Sunstone
Showing 1 thru -9 of 48
Sunstone 2005 Doce da Alma Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley)
- $25
Made from Syrah, this dessert wine’s enormous sweetness makes it really nice to sip. It seduces the palate with peppery honey, chocolate and raspberry truffle flavors finished with cloves and anise. The residual sugar level, undefined by the winery, is huge, and the acidity is balanced, making the wine utterly delicious.
— S.H.
(10/1/2008)
Sunstone 2005 Estate Bottled Reserve Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley)
- $58
Stash this in the cellar for a while, because even though it’s well over three years old, it’s still a big, immature wine. Dry and tannic, it explodes with jammy blackberries, cherries, chocolate, cola, licorice, orange zest and pepper flavors, wrapped into sweet, smoky oak. The parts should begin to come together by the end of 2009.
— S.H.
(7/1/2009)
Sunstone 1999 Eros Red (Santa Ynez Valley)
- $36
If ever there was a vintage to ripen Bordeaux grapes in Santa Barbara, it was this one. This commendable effort is plush and opulent, balancing cassis fruit with earthy tobacco notes. It has style and class, and if it lacks the extra depth of top North Coast clarets, it’s at least coming close. —S.H.
— S.H.
(2/1/2003)
Sunstone 1999 Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley)
- $40
A lovely, elegant wine, with good balance and rich fruit. It’s dry, with a soft, velvety mouthfeel and easy tannins. Not too fruity, with blackberry, peppery flavors and earthier, herbal notes. It has quality written all over it, and is a good example of Syrah from warmer Santa Barbara vineyards.
— S.H.
(12/1/2002)
Sunstone 2003 Eros Red (Santa Ynez Valley)
- $50
Scores high on the deliciousness scale, with melted chocolate, blackberry jam, red cherry pie and vanilla-coffee flavors. What’s not to like? This Merlot-based wine is soft and creamy and dry. It’s one of the best Bordeaux-style reds to come out of this valley.
— S.H.
(9/1/2006)
Sunstone 1999 Reserve Merlot (Santa Ynez Valley)
- $30
This winery’s reserve Merlot is richer than the regular release, and from a better vintage. It’s marked by blackberry flavors edged with earth, notable oak and dry, distinguished tannins. It’s a young wine, a little rough now. The winemaker suggests aging for 10 years, which may be pushing it.
— S.H.
(11/15/2002)
Sunstone 2003 Reserve Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley)
- $42
Richly textured, with blackberry, cola, espresso and spicy oak flavors that are folded into soft, intricately laced tannins. Shows some heat on the finish. Drink now.
— S.H.
(12/1/2006)
Sunstone 2007 Viognier (Santa Ynez Valley)
- Online Exclusive
- $29
Drier and more streamlined than many Viogniers out there, with a crisp spine of minerals that undergirds the variety’s traditional exotic flavors. Beneath the chalk you’ll find savory tastes of apricot jam, blood oranges, mint and vanilla.
— S.H.
(7/1/2009)
Showing 1 thru -9 of 48
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