At Piedrasassi, Sashi Moorman and his wife, Melissa, have been making great, restrained, Northern Rhone-style Syrah for a decade. Their belief is that good Syrah can be made at many sites in Santa Barbara County, but it is at the cool climate sites where the fruit is most compelling; producing the most complex aromas and the silkiest of textures. The P.S. is 100% Syrah and picked a bit earlier to keep the alcohol levels in balance with flavor and to preserve the natural acidity of the fruit. They use whole-cluster inclusion and indigenous yeasts during fermentation, and add no sulfur at fermentation to make the wine as natural as possible without compromising stability. Larger 500-liter barrels are used to limit the wine’s exposure to oxygen and to minimize the influence of oak after fermentation. Plum, blackberry and cedar with savory herbs on the finish make this a great wine for meatier foods.