Roark - 'Alondra de los Prados Vineyard' - Syrah - Santa Ynez Valley, CA - 2019

For those of you who have been drinking our wine for a while the syrah from Alondra de los Prados is no stranger and is one of my favorite wines to make each year. This little vineyard is always so expressive and each year is a bit, sometimes radically, different. 2019 was a fairly drama-free season and I couldn’t be happier with the wine. It reminds me more of 2016 and 2018 which were cooler seasons and the wines leaned more earthy vs. fruity, while 2015 and 2017 were more fruity and much more concentrated. When you stick your nose in the glass of the 2019 you get eucalyptus, lavender and leather. Upon intro to the palate it switches to vintage velvet and firm fruit. Drink this wine slightly chilled with lamb burgers on a cool summer evening and you will be happy.

Making wine is the last step in the growing of grapes, the preservation of the crop, the enological encapsulation of the vintage. Sometimes inspired by the classics and other times the avant garde we strive to make elegantly energetic wines that reflect the vintage, variety, and vineyard.
Growing grapes and making wine is quite the process and we are guided by the following question; is it necessary? Each additional step in the process takes you one step further away from the grapes, further away from the vines, further away from the simplest expression.
Who?
*Ryan, Jenn, and Ellis Roark *
In 2009 two monumental things occurred, Ryan made his first batch of Roark Wine Co. wine and he met Jenn. In 2016 they had Ellis and if he wants he can be a winemaker.