at the center, with a powerful nose of candied cherry, red licorice, raspberry and strawberry fruit, with notes of cranberry, cinnamon/clove spice, earth, truffle and a hint of café mocha. The broad, concentrated palate offers up the same suite of dark red fruit and dark, rich flavors, balanced by good acidity and robust tannins. The finish begins in raspberry cola and ends in dark chocolate and coffee grounds. Recently bottled, the wine needs few months to integrate fully, but even so, this is a superb effort by this talented winemaking team. You will not find a better single vineyard Pinot from the Santa Rita Hills priced this reasonably! And you may not get much of this one either, only 300 cases produced.

2005 Barrel 27 “Head Honcho” Syrah
Release date 03/01/07

Barrel 27 releases its first reserve Syrah, the “Head Honcho”! A selection of a few of the very best barrels from Barrel 27’s Central Coast Syrah with some small syrah lots from McPrice Myers Wine Co and Herman Story Wines blended together. This is one kick-butt Syrah! So inky purple-black that it actually sucks light in and swallows it, the wine offers up an incredibly complex nose, saturated with black plum skin, blood orange, black currant, sweet raspberries-and-cream fruit scents, wrapped in spice notes of fresh Tellicherry peppercorns, smoked bacon fat, lavender, rose petal and baking chocolate. The palate is a kaleidoscope of shifting flavors, at first raspberry with a touch of mint, then red plums and black pepper, then cassis and tar and the flavors continue to change and evolve as the wine opens up. It is weighty in the mouth, with a great mid-palate breadth, copious amounts of super-fine tannins and enough acidity to lift the wine and give it a long finish, soaked in black cherry and brown spices. One of the outstanding Syrahs in the Central Coast’s epic 2005 vintage. Treat yourself to something to special, and let your wallet live to talk about it!

2005 Barrel 27 Central Coast Syrah

Barrel 27's newest release is out! Mac's and Russell's considerable winemaking talents combined with one of the best growing seasons ever on the Central Coast, have resulted in the best B27 Syrah yet. Yeah, yeah, we say that every year, but the wines just keep getting better and better! The 2005 exhibits a deep garnet-purple color, with seductive aromas of raspberry jam and crème de cassis, sweet cherry, black plum and blood orange fruit, with rose petal, anise/black licorice, vanilla and Asian spices adding layers of complexity. The mouth is round and dense, with a full mid-palate lifted by excellent acidity. The long finish begins with rich, red fruit and ends on a trailing spicy note that goes on and on. The best structured of Barrel 27's Syrahs yet, it will add weight and even more complexity over the next 2-3+ years and hold well after that.

2004 Barrel 27 Syrah – Paso Robles
Release Date 9/1/5

2004 Barrel 27 consists of 78% Syrah, 19% Petite Sirah, 2% Grenache, and 1% Viognier. It is the biggest, richest and most complex Syrah we’ve made to date. The deep ruby color is so dense it’s almost black at the center, changing to an electric violet at the rim. Huge nose of lavender, jasmine, violets, white pepper, raspberry jam, and sweet cranberry is framed with hints of clove, and vanilla coffee. The mouth yields all of the above, with a hint of blood orange in the mid-palate and a stronger coffee showing on the finish.

2005 Barrel 27 Viognier
Release Date 6/1/6

Barrel 27’s inaugural white wine release! A tremendous wine with great complexity, it’s made with fruit from the Bien Nacido and Camp 4 Vineyards in Santa Barbara County. A huge nose of tropical fruit: pineapple, lychee, papaya, candied lemon zest, and candied kumquat. The same train load of tropical fruit roars across the palate and is given backbone and structure by good acidity and a great limestone / mineral note that strengthens through the finish. While technically dry at .7gm of residual sugar/liter, the ripeness of the vintage shows its stuff in the initial taste of the wine, giving a slightly inflated sense of sweetness, but that is quickly brought in check by the wines acidity and that lovely mineral note that makes the wine’s finish relatively dry. Big fruit extract, high levels of glycerin and great acidity work to balance the wine’s generous alcohol, making for a very complete and harmonious package. Less than 400 cases produced.

2005 Barrel 27 Rose
Release Date 6/26/6

Barrel 27’s inaugural rose wine release! Even we can’t believe how good our rose turned out. It’s everything a rose should be, plus everything a Barrel 27 rose should be. Medium dark Copper River Salmon, with an explosive nose of sweet cherry, watermelon, rose petal, red licorice, strawberry and oyster shell. The mouth contains the same, whopping amounts of red strawberry, watermelon, ruby grapefruit and strawberry, with a beautiful limestone note underlying everything, superb acidity to boot, makes this a big, complex and compelling rose.