Don't Myth This Paso Cabernet

True Myth is a banner for the Niven family, pioneers of San Luis Obispo's' Edna Valley. Their portfolio contains some of my California faves, Baileyana and Tangent, both worth checking out.

The label blurb explains, thankfully, that Mother Nature is the true myth, and she is honored on that label with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson,  "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."

True Myth 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon

The marketing folks offer that "Paso Robles is hands-down a stellar place to grow Cabernet Sauvignon," and just because the marketing folks wrote it doesn’t mean it's not true. I think the limestone earth that is prevalent in the region has a lot to do with it. Paso Robles grapes from six different Paso vineyards were used to make the True Myth 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was aged in French and American oak barrels for 18 months, and half of the oak was new. It has a full 14.5% abv number and sells for $24, which is a steal for a Cab this good. Winemaker Christian Roguenant made it.

While the fruit of a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon seems elegant, I prefer the rambunctious nature of the Cabs of Paso Robles. This one lives up to that expectation. The blueberry is a little brighter, more playful, the earth is a little heavier and the spice a little, well, spicier than its cousins from further north. The oak on the nose is pretty and punchy, while the baking spice aromas make me think of cherry pie. The palate offers ripe blackberry and plum flavors with a good whack of oak and firm, yet supple, tannins. The finish is a fruit/earth mixture that plays on your taste buds a good long while after the sip.

By the way, if you like Paso Robles Cabernets, too, you may want to check out this year’s CABs of Distinction, April 12-14, 2016 in Paso, although True Myth - unfortunately -  does not appear to be a member.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Spanish Whites: Paramus Verdejo

Paramus Verdejo is made at Bodegas Soterrano, according to Ferrer Family Wines, under the guidance of winemaker Adolfo Heredia. The Rueda wine region specializes in white wines, and the Verdejo grape is its big daddy. Verdejo can be a bit tart on its own, while Viura can be a little boring. That's why the two are often blended.

This Rueda wine hits 12.9% abv on the alcohol scale and retails for $16. Only the pressed juice is used in making it, not the free run juice.

This 2014 Spanish white has a faint golden hue with a nose of citrus and salinity. The palate brings very nice acidity and lemon-lime notes in a plump mouthfeel. The full mouth comes despite the lack of malolactic fermentation and a year of bottle aging - no oak. The wine sat on the spent yeast cells for two months, which smooths out the sharpness quite a bit.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Four Rosés From Bonny Doon #3

I will admit right off the bat that Randall Grahm is one of my favorite winemakers, if not right at the top of the list.  It's what he does with rosé that really endears him to me. Imagine my glee to find that Grahm is now pushing not one, but four rosé wines. We are visiting each one this month, to get you ready for rosé weather, whatever that is.

2015 A Proper Pink

A rosé made with Tannat? 69% Tannat and 31% Canernet Franc? Thank you, Mr. Grahm. This Bonny Doon Vineyards oddball is a great rosé for a backyard barbecue. It takes a chill very well, but try it at cellar temperature - or even room temperature - first. The aromas and flavors are explosive and it’s an all-around fun champion.

The Tannat grapes come from Mt. Oso Vineyard in Tracy, California, between Livermore and Modesto.  The Cabernet Franc hails from the Fetzer family's Ceago Vineyards on the shores of Clear Lake.

Grahm let's loose his veddy British alter ego, Reginald ffrench-Postalthwaite, on the label. He offers a quip on the current trend of masculine types sipping the pink: “The beastly locution ‘Brosé’ (shudder) has even infiltrated the language of Disraeli, Gladstone and our beloved Winnie! I’ll tell you. Some of us ‘real men’ have been in touch with our, shall we say, more leeward side for some time now.”

Grahm writes of this inaugural A Proper Pink vintage that it is “the companion to A Proper Claret [fully red] and Gravitas [white] and while the Vin Gris de Cigare [light pink] is intended for more sober-minded occasions, this is definitely the less buttoned up in style.” It does let its middle-red hair down.

Looking just slightly off ruby red, this wine carries the full aroma and mouthfeel of a red. Rich strawberry on the nose is joined by an herbaceous quality that balances well. You can think of it as a fruit bomb - it’s certainly loaded with red fruit - but there is a green edge to it that brings a deeper dimension. Acidity is fabulous and the finish is lengthy. A Tannat/Cabernet Franc rosé? Here it is. It sits at a very proper 13% abv, sells for $16 and 3573 cases are available. But I'm sure they are going fast.

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Monterey Grenache Blanc, Celadon

Topanga Vineyards sounds more L.A. Than Central coast and, sure enough, the 90 vines planted in the SoCal hideaway of Topanga Canyon started the wine effort of husband and wife team Sandy Garber and Ralph Meyer. Those vines are for wines they use for a home winemaking hobby, though. They source fruit from more agriculturally-suited areas of California for their general release wines.

Their Celadon 2012 Grenache Blanc is made from Arroyo Seco grapes out of Monterey, from the Beeswax Vineyard. It is 100% Grenache Blanc and sells for $25 retail and it was $13 by the glass at Los Angeles restaurant AOC, although they had it listed as Santa Barbara County! Larry Brooks is the winemaker.

This fine Grenache Blanc carries a beautifully funky note from the nose right through the palate. Aromas of salinity, earth and lanolin lead to fennel flavors with limes and minerals thrown in. There is a great acidity which makes it superb for pairing with what we had at AOC: spinach salad with grilled chicken and bacon, lobster and shrimp roll and even the lamb share plate.

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Spanish Wine: Old Vine Garnacha

A virtual tasting event featuring Garnacha wines from Spain hit Twitter recently, with the hashtag #LoveGarnacha serving as a good way to look up the stream. Several Garnacha fans chimed in during the hour, which was moderated ably by @canterburywine. She covered everything from Garnacha Blanca to Garnacha Gris to Garnacha Noir. "There’s 1 other type of Garnacha," she tweeted, "Garnacha Peluda, whose leaves have furry undersides." I wouldn’t think of holding that against them. She was full of fun facts, including the factoid that the earliest known mention of Garnacha was in 1513. Of course, "Garnacha is grown throughout the Mediterranean," she noted, "but it is originally from Aragon in NE Spain."

The wines tasted were Celler Batea Terra Alta Vall Major Blanca, Care Finca Bancales Reserva, Cruz De Piedra Selección Especial, Pdm Moncayo Garnacha and Marin Old Vine Garnacha. @chasingthevine noted that "the wines have an earthy, savory quality that is so different from the fruit-bright purity of California Grenache," which is a great reason to have a Master of Wine candidate in the group.

Marin Old Vine Garnacha

Bodegas Ignacio Marin was founded in Spain’s Cariñena region in 1903. This 2010 wine is Garnacha, "with a touch of Tempranillo," according to the bodega’s website. Grapes were taken from their oldest vines. The wine was aged at least three months in French oak barrels. Retail comes in at $12 and alcohol is quite restrained at 13% abv.

The wine is a dark ruby color, but beginning to show some brick notes on the edge, possibly a sign of its age. On the nose, big cherry aromas are met with violet and a smokey oak spice. The taste gives dark notes of cherry with earthy minerals and a nice grip, but the tannins are not too toothy. In fact, it’s fairly smooth. The finish is medium long.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Four Rosés From Bonny Doon #2

I will admit right off the bat that Randall Grahm is one of my favorite winemakers, if not right at the top of the list.  His touch with Rhône reds is masterful, his work with Iberian and German whites is close behind. But it’s what he does with rosé that really endears him to me. Imagine my glee to find that Grahm is now pushing not one, but four rosé wines. We are visiting each of them this month, to get you ready for rosé weather, whatever that is.

Bonny Doon 2015 Il Ciliegiolo Rosato 

Ciliegiolo (chee lee eh JOE low) is not a character from a spaghetti western, it’s an Italian grape variety which is either a parent of the Sangiovese grape or an offspring of it, depending on whose DNA test you believe.  It is often found, barely, in Chianti and in some wines of Umbria. 

Apparently, there are some vines in California, too, because Grahm made a rosato from this grape for his Bonny Doon label.  

Grahm writes, "While it had been our original intention to produce this wine as a red, the grapes rather distinctly expressed their preference to be pink." The wine actually looks more like a light red to me, which I suppose is why Grahm put "Rosato" on the label. He is a fan of hard-to-find, hard-to-pronounce grapes, and he believes "that there is a great future for this style of wine in California, and hope we will be able to repeat, if not improve upon this bottling."

The wine is all Ciliegiolo, all the time, and it sells for $24, exclusively to the winery’s DEWN Club members. The grapes come from Mt. Oso Vineyard, southeast of Modesto, in the Tracy Hills AVA. The alcohol sits peacefully at 12.4% abv and it’s as dry as the proverbial bone but it smells a lot better. The label features great artwork - a Bonny Doon hallmark - by Alex Gross.  Grahm made 442 cases of the beautiful stuff.  He suggests sipping it "whilst quietly pondering the great wonder of it all."

The wonder is why we haven't heard of this grape before. The nose offers strong cherry and an only slightly weaker herbal note. In the mouth, this wine drinks like a red, full and luscious with big fruit flavor, a very good acidity and more tannic structure than you probably have ever experienced in a rosé. All that is missing from this one is Grahm’s usual salinity. It’s a fruity - and completely wonderful - rosato.

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Virtual Wine Tasting: Cycles Gladiator

A group of wine writers spent a fun hour recently with Cycles Gladiator winemaker Adam LaZarre, thanks to Charles Communications. We were quick to learn that the Lady on the Bicycle is an homage to women's freedom during the Belle Epoque, when bicycle sales flourished prompted by the suffrage movement. Susan B. Anthony noted that bicycles gave women the ability to leave the home to work and vote. Cycles was just one bicycle company that "plastered Paris with posters" depicting free and liberated women on bikes au naturel.

The event was hash tagged as #CyclesGladiator and you can check out the video online.

LaZarre says he grew up in New York’s Finger Lakes area, but not until a U.S. Navy stint in Seattle did he get the wine bug. He started Cycles Gladiator in 2005. There were favorable comments during the virtual event on LaZarre’s creative tasting notes. He tweeted that he used to write them while drinking tequila. "I don’t do that anymore," he wrote, "I changed to bourbon."

2014 Chardonnay

Three vineyards are used for the Cycles Gladiator ‘14 Chardonnay, from Livermore Valley, east of San Francisco Bay.  The cool fog from there and from Monterey Bay make the wine special, according to the winemaker. He claims it goes great with "meat, pasta and popcorn." It’s mostly tank fermented, with 15% of the juice vinified in one-year-old barrels.  Alcohol is somewhat restrained at 13.4% abv and the aging was done  70% in the tank, 20% in new French oak barrels and 10% in new American wood.  The Central Coast wine retails for $11.

This Chardonnay shows a medium straw color in the glass and smells really beautiful.  The nose displays ripe nectarines and a hint of lemon wearing a shawl of oak spice. The wood definitely makes itself known, but it is a pleasant presence. Flavors are juicy and ripe, too, with that oak touch adding a bit of heft without getting carried away. It has me wanting a piece of broiled fish or some roasted potatoes to go with it.

2014 Pinot Noir

"It slipped  down my throat like the little lord Jesus dressed in velvet pantaloons." This is not LaZarre’s quote, he says it comes from some Burgundian nuns 400 years ago when they described the wines of their vineyards. LaZarre uses the centuries-old quote to describe his own Pinot Noir. Boiled down to modern terminology, "silky, lush, sexy, an elegant Pinot balanced between Power and Grace," is how he translates.

Chualar Canyon Vineyard in Salinas Valley and and the Los Alamos Vineyard in Santa Barbara County are the hillside properties from which the grapes come, with low yields to concentrate the fruit. He says the former gives high-acid aromatic grapes while the other makes for fatter, juicier wines. This Pinot is made from 70% Chualar Canyon grapes. Alcohol tips at 13.9% abc and retail is only  $11. The wine was aged for 13 months in oak, 22% new French, 5% new American and the rest neutral.

This Pinot Noir is one big Pinot Noir, so if you are looking for Elegance Street, this is really the wrong address. That said, I like this wine. I do like my Pinot to offer a touch of grace, but in certain cases it's alright if it takes a swing at me.

This wine is very dark and earthy on the nose and has a palate that is more suited to chuck than chicken. The tannins are on the forceful side and the weight is not light. It's got some brawn to it, and it's not shy about it.

2014 Cabernet Sauvignon

Three vineyards contributed to this Central Coast wine, one from Paso Robles’ east side, one from Indian Valley in southern Monterey county and Collier Canyon Vineyard north of Livermore. The latter provided the dominant component. It is reportedly one of the wines to be featured on Starbucks’ nighttime menu.

Aging took place in 18% new French oak, 15% new American oak and the rest neutral barrels. Alcohol is in control at 13.8%  abv and the price tag is, again, $11. The Cabernet is blended with 12% Merlot and 8% Syrah.

It’s not a terribly complex wine, but it is drinkable, with firm tannins and a cassis flavor that carries it along through some mineral-laden meanderings. It may not be the Cabernet you’d choose go with a $50 steak, but you may get it at Starbucks and have a good time sipping it. Try something chocolate with it.

2014 Petite Sirah

During the virtual tasting, LaZarre said, "Petite Sirah is one dimensional, no matter where it’s grown," but countered with, "Syrah adds another layer and makes it more food friendly, more interesting." That’s why he blends in 18% Rancho Arroyo Grande Syrah with the Paso Robles and Livermore Valley Petite Sirah grapes.

Petite Sirah was called Durif in France in the 19th century. When it was brought to California, planters believed it to be Syrah, but the grapes were much smaller so they called it Petite Sirah.
Hot, dry days and windy conditions are best for PS. The winemaker calls this wine “blueberry motor oil that will stain your soul.” He also advises that you not spill any on your shirt. A Central Coast appellation, the Cycles Gladiator Petite Sirah hits 14.8% abv and sells for a pretty incredible  $11.  The wine spent 15 months in oak, half new American and half neutral.

This is a dark wine, very dark, non-porous dark. There is no light getting through this indigo pour at all. Loads of blueberry smells jump right out, followed by abundant oak spices. A little smoky and savory angle sneaks through at the edge of the glass.  The wine is very easy to drink, with fine tannins and beautiful dark-fruit flavor laced with that oak effect.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Spanish Food, Spanish Wine In L.A.

The Spanish winery Azul y Garanza is a triumvirate of María Barrena, Dani Sánchez and Fernando Barrena, the former two concerned with growing and winemaking, the latter, María's brother, taking up the business end.  The bodega is located in the northern desert of Bardenas Reales, in Navarre. Clay soils and big temperature differences between day and night make it a good place to grow grapes, especially since the terrain makes the vines work for their water.

The trio condense their varied interests to four, which they say are the most important to them: Love, Music, Wine and Revolution.  Their love of the land leads to their organic approach in the vineyards.  The music pushes them through the day, whether it’s from their digital collection or the throat of a nightingale.  Their wines express their own selves, and the revolution is figurative. "Don’t be scared, we’re not going to take the Bastille," the website offers. It’s more a reference to concrete tanks and biodiversity. They say, "In a world of stainless steel and chemical products, this is a revolution."

I sampled the 2014 Azul y Garanza Viura in Los Angeles at Moruno, the brainchild of Mozza alums, David Rosoff and Chris Feldmeier, presents southern Spanish cuisine in the former Short Order space, and I wish them well there. I feel they may be a little pricey for the Farmers Market crowd, but I hope they succeed for purely a selfish reason. I want to go back and enjoy more meals there. The Esqueixada is a beautiful salt cod salad similar to ceviche, The fried Bhatura bread is crisp and spicy and the delicious chicken and cilantro sandwich also comes as a skewer. So does the lamb.

The Rueda wine is golden-green, smells fresh with a nice savory, vegetal side to the fruit, tastes of citrus and pear and has great acidity to make it a perfect match for a ceviche-type dish.  At 12.5% abv, it’s easy to drink and it is 100% Viura, a grape that gets a bad rap for being a little less than interesting. It’s usually teamed with Verdejo, but it stands alone here. The concrete tank fermentation gives a nice, full mouthfeel.  It was the only Spanish white on the list at Moruno, and it holds up its end well.  $8 by the glass.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Bonny Doon: Four Rosés

Randall Grahm's touch with Rhône reds is masterful, his work with Iberian and German whites is close behind. But it’s what he does with rosé that really endears him to me.  Imagine my glee to find that Grahm is now pushing not one, but four rosé wines under the Bonny Doon banner. We will visit each of them in the coming weeks, to get you ready for rosé weather, whatever that is.

Here in Southern California we have had rosé weather since February, but don't start throwing things at us because of it. People here are actually complaining that the promised El Niño rains have been noticeably scant since the January downpours. Maybe scheduling a month of rosé will bring the cold rains that California needs so badly.

2013 Vin Gris de Tuilé  (Online Exclusive)

This rosé is a big blend of some great Rhône grapes. The name, Gris Tuilé, means "brick-colored wine," but it does not appear that way to me. This 13% abv pink wine is really just barely pink, and sort of barely orange, too. Maybe old bricks? It is cloudy in appearance and was aged outdoors for nine months in glass demijohns, or carboys, which allow for the wine to pick up some solar radiation. Uh, that means it’s exposed to light. Grahm credits the "solarization" for giving the wine such extreme complexity.  He admits that it’s not for everyone, and adds, "mais c'ést très cool, quand même." Showoff.

 I have always considered Grahm to be King in the land of Savory, and on this wine he has added a few jewels to his crown.  The grapes for this rosé are 55% Grenache, 23% Mourvèdre, 10% Roussanne, 7% Cinsaut, 3% Carignane and 2% Grenache Blanc.  Whew! Did we leave anybody out? Everybody in the carboy? Let’s go.

The nose is amazing, and if I have ever used that word to describe a nose before, let me retract that one so I can use it freely here. It’s amazing. Upon opening the bottle there is a distinct whiff of butterscotch. In the glass, that turns into more of a nutty, savory note. It is quite unusual, and quite delightful. Oh, there are some cherry and strawberry notes in there, but they are way, way down and you have to work a bit to get them. On the palate, it’s a cross between rosé and dry sherry.  A definite caramel note is a great surprise. Grahm says there is curry in there, too, but I don’t get that. I find a sort of sharpness at one point in the sip, which goes away quickly. The finish is quite long, with that note of caramel reappearing. It’s the most unusual rosé I have ever experienced.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Betting On Lodi Tempranillo

As I have written before about Harney Lane Winery's Mettler family, "Like most Lodi farming families, the dirt is not just on their jeans, but in their genes."  Head grower  Kyle Lerner says that "farming is legalized gambling with more variables."  He rolled the dice and married into the Mettler family, though, and he considers that a good bet.  You'll find him in the vineyards, even though he would probably like more time in the tasting room.

The Harney Lane Lodi Tempranillo 2012 is aged for 19 months in European oak (French? Hungarian?) and gives a hefty alcohol feel at 14.5% abv.  It retails for $25, which is a pretty good price for wine this good. Only a little over 400 cases were made.

The wine is dark, inky, in fact.  On the nose, I get strong black plums and blackberries, with a hint of blueberries. There is an abundance of oak spice, so it’s loaded with vanilla-laced tobacco, allspice and licorice. The palate is full, too. Big in the mouth, with huge tannins and fruit for days, the flavors also tend toward the dark side of the fruit spectrum. Oak is present and becomes more pronounced late in the sip and into the finish.

You can meet the Harney Lane gang if you are planning on attending the 25th annual ZAP festival in San Francisco on Saturday, February 27th 2016. The event happens from 11am to 4pm.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Paulaner Beer Offers Tradition, Variety

I am way overdue on writing about these Paulaner beers. I received them around the Christmas holidays and one thing led to another, as things tend to do. I will admit my taste in beer is not as inclusive as in wine. With wine, I like a lot of different types and styles. With beer I am very specific. Several of the Paulaner beers do not fall into my wheelhouse - no fault of their own.

Paulaner is one of the largest breweries in Munich, and they produce beer in the style traditional American tastes love - lager. I don't love lager, I love darker styles, which Paulaner also makes.

Früli is a strawberry Belgian style white beer blended with strawberry juice. It’s interesting, but not my cup - a zesty wheat beer with big strawberry flavor.

Oktoberfest Märzen is a deep amber color with a creamy head and a spicy hop finish. Alcohol is

5.8% abv, and you should try it with potato salad, at a picnic, possibly.

Paulaner Original Munich Lager hits 4.9% abv and has yeasty aromas with a lemon flavor. It goes very well with Mexican food.

Paulaner Hefe-Weizen Natural Wheat Beer shows off a fruity flavor with a touch of bitterness underneath. 5.5% abv. It's great with seafood.

Salvator Double Bock is more to my liking. The dark barley malt really shines. The Paulaner monks served it as a replacement for food during Lent, and it seems fine for that purpose anytime, if you were to ask me. Malty, toasted caramel is the primary feature. At 7.9% abv, it’s potent. It's also a highly rated beer and it's great with sausage.

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Lodi Wine: Borra Blend

Borra Vineyards dates back 100 years to Steve Borra's grandfather, but the last 50 years have been under Steve’s watchful eye. Swiss-born winemaker Markus Niggli has handled the cellar since 2010.

The 2012 Borra Red Wine 47.5" is a masterful mix of 80% Petite Syrah, 10% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre, three great varieties for Lodi. They only made 115 cases, the wine hits a very reasonable 13.7% abv and it sells for $35.

2012 was a warmer vintage, unlike 2011. The grapes are not pressed, the juice is free-run overnight. Yjhe wine spent 22 months in French oak, 75% of which was new. That said, the oak treatment is beautiful, not overwhelming.

The wine shows a dark color with a nice purple rim. The nose is loaded with big, black and blue fruit and a touch of graphite that makes me think there must be some Cab in it. Cinnamon and licorice join a sweet, vanilla-laced oak spice which plays a major role but is not overdone. The palate is extremely smooth, and I want to stress that adjective. I don't know that I have ever tasted these grapes appearing so elegantly in the mouth. Tart blackberry flavors and a good acidity go right into the finish. It's dry and has a great oak feel. An herbal slant is marked by a very slight green pepper note, while a bit of a smoky essence comes on after it has sit for a while.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Chilean Wine: The Angels of Montes

Chilean wine is a special thing for me. I love the dark nature the wines often take on, and I love thinking of the beautiful mountain backdrop for the vineyards. The virtual wine tasting session for Montes Wines was in mid-February, and I was lucky enough to be invited to join as tasters tasted and winemaker Aurelio Montes chipped in his observations throughout the event.

Montes offered that "Chile is developing new varieties. In the future, you will see new and exciting varieties and styles. Blends are a new focus." Explaining the unique Colchagua Valley terroir of the vineyards from which his fruit comes, Montes said, "it is the granitic soil with some iron oxide in the middle, and very old clay that allow the vines grow without water." He tweeted about the winery’s ecological concerns, saying, "we not only take care of the environment, we also take care of our team, suppliers, and importers around the world. Our philosophy in winemaking is all about equilibrium and harmony."

He even explained those wonderful illustrations on the labels, done by the iconic artist Ralph Steadman. "Our cofounder Douglas Murray believed angels protected him," he said. "He wanted the same for Montes so he put angel images on every bottle." The cherub depicted is Alfredo, named after a founding partner of the Montes label.


Montes Cherub Rosé of Syrah 2015

The grapes for this rosé come from the Archangel Estate in Marchigûe, their estate that is closest to the ocean. Alcohol is 13.5% abv and it’s 100% Syrah with no oak to get in the way of the fruit. It sells for $15.

This pink wine is not shy, it commands attention right out of the bottle. Pouring up a bright cherry red, it looks like a Spanish rosado. A whiff brings into focus some truly earthy strawberry and cherry aromas. There is a great deal of stemmy greenness in that whiff, too. The palate is lush and fruity but there is an awesome acidity that makes it so fresh the day will turn into spring all around you, no matter what season it is. Twitter contributors suggested pairing it with Mexican spiced salmon or a tuna poke. It was great with smoked mahi mahi.

Montes Twins Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

As the name suggests, it’s a 50/50 mix of the labeled grapes.  With this blend you get smooth texture from the Malbec and rich structure from the Cab. It is only 14% abv and nearly half of the wine was aged for ten months in new French oak barrels. The growing season featured a cooler than normal spring with some temperature spikes in the summer. It retails for $15, a great price.

It’s a dark wine, in shading and aromas. The whiff gives off smokey and earthy notes of blackberry and cassis, but the savory stuff is what comes forward the most. On the palate it’s dark as well. Plums, berries, spices - all dark. There are flavors of campfire and anise covering the black fruit like a blanket. Great acidity lasts into the finish.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter