Sashi Moorman, Melissa Sorongon & Peter Pastan

If you want to understand how Sashi Moorman redefined ripeness in Santa Barbara — and, arguably, California — drink this wine. When it comes to American Syrah, fruit is easy, savory is hard. While the rest of the country is shooting airballs, Sashi Moorman is sinking threes like he's Stephen Curry.

Rim Rock Syrah - 2017

Sourced from coastal, own-rooted vines, here’s cool-climate Syrah at its best. Helium-lifted, savage, sublime.

WHY THIS PRODUCER: Sashi Moorman is American wine’s Benjamin Franklin — ever experimenting, iterating, and going against the grain. And his lightning rod is cool-climate Syrah, a style he pioneered in Santa Barbara County by cultivating vineyards closer to the Pacific ocean than anyone thought possible. He also shares Franklin's worldly charms, taking his cues from the Old World, and serving as American wine's unofficial European ambassador. If you’re ever in Santa Barbara, make sure to visit the Saturday farmers' market, where Piedrasassi co-owner/baker Melissa Sorongon sells the winery's signature bread, which she makes from freshly milled heritage grains in a hand-built wood-fired oven.