Unknown Brother Kimsey Vineyard Syrah Santa Barbara County 2019

A great pleasure in finding wines for our clubs is discovering new, family-owned wine labels and acting as a launchpad for these small producers to share their wines across the country and worldwide. Not everyone works well with family (pointing at myself here), but we’ve found that for those who do, the familial bond is a driving force for success, with a ferocity of passion, unlike others.  While many family wine brands are immediate family; businesses run by spouses, Unknown Brother sets itself apart as the endeavor and dream project of two brothers.  After 25 years in the wine industry, their careers finally intersected with the release of the 2019 Syrah from Kimsey Vineyard.  Even though we’d love to reveal to you the identities of these secretive brothers, our lips are sealed.  Part of the magic in tasting this wine is embarking on a blind experience, leaving pretense behind to absorb the wine in its barest, most authentic expression.

The brothers represent the two main pillars of producing wine: a viticulturist and a winemaker.  The duo quietly tinkered away in the wine industries of California’s Central Coast and Napa Valley for two decades, making wines and managing vineyards for big-name companies.  As we all do, they conjured up daydreams in their time off together of one day crafting wines of character from the best fruit and with intuitive winemaking.  Lovers of adventure sports, these musings often occurred outdoors, on mountain bike treks, bouldering in Joshua Tree, or between runs while skiing the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  And often, the conversations continued into the evenings over many shared bottles of wine and plenty of beer.  Finally, after much pontification and many stops and starts, they found their ideal vineyard through professional connections and secured the contract for their 2019 debut vintage.

One of the primary goals for Unknown Brother is to craft wines they love to drink, and for many a winemaker, that means Syrah.  And sourcing just the right Syrah grapes landed them in the Ballard Canyon AVA of Santa Barbara County at Kimsey Vineyard.  The 22 acres of certified organically farmed vines enjoy the benefits of Santa Barbara’s wine country with loads of sunshine and warm temperatures throughout the day, and breezy ocean winds cooling the berries overnight.  To bring vibrancy to the wine and add aromatic complexity, they included a marginal amount of Viognier from McGinley Vineyard in the Happy Canyon AVA.

After harvest in mid-October, de-stemming, and hand-sorting, the grapes underwent a 4-day cold soak.  The Syrah and Viognier co-fermented for 18 days, receiving daily hand-done punch downs before gentle pressing to barrel.  Malolactic fermentation kicked off in barrel (40% new French oak), where the wine aged for 26 months after that.  This Syrah is big, bold, and beautiful with all the intriguing subtleties for which the varietal is known.  Dark and spicy black fruit jams with purple flowers and black pepper impress on first breath with deeper layers of chocolate, berry compote, and cranberry tart.  The tannins hold structure for the medium acidity to brighten the palate and highlight notes of wild mint and pipe tobacco.  After others taste the 2019 Kimsey Vineyard Syrah, we expect the Unknown Brother duo may not stay secret for long.