Biodynamic Syrah: Cayuse, J. Dirt, Ojai Mountain
Who loves Syrah? Whether it is inky or peppery or blueberries or mulberries or full on herbs, we do, we really do! We especially love it when it is bright and balanced and farmed with respect to the land– organically and biodynamically, considering the health of planet as well as people. The climate where the Syrah grapes grow influences the profile of the finished wines. In cool climates, Syrah may be lighter, peppery, and elegant while in moderate climates like the northern Rhone Valley and parts of the Walla Walla AVA in Washington State Syrah produces medium to full-bodied wines with bramble fruit, herbs and black pepper notes. Hotter climates like Australia for Syrah (or Shiraz) often means fuller-bodied wines with soft tannins, jammy blueberries, and notes of licorice and leather.
With Syrah Day Feb. 16 (and any day you open a bottle of Syrah!), these three check all the boxes: biodynamic, juicy, elegant, full of flavor, food friendly. Today we feature one of the most well known biodynamic Syrahs from Washington’s Cayuse, plus up and coming J Dirt from San Luis Obispo (mostly growers but also makers), and finally brand new Ojai Mountain in Ventura County which is about to release the second vintage of their Syrah. All three wineries have a pioneering spirit with where and how they are producing biodynamic Syrah.
While I have yet to get to Cayuse or J. Dirt (although I have interviewed winemaker Brook Williams and driven past their sign), I recently visited the brand new Ojai Mountain Vineyard Estate, located high above the Ojai Valley with views stretching to the Pacific Ocean and beyond to the Channel Islands and Santa Barbara County on a clear day. Even though with a telescope I’d be able to see my house along Ventura’s coast far below and 10 miles away as the crow flies, it’s a 45 minute drive on windy roads to get there– with the final 5 miles a narrow single lane along a ridge and the last leg on dirt. Not for the faint hearted but I relish drives like this! I’d love to be able to park my VW van up here and camp out!
Ojai Mountain Vineyards owner Olga Chernov and winemaker Erich Bradley at the estate; vineyards above their shoulders to the left
From my house at sea level in Ventura, I wound up and up and up from Santa Paula along Sisar Creek and beside the Topa Topa in the supper Ojai Valley to get to Sulphur Mountain road where Ojai Mountain Vineyards perches on the edge of 3,000′ Sulphur Mountain. (The dirt road there from highway 33 from Ventura is closed to cars and very popular with mountain bikers, hikers, mountain lions, coyotes, and even bears! My husband rides to the top and back regularly).
LA Wine Writers visit to Ojai Mountain Feb. 10, 2025 with Erich Bradley
The vineyards are at 2800′ — an elevation which allows grapes to ripen without getting too “hot” or high in alcohol– warm during the day with off shore winds common in the afternoon, and cool nights. Winds can even be “violent” according to winemaker Erich Bradley who is based in Sonoma County CA where he makes wine for several projects on Moon Mountain.
LA Wine Writers Terry Nozick and Melanie Webber at Ojai Mountain
Erich Bradley worked with famed biodynamic expert Phil Coturri from the beginning to make Ojai Mountain a biodynamic showcase in such a remote location. Right now six acres are planted with plans to plant many more. Production facilities in Sonoma require a lengthy drive that can challenge the quality of the arriving grapes, but winery buildings on the property are in the future.
Owner Olga LA Wine Writer Melanie Webber at Ojai Mountain
When Ojai Mountain owners Olga and Mikhail Chernov purchased the property, they had no intentions of growing grapes for wine. But, Olga says, “We like wine” and since the land is zoned agricultural, they could get a tax break, and somehow growing grapes and making wine all made sense– that is, once they had Phil Coturri and Erich Bradley intrigued by the possibilities of this high altitude terroir.
LA Wine Writer Terry Nozick at Ojai Mountain with Ojai Valley Inn sommelier Toshi Barnes
Well, I can tell you, the intrigue is paying off! I’ll write about the racy whites and Rhone reds another time, but for now, we have 2022 Ojai Mountain Syrah to taste alongside 2019 Syrahs from Cayuse and J Dirt.
When we compared these wines, we felt like we were waltzing with both Beauty and the Beast! With their rich deep colors and heady aromas, we expected a Beast lurked in these beauties– especially after the brooding, sultry scent of the Cayuse. But like the Beast in the fairy tale, these wines are elegant and light on their feet. Don’t be afraid– invite them for a dance with your palate!
For all three of these wines, the winemaker is deeply involved in the farming. We think that makes a difference when it comes to a tango for the tongue!
Biodynamic Syrah: Cayuse, J. Dirt, Ojai Mountain
Wines from Biodynamic Farmers
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2022 Ojai Mountain Syrah, Ventura County, CA
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2019 Slide Hill by J Dirt, Edna Valley, San Luis Obispo County, CA
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2019 Cayuse Vineyards “Cailloux” Syrah, Walla Walla, WA
Menu
- Sue’s home grown tomatoes oven roasted over goat cheese with olive oil
- Sue’s homemade meatballs with meat from Watkins Ranch on a bed of organic spaghetti
- Organic tangerines and greens with herbed nuts and olives, cumin lemon parsley garbanzo beans, a slice of Humbolt Fog cheese
- White passionfruit truffles and dark chocolate raspberry truffles: both were way too sweet for the wines; I would do a cheese plate for dessert instead
2022 Ojai Mountain Syrah, Ventura County
2022 Ojai Mountain Syrah, Ventura County
ABV: 14.7%
SRP: $90
Grapes: Syrah; biodynamic certification in process
sample for my review
Olga and Mikhail Chernov founded Ojai Mountain, and planned to plant their 2800′ vineyards in 2017, but fortunately something went wrong because in 2017, the Thomas Fire swept through the region and would have destroyed the baby vineyard. In 2018, they planted a variety of wine grapes to see what would “stick,” and Syrah turns out to be the winner. No surprise to us — the Roll Ranch Syrah grown nearby made by Adam Tolmach is a stunner, I’ve helped picked zinfandel in upper Ojai that went into Clos des Amis wine, and we’ve enjoyed wines from Pacific View grapes grown on a nearby ridge.
Appearance: Deep and dark, a bit cloudy, maroon, purple, plum beautiful pink rim.
Aroma: Blueberry, boysenberry, schezuan pepper, pink pepper, white sage, chaparral, very enjoyable, church spice.
Palate: Smooth yet dry, tannins and structure, great acidity, blue fruit, mulberry, blueberry, rhubarb. It is so juicy but the structure of the wine makes it so much more than just a jam bomb. Would love to revisit this in a few years!
Pairing: The oven roasted tomatoes with goat cheese on a crunchy bruschetta was absolutely amazing both texturally and flavorfully experiential. The wine becomes smooth and juicy, the salad also went quite nicely with the wine, the tangerines brought out beautiful orange oil in the wine that wasn’t there in our original tasting notes, it also loves the rich creamy cashews, the wine also responded nicely with the bold Humbolt fog cheese, the spaghetti and meatballs are so rich and delicious and bring out the fruit and sweetness in the wine while the bold wine tames the spicy meatballs, they almost melt in your mouth and are fantastic with this wine.
2019 Slide Hill by J. Dirt, Edna Valley, San Luis Obispo, CA
2019 Slide Hill Syrah by J. Dirt, Edna Valley, San Luis Obispo, CA
ABV: 14.5%
SRP: $60
Grapes: biodynamic certified Syrah
sample for my review
“I understand why people don’t do biodynamic winemaking,” J. Dirt’s Brook Williams told me in an interview. “It’s not easy.” While their vineyards are “sheep grazed, mowed, and occasionally hand hoed,” Brook continued, “Sometimes we just let the weeds grow.”
J. Dirt (aka Brook Williams and his siblings) purchased the organic/biodynamic Sawyer-Lindquist Vineyard from Bob and Louisa in 2013 and they renamed it to Slide Hill Vineyard after the mountain 2½ miles north and at 2200 feet elevation in the Santa Lucia mountain range. This vineyard sent them on their journey into biodynamic practices. They sold the vineyard in 2020 to consolidate efforts in their Santa Barbara biodynamic vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills between Buellton and Lompoc: Duvarita and Christy and Wise. (Note: one of my absolute favorite Syrah wines comes from Duvarita and is made by Adam Tolmach; we almost included it in this round up but decide to focus on estate wines and grower makers.)
“We’re going for something that doesn’t beat you in the face with alcohol– that has some soul to it, nuances, character,” Brook said. Even though this wine clocks in at 14.5%, IMHO, he’s accomplishing his goal.
Appearance: Maroon with a garnet rim, dark and dense.
Aroma: Very earthen, black pepper, mulberry, rhubarb, leather, sage, chaparral, violet, eucalyptus. Every time you come back to the nose, you are rewarded by a beautiful experience and it brings you coming back for more.
Palate: So juicy, blue fruit, juicy and dry, mellow tannins, very smooth yet structured. Lay down Syrah like this if you can for a few years and you will be rewarded.
Pairing: The wine becomes so much more fruit forward with food. The wine was amazing with the Humbolt fog, and fabulous with the salad loving the herbs in the seasoned nuts and the tangerine, all of it brought out the rich fruit in the wine. Oh so great with the oven roasted tomatoes with goat cheese with bruschetta, the acidity in the dish is washed away and enhanced by the wine, the wine brings out the spice in the meal and makes the wine very fruity and lovely.
2019 Cayuse Vineyards “Cailloux” Syrah, Walla Walla WA
2019 Cayuse Vineyards “Cailloux” Syrah, Walla Walla WA
ABV: 13.6%
SRP: $140
Grapes: biodynamic Syrah co-fermented with 4% Viognier
sample for my review
Christophe Baron is the oldest son from the Champagne house Baron Albert, and his family worked their land in the Marne Valley of France since 1677 with horses doing all of the vineyard cultivation until the 1950s.
Christophe studied enology in Champagne, then in the 1990s, left France to travel the world and learn more about winemaking. Along the way, he found an ancient cobbled riverbed on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley that reminded him of the stony vineyards of Chateauneaf du Pape. When Christophe planted the first vines in the Stones in 1997 at Cayuse, he also chose “closed circle” farming. In 2002 Christophe was first to use biodynamic farming techniques in the Walla Walla Valley. In 2008, he became the first vigneron in the United States dedicated to using draft horses instead of tractors. With each of the horses making thirteen 44 mile passes in the vineyards, his production is literally horsepowered.
Christophe Baron says “The point is to create an honest wine that has an identity…You want to taste the place.” A wine’s fingerprint, he believes, is its minerality; this is why Cayuse wines all come from estate fruit, to create a true expression of each unique vineyard. Planted in 1997, the 10 acre Cailloux Vineyard is his first Walla Walla Valley planted in the famous stones of Milton Freewater.
This is not an easy wine to get; the waiting list for an allocation is long, very long. We are grateful for the opportunity to taste this wine together and pair it; I had tasted it before when a fellow wine writer shared it with me and a small group of other writers. We have also tasted his horse powered Grenache (read here) and his Tempranillo (read here).
Appearance: Plum with a bright ruby rim, you would not guess that this is a 2019 by the vibrant, bright color in the glass. Deep dark and dense, a bit of sediment so some cloudiness.
Aroma: Earth, leather, loam, volcanic, iron rich, broody, black pepper, damp earth, damp brush, damp soil, plum, mulberry, horsey.
Palate: Juicy blueberry, blueberry pie, bold tannins, well structured, orange oil, it is very balanced full bodied with lively acidity, musk, cocoa nibs, carob, iron richness, at the end of sipping and enjoying we just wanted more.
Pairing: As structured as this wine was prior to food, with food it becomes a baby in your arms, all soft cuddly and smooth as a baby’s bottom. The roasted tomatoes have a very vibrant and and intense flavor which is enhanced and tamed by the wine. Truly the beast turned into a beauty! Very nice with the Humbolt fog cheese as the wine cuts the richness of the cheese and cleanses the palate well. Also very nice with the rest of our salad as it works well with the garbanzo beans and the lemon and the cumin and the nuts. With the hearty garbanzo beans and herbed nuts, this is a salad that works with red or white wines and this is no exception, as the two danced and entertained together bringing out lovely fruit in the wine. The wine is complex and the salad had nice complexity and textures that worked so well together. The meatballs become so sweet with this wine, sweet rich and lovely and the wine is sweet rich and lovely.
Happy Syrah Day! Which Syrah will you pour into your glass? Which one of these biodynamic beauties is YOUR jam and makes you want to dance?
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 