Do we ship to you?.
More wines available from Herman Story
750ml
Bottle:
$58.89
More Mourvèdre-dominated, the 2020 Casual Encounters is a blend of 58% Mourvèdre, 34% Syrah, and 8% Grenache....
750ml
Bottle:
$58.89
The 2020 Bolt Cutter is darkly inviting with a spicy blend of black currants, menthol and grilled herbs. It's...
More Details
Winery
Herman Story
Varietal: Syrah
The Shiraz or Syrah grape varietal has seen a huge surge in popularity over the past few decades, partly due to the fact that more and more wineries around the world are beginning to plant and process this robust and flavorful grape for international audiences. This varietal has plenty going for it, and has the special ability of being able to clearly express positive features of its terroir in the bottle, alongside its characteristic flavors of dark berries, pepper and other spices. Shiraz/Syrah is also notably a highly versatile grape, and has been successfully used in several type of still red wine, as well as excellent sparkling and fortified wines. It is also regularly used as a blending grape, where it is prized for its ability to add a bold and strong, spicy punch to mellow, blended wines.
Region: California
California as a wine producing region has grown in size and importance considerably over the past couple of centuries, and today is the proud producer of more than ninety percent of the United States' wines. Indeed, if California was a country, it would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world, with a vast range of vineyards covering almost half a million acres. The secret to California's success as a wine region has a lot to do with the high quality of its soils, and the fact that it has an extensive Pacific coastline which perfectly tempers the blazing sunshine it experiences all year round. The winds coming off the ocean cool the vines, and the natural valleys and mountainsides which make up most of the state's wine regions make for ideal areas in which to cultivate a variety of high quality grapes.
Country: United States
Whilst there are several strains of native grape varietals in the United States, it was the introduction of the European species which prompted the country to begin producing wines on a large scale. Over the past few centuries, experimentation and cross-breeding has produced great successes in regards to the quality and suitability of the fruit grown in states such as California, Oregon, Washington and New York, and the past few decades have seen New World wines from the United States reach much higher standards. Arguably the finest United States wines have always come out of California, where the climate and terrroir is most suitable for fine wine production. The masterful blending of classic grape varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, amongst others including Syrah and Chardonnay, have had world beating results in recent years, prompting many to suggest that there has never been a better time for buying and drinking United States wines.
Appellation: Santa Barbara
The beautiful region of Santa Barbara in California is one of the United States' most important wine regions, with a history which stretches back over a hundred years, and which currently has a high reputation for excellence and wines of character and distinction. Many people claim that the county of Santa Barbara is highly similar to that of Provence in France, with its gently sloping hillsides and lush green spaces. The similarity extends to the wines which are produced there, which generally involve big, flavorful and characterful red wines made from classic grape varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon. The dozens of wineries in Santa Barbara benefit enormously from the hot sunshine and cooling Pacific winds, meaning that many different varietals can flourish there and produce a wide array of exceedingly high quality wines.