2018 Syrah Rosella's Vineyard

The Franscionis are another family of generational farmers with deep roots in the Salinas Valley. Gary Franscioni and his wife, Rosella, started ROAR in 2001, named for the winds that “roar” down the valley and through the highlands like clockwork every afternoon. Their sons, Adam and Nick, are now vineyard manager and winegrower, respectively. This is a proper family-run operation. Winemaker Scott Shapley, who was actually assistant winemaker for the first-ever release in 2001, left for a period and returned as head winemaker in 2013.

ROAR’s lineup consists of wine made from their estate properties—Sierra Mar and Rosella’s—and joint ventures with the Pisoni Family—Soberanes, Garys’ and now WindRock (planted in 2020, first cropped in 2023 and blended into the appellation Pinot Noir, destined for a single-vineyard bottling in the future as the vines mature). There’s no two ways about it: these wines are exceptional in 2022. Harvest began across the properties just as the Labor Day heat set in and lasted for two weeks. In spite of the less-than-ideal weather conditions and low yields, a few adjustments in the winery (increased bleed-offs and more frequent punch-downs) compensated beautifully.

The 2022s at ROAR are amongst the best the SLH has to offer. The 2022 Chardonnay Soberanes Vineyard is the white wine of the vintage, displaying power, depth, significant minerality and undeniable energy. The 2022 Syrah Sierra Mar Vineyard is the Syrah of the vintage, marrying approachability with supreme depth and age-ability. And, unsurprisingly, the 2022 Pinot Noir Garys’ Vineyard takes the cake as the wine of the vintage—a complete wine in every sense.

Gary and Rosella Franscioni planted their first vines in the Santa Lucia Highlands in 1996, at what is now known as Rosella’s vineyard. The inaugural vintage for ROAR (named for the winds that come off the ocean) was 2001, and the family has since expanded to include the Sierra Mar vineyard and, in partnership with the Pisoni family, the Garys’ and, most recently, Soberanes vineyards, all of which must be counted as among the New World’s elite sites for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and now Syrah. The Franscionis’ sons, Adam and Nick, have been steadily assuming more duties here, with Adam coming on board in 2011 and Nick in 2017. ROAR is another winery whose style has been making a gradual shift from emphasizing richness to focusing on finesse and detail. The 2018 vintage definitely gave the Franscionis an opportunity to craft vibrant wines from all their varieties, which they did, and impressively so. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this set of bottlings turn out to be the best ever here.