At the heart of Tyler Winery’s success sits one very simple philosophy: Wine should be elegant, honest, and aromatically pure. Everything they do spirals out gracefully from that initial conviction. It sounds overly simple, but spend an afternoon on the windswept hills of the Santa Maria Valley AVA, kicking up sparkling marine sediment and marveling at the sheer variety of exposures, and you’ll begin to understand why purity of terroir is a bit of an obsession here.
No two vineyards, no two blocks are alike—it takes us back to Burgundy and its “game of inches,” but Wild-West style, without the neat little signs and roads and villages, just acres of gorgeous vine as far as the eye can see. And after that, the great Pacific. It’s thrilling to have watched the development and maturation of this region in the public eye, thanks to winemakers like Justin Willett who cut no corners when it comes to delivering not just a wine, but its story. Willett cites producers such as Dujac, Roulot, and Bonneau du Martray as European inspirations, which contextualizes his dedication to site-specific Pinot Noir. Tyler Winery has grown from eight barrels to 5,000 cases since 2005. Still, today’s “Dierberg-Block Five” Pinot Noir represents just 10 precious barrels. It’s an honor to offer a wine both delicious and principled, not just something we like to drink but something we like to talk about.
Tyler is located in Santa Barbara County, one of our favorite places for sourcing distinctive Pinot Noirs due to that wonderful combination of marine-based soil and cooling ocean winds, winding their way through the transverse ranges and valleys of the region. These wines are grown on the very crust of what we would imagine as suitable viticultural land, and for that reason it’s all the more exciting and transparent. Good thing too, considering Tyler sources from 22 distinctive parcels within seven different vineyard sites. Each is chosen for its individual voice and the way it echoes in the resulting wine. Willett only works with vineyards that allow him to take an active role in their farming. The quest for purity and intensity goes a step farther than terroir: Tyler is carefully amassing contracts with the oldest vineyard blocks in the county, some dating back to the mid-20th century. Willett is a crusader in the holy war of reviving historic vineyards and restoring them to former glory. Each bottle is a triumph of delicate and intuitive farming. Tyler has recently expanded from the Sta. Rita Hills into Bien Nacido in the Santa Maria Valley, motivated by vineyards whose stories he’d like to tell.
The Dierberg-Block Five Pinot Noir comes from the Eastern part of this particular Santa Maria site separated from the rest of the vineyard by a little creek. Planted in 1997 on clay-loam over gravel, the vines produce a truly powerful, brooding expression of Pinot—the noir-est of the Noir. A focused, minimal winemaking process strips away any unnecessary steps to reveal what was in the fruit to begin with: clarity, poise, and vibrancy. Grapes are hand-picked and entirely destemmed for a native-yeast fermentation that kicks off in about four to five days. A gentle extraction is achieved using a combination of punch-downs and pump-overs before the wine is barreled down to a modest 30 percent new French oak. Blends are created by Willett and his team at 12-14 months of age before the wine is returned to barrel for an additional few months before bottling. The Dierberg is not for the faint of heart nor palate, but if you like tightly wound, earth-driven Pinot as much as we do, you’ll appreciate the depth and focus of this wine after five years of bottle age to soften some of its more rustic tannins.
This wine is as beautiful to look at as it’s pleasurable to drink. Color is a deep, clear ruby with little garnet reflections. The nose is stuffed full of wonderful earth notes: incense, warm loamy soil, cigar smoke, and orange rind. The palate is slightly more fruited—wild cherry, and cola take lead, balanced with iron and soft mushroom. The finish is still fresh with maritime acidity, and those initially grippy tannins have mellowed for a velvetier texture. Still, it would be a disservice to wine and palate alike not to pair with something classic: we’re thinking a whole, glorious, sticky lacquered duck from whatever Chinese restaurant does it best near you. If you want to go the extra mile and make your duck at home, try the attached recipe for duck confit with spicy pickled raisins.
We recommend serving in Burgundy stems at 60 degrees. There’s clear potential for aging: The five years the wine has already softened are just the tip of the iceberg. Give it another five in the cellar before checking in again, but have another few bottles squirreled away to celebrate the arrival of 2030—you’ll think it’s Burgundy by that time!
