Aged 16 months in once-used and neutral French oak, the 2018 Syrah Garys' Vineyard has a medium ruby-purple color and is youthfully coiled on the nose, offering dense cassis fruit with hints of spearmint, milk chocolate and crushed blueberries. The palate is full-bodied but surprisingly light on its feet, with a silky frame, great freshness and lifted, minty character, finishing long and bright. Lovely! 110 cases were made.

The 2017 Syrah Garys' Vineyard, containing a 1% splash of Viognier and made with 30% whole cluster, has a medium to deep ruby-purple color and a layered nose of crème de cassis, olive, game meats, red cherry liqueur, roast coffee, dark chocolate and clove aromas and a classy framing of new oak. The full-bodied palate has explosive flavor layers and a firmer, albeit finely grained frame, with just enough freshness to lift the very long, dense finish. This will benefit from another 2-3 years in bottle. 85 cases were made.

The 2016 Syrah Garys' Vineyard is deep ruby-purple with bombastic cassis, warm blackberries, bay leaves, bitter chocolate and hints of red cherries and dried flowers with a sweet spice undercurrent. The firm, grainy palate is full-bodied with well-tempered fruits and minty accents, finishing long and dense with just enough freshness. Give this another couple years in bottle.

Medium to deep garnet-purple, the 2015 Syrah Garys' Vineyard opens with black cherries and crushed wild blueberries, plus suggestions of black pepper, garrigue, tapenade and violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has lovely ripe, rounded tannins and tons of freshness framing the floral and spice notes, finishing long and fruity. 47 cases were made.

I found the two Syrahs to have hit slightly higher peaks of quality than the Pinot Noirs from this estate in 2014. The 88-case 2014 Syrah Garys' Vineyard offers terrific, full-bodied and complex notes of cassis and black raspberry fruits, pepper, dried flowers and ample earth and minerality in a balanced, elegant, focused style. This is a gorgeous California Syrah that represents a smoking value at this quality level.