We came home today after spending a few days in Los Angeles at a trade show. Boy it is great to be back home in Santa Barbara! To celebrate, we opened a local wine, the 2004 Curran Black Oak Vineyard Syrah Reserve, made by Kris Curran. She is responsible for some award winning wines at Cambria and most notably Sea Smoke Cellars. With the Curran brand, she focuses on a handful of varietals including Grenache Blanc, Sangiovese, Syrah, Tempranillo. Her single vineyard Syrahs are really interesting to taste side by side because Kris focuses on trying to bring out the character of the varietal as well as unique characteristics imparted by the vineyard. You can drink the same vintage, the same varietal, with the only difference being that the fruit was grown a mile or so apart at a different vineyard and taste remarkable differences.