Desire Lines “Winds of Change” Syrah '21

Desire Lines is the work of Cody and Emily Rasmussen, a husband-and-wife team who moved to California from the Midwest in 2011. In 2013, Cody started working as assistant winemaker at Bedrock Wine Co. (where he is now head winemaker), and a few years later they made their first wine, establishing Desire Lines.

Working with carefully farmed vineyards throughout Northern California, an area that is home to a stunningly rich assortment of historically significant and distinctive vineyards, they produce singular wines of character that are faithful to their vineyard sources and absolutely delicious.

In the cellar, they practice native yeast fermentations, often using whole cluster in many of the red wines, and age the wines in mostly neutral oak and large-format barrels.

The 2021 “Winds of Change” Syrah is made mostly from fruit grown in Santa Barbara County (about two-thirds), with the remaining fruit coming from the North Coast. Viognier was cofermented with a couple of lots, accounting for an average of slightly under one percent of the total blend. All lots were fermented with some whole-cluster inclusion, and the wines were raised almost exclusively in 500-liter barrels without racking. No new oak barrels were used.

Medium-bodied, “Winds of Change” shows Syrah’s classic notes—red and dark berries, mint, lavender, peppercorn spice, and anise—and the energy so often missing from other bottlings of the variety. It’s wonderful now and well worth cellaring a few bottles of as well.