Kokoro Syrah-Grenache
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2032
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck, grilled lamb chops, wild mushroom risotto
✨ Technical Specifications
Paul Lato's Kokoro is a soulful homage to the Japanese concept of kokoro, which translates to heart, mind, and spirit. This Rhone-style red blend of Syrah and Grenache is sourced from prestigious, cool-climate vineyards in Santa Barbara County, often featuring fruit from the acclaimed Ballard Canyon AVA. Lato, a former sommelier, crafts this wine with a focus on texture, balance, and emotional resonance. The Syrah provides dark fruit, savory spice, and structural depth, while the Grenache contributes vibrant red fruit, floral aromatics, and a velvety mouthfeel. Fermented with native yeasts and aged carefully in French oak, the wine represents a harmonious marriage of power and elegance, reflecting Lato's artistic, minimal-intervention approach to winemaking.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded in 2002 by Polish-born former sommelier Paul Lato, Paul Lato Wines is an acclaimed boutique winery based in Santa Barbara County, California. Guided by an artisanal, hands-off winemaking philosophy that prioritizes terroir transparency and balance, Lato works with some of the Central Coast's most prestigious cool-climate vineyards, including Bien Nacido, Solomon Hills, and Larner. The winery has achieved international critical acclaim for its intensely aromatic, textured, and nuanced small-lot Pinot Noir, Syrah, Grenache, and Chardonnay, which are celebrated for their pure fruit expression, structural precision, and distinctive poetic cuvée designations.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Syrah, Grenache