From one of the genuinely first rate producers in San Diego’s emerging wine region of Ramona. This wine has the soul of a roadhouse blues bar where troubadours of the tormented heart pass a beggar’s hat, the menu lists 15 deep fried appetizers, and you leave with sawdust in your shoes. This blend of Petite Sirah (60%) and Syrah (40%) is as taut and brawny as the Harleys in the parking lot with a nose as pretty as the slummin’ college girls looking for a fast ride.
Aromas of blackberry bramble meld with a lovely trio of sweet oak, pencil shavings, and freshly turned earth. These warm, wood-laced flavors take on chocolate and char on the palate where rich, sustained fruit power and rollicking acidity give the wine energy and momentum. The broad, chiseled tannins first appear as a gentle undertow but then spread like the rising rumble of 20 bad boys on bikes and then linger and leave slowly as if becalmed by horsepower and adrenaline.
I’m always fascinated by wines that exude both power and grace, in this case, a result of the calming influence of 40 months in third-fill French oak barrels and the fondly remembered Stevie Ray Vaughan’s The House is a Rockin’
Score: 91
Price: $33
Alc: 14.8%
Exploring the Philosophy of Food and Wine 
you are catching most of the very best in Ramona..
Edwards
Chuparosa
Kohill
Cactus Star
You need to get to Castelli Family (opened this year) and out to warner Springs for Hawk Watch
Hi Greg,
Yes those four at at the top of my list in Ramona. I’ve been to Hawk Watch although it’s been several years. I haven’t visited Castelli. Thanks for the tip!