2018 Brick & Mortar West Block Syrah Petaluma Gap 750 ml

Wine Enthusiast credited Brick & Mortar as one of the few wineries “carving out a broader sense of what’s possible” in California, and this 2018 West Block Syrah single-handedly throws down the gauntlet. It’s bringing a 94-point score—so you can sip this stellar Sonoma County red, and say you knew it before it hit the big time. 

Crafted by Matt Iaconis, one of Wine Enthusiast’s “Innovative New Guard Winemakers” of Napa (just one of six), this is an outrageously delicious red that proves that, if Pinot Noir is the star in Northern California’s most buzzed-about new AVA, Brick & Mortar Syrah is the scene-stealer. We’ve got it for a mere $30.

Our server at our favorite Sonoma County lunch spot poured us two glasses of the Brick & Mortar, and guaranteed that they would “make our day.” Apparently “under-promise and over-deliver” hadn’t been part of her training, but we went along. Based on the braised lamb sandwiches that we’d ordered on her recommendation, we were in fantastic hands.

When we swirled and sipped the 2018 Brick & Mortar West Block Syrah—and were dazzled by layered aromas of blackberry jam, violets, herbs, and black pepper, and a savory, mouthwatering palate—we realized her promise was more than modest. Because the Brick & Mortar is not just day-making, It’s a mind-blowing, palate-pleasing red that had us reaching back for a second sip before the mesmerizing first had faded a bit. 

If we’d been tasting it blind, we might have pegged the Brick & Mortar for a benchmark Syrah from the Northern Rhône or one of the stellar Stolpman reds of Santa Barbara County. But it was impossible to focus on one element in the wake of the wine’s overwhelming and undeniable deliciousness.

Brick & Mortar is led by winemaker Matt Iaconis, who was bound for another field—aeronautics—until an elective class at UC Davis piqued his interest in wine. He was hooked. He honed his skills at Piero Antinori’s Antica Napa Valley estate and has left his mark in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and France. But it was a summer in Burgundy that cemented Iaconis’ commitment to cool climate, terroir-driven, European-inspired wines, and in 2011, Brick & Mortar was born. 

Though in the past Iaconis has focused on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, his philosophy of crafting site-specific wines with moderate alcohol and bright acidity carries over seamlessly into the Syrah variety. His secret? Hands-off winemaking, a technique rooted in patience. “Less is more,” says Iaconis. “Nowadays, while I maintain the wine, I do almost nothing once the wine hits the barrel, and minimal prior to that. I try to ensure the fruit is of the highest quality entering the winery and stay out of the way from there.”

The 2018 Brick & Mortar Syrah comes from the West Block, a vineyard located in Sonoma’s Petaluma Gap sub-AVA. Planted in the early 1990’s to the Joseph Phelps clone of Syrah, the nearby San Pablo Bay lends a maritime influence to the vines, and conditions are cool and windy—ask any underdressed first-time visitors. An east-west orientation allows the vines to ripen evenly over the long growing season, and soils of sandstone and shale lend structure and complexity to Syrah grapes.

Syrah has been an insatiable craving of ours in recent months, one that the New York Times’ wine critic might have captured it best in a recent ode to the grape, where he essentially crowned Syrah his desert island red, calling it “an utter joy to drink, intriguing yet comforting.” 

Every last one of the grape’s beguiling charms are in this bottle of Brick & Mortar. A lively magenta hue makes way for crushed violet and blackberry jam aromas while pepper spice and grapefruit peel kick things up a notch. Combining the precision of the Northern Rhône with the richness of its California terroir, it’s a gentle giant—a Syrah for lovers of bold, structured reds, with generous acidity to keep the midpalate on its toes (despite its heft). 

All that power and electric stamina builds slowly but impressively into a chorus finale of black fruit, savory dried herbs, and a spice that echoes long after the last sip. It’s the work of a California winemaker who is crafting wines in a style that evokes Old World elegance while staying true to his home terroir.