2018 Saison Winery Syrah Coastview Vineyard Monterey County 750 ml

San Francisco’s MICHELIN two-star Saison restaurant is unconventional and hyper-local—and it makes sense that they have their own winery. 

Saison Winery focuses on the California coast, and their 2018 Syrah Coastview Vineyard comes from a stunning site in Monterey County’s Gabilan Mountains. Sitting at 2,200+ feet above sea level and bathed in cool breeze from Monterey Bay. Syrah and Bordeaux varieties thrive in this spot, where dense, dark, chewy varieties become very elegant and pretty.

The product of a mild 2018 vintage with a long, drawn-out harvest season, the 2018 Syrah shows good acid levels and excellent phenolic ripeness. It spent 18 months in 50% new 500L puncheons 2018 Coastview Syrah shows a gorgeous midnight-purple color in the glass, with beautiful notes of blackberry, licorice, chocolate, allspice. 

“It’s unapologetically California fruit, but made in a way that makes them much more delicate, approachable with our kind of cooking,” sommelier Molly Greene says of the Syrah, which she  pairs with A5 Wagyu beef from Miyazaki, Japan, served with radicchio grilled over the embers, sauce made from dried mushroom, and marrow of the same wagyu. “I try to look for things that have more herbs, florals, savory qualities—things that work well with the smoke. That’s what the Saison wines bring to the table.”

Saison founder/winemaker Mark Bright began his career in wine as a sommelier at Aqua Restaurant in Las Vegas, then went on to become the sommelier for the flagship programs at the Mina restaurants in San Francisco. The Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning wine list at Saison is presided over by Molly Greene, who took over in 2021. Molly says, “This Syrah is a wine the Saison team loves to drink.”