Dense aromas of roasted red currant, plum and blueberry meet with cocoa and coffee on the dark and thick nose of this bottling from the Pisoni Vineyard. Lavish and creamy tannins greet the palate and then show a more regal and rigid face, framing flavors of charred meat, rosemary, wild sage and iodine, with dark-berry fruit and brisk acidity washing into the finish.

Opaque purple. An assertively perfumed bouquet evokes fresh dark fruits, exotic spices, incense, candied flowers and espresso. Alluringly sweet and penetrating on the palate, offering expressive, mineral-accented cherry, blackberry, candied violet and spicecake flavors underscored by a vein of juicy acidity. Hangs on with outstanding tenacity on the youthfully tannic, finely etched finish, which leaves behind vibrant dark berry and floral notes.

Coming from a wind-swept ridge in the Pisoni Vineyard, in the southern end of the Santa Lucia Highlands, the 2018 Syrah Susan's Hill boasts a saturated purple color as well as a smoky, peppery bouquet of blue fruits, lavender, smoked game, and iron. This is a young, unevolved, yet beautifully balanced Syrah that has full-bodied richness, ripe, present tannins, and a great finish. It needs 2-3 years of bottle age and will keep for a decade.