Another sexy wine from Sanguis is the 2006 As The Crow Flies. This wine is behaving pretty much the same as it did from barrel last year. Mostly Syrah with about 3% Viognier, the wine has a floral, sexy bouquet, with plenty of sweet cassis, smoked meats, and a little bit of kirsch as well. Lots of baby fat, full body, an expansive, almost decadent mouthfeel, and tremendous persistence characterize this wine. It should drink nicely for a decade or more. Readers who compare last year’s barrel tasting notes with those for the finished wines will notice that these 2006s are dramatically superior to how they showed last year, which is the way it should be. This is an impressive group of wines that, from an appearance standpoint, are clones of Manfred Krankl’s Sine Qua Non, especially the distinctive artistic labels done by the proprietor, much like Krankl does, and the back-breaking heavy bottles.Tel. (805) 640-9432

9 Nearly all Syrah, with a splash of Viognier, this wine comes from some of the best vineyards in the Santa Ynez and Los Alamos Valleys, including the Happy Canyon area. It’s a dramatic glass of red wine, bone dry and fairly tannic, with vast, intricate flavors of blackberries, black currants, teriaki beef, cherries, red licorice, cola, dark chocolate and toast. The Viognier brings a brightening dash of citrus and acidity. An extraordinary wine that will drink well through 2014. ——S.H.(2/1/2011)—— 96