02 Mar Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Luna Hart 2019 Syrah, Ballard Canyon AVA, Santa Ynez Valley

I have been a fan of Gretchen Voelcker and her Luna Hart Wines since I first tasted them at the Garagiste Festival in 2018. Over the years, I have sipped on her Gruner Veltliner and Cabernet Franc and this week I was drinking the Luna Hart 2019 Syrah, Ballard Canyon AVA, Santa Ynez Valley, the Please The Palate wine of the week. Gretchen launched Luna Hart in 2017, specializing in small batch, handcrafted wines from vineyards practicing sustainable, organic or biodynamic farming throughout Santa Barbara County. She focuses on her favorite grape varieties, such as Gruner Veltliner, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc, with the aim of highlighting the grape variety and the vintage. Her wines are unfiltered and un-fined, and are pure expressions of the grape and the terroir. There were only 56 cases of the Luna Hart 2019 Syrah, Ballard Canyon AVA, Santa Ynez Valley which retailed for $42. I am very happy to have gotten my hands on one of these bottles. The Syrah is sourced from Hinnrich’s Vineyard on the South end of Ballard Canyon AVA. The steep slopes are planted in sandy (like a beach) soils. The wine has beautiful aromas of black raspberries, blackberries, fresh blueberries, pomegranate, licorice, baking spices, and earth. On the palate, it is medium-bodied with fresh acidity and a smooth finish. The Luna Hart 2019 Syrah is sold out but I am eagerly awaiting the release of the 2020!