Great Grenache - It's Garnacha!

Spain's northeast corner contains the little town of Secastilla, in the Aragon region of Somontano.  Government numbers show that fewer than 150 people live there, and I'll bet they all like this wine.

Viñas del Vero's 2010 Secastilla Garnacha should be considered a national treasure.  The wine was made from Garnacha grapes grown on 100 year-old vines, vines discovered in Spain's Secastilla Valley, amid almond and olive trees in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains.  Alcohol hits 14% abv, aging happened over 10 months in new French oak barrels and it's selling for around $30 online.

The dark wine gives some amazing aromas on its nose.  Black cherry, plum and chocolate hit the strongest, while the leather and tobacco I expected to shine took a back seat.  The palate is savory, with the dark fruit carrying a load of earth and minerals.  Tannic structure is still bristling with youth, and the wine finishes with baking chocolate.  Have it with any kind of meat, but keep it on the table for dessert, hopefully something chocolatey. 


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This Rosé Is Not Fragile

From the IGP Côtes Catalanes region in Languedoc-Roussillon, in southern France, Fragile Rosé is a blend of Grenache, Carignane, Syrah and Mourvedre grapes.  The Department 66 wine is made by Dave Phinney, who says he fell in love with the land around Maury on his first visit there.  He says the black soil is full of schist, granite and limestone.  Phinney fell in love not only with the dirt, but also the people, so much so that he has a home there. 

The 2017 Fragile is made largely from Grenache grapes with small percentages of Syrah and Carignan in the blend.  It was vinified in stainless steel tanks.  Alcohol hits a high-for-rosé 15.3% abv and the wine retails for $18.

Fragile - I don't believe it’s pronounced frah-ghee-lay - has a big, bright nose full of big, bright red fruit.  A bit of heat pokes its head through, too, owing to the 15% alcohol content.  That cherry-red fruit comes through on the palate as well, with a boatload of acidity to boot.  The winery notes say Fragile pairs well with lighter fare and warm, sunny days.  I'd have it with pork chops in a heartbeat. 


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Rosés For Spring: One Of The Better Bargains

Hey, is it rosé season already?  Maybe it creeps up on me because it's always rosé season at my place.  We are taking a couple of weeks to spotlight some worthy pink wines which will help get us in the swing for spring.

We covered the Perrin family last time, along with their French winemaking company which includes the noted Château de Beaucastel of the Rhône Valley.  The La Vieille Ferme label - it means "the old farm" - houses a bubbly rosé as well as a very nice still rosé wine.

La Vieille Ferme Rosé 2018

This cheap pink wine was vinified in stainless steel before bottling.  the grapes - Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah - were grown "high on the slopes," but the winery does not say where those slopes are.  Alcohol clicks in at 13% abv and the price tag sits below $10. 

This 2018 bargain rosé is light salmon pink in the glass.  The nose shows red fruit with herbal notes.  There is plenty of fruit on the palate, strawberry and cherry, with a light minerality and easy acidity.  The finish is short, but fruity.


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Rosés For Spring: A Pink French Sparkler

Hey, is it rosé season already?  Maybe it creeps up on me because it's always rosé season at my place.  We are taking some time to spotlight a few worthy pink wines which will help get us in the swing for spring.

La Vieille Ferme Reserve Sparkling Rosé NV

The Perrin family heads up a French winemaking company which includes the noted Château de Beaucastel of the Rhône Valley.  The La Vieille Ferme label - it means "the old farm" - houses a very nice still rosé wine and one that bubbles up in the glass. 

The bubbly one, La Vieille Ferme Reserve Sparkling Rosé, is a festive non-vintage pink made in the same method used in the Champagne region.  The winery website champions the limestone soil in which the grapes are grown, but does not specify where that dirt is located.  The grape varieties are 40% Grenache, 40% Cinsault and 20% Pinot Noir.  After the separate wines are blended, they rest in stainless steel tanks until bottling.  Alcohol hits only 12% abv, while the retail price stays under the $20 mark.

This lightly frothy, salmon hued, sparkling rosé smells of peaches, strawberries and flowers.  The palate falls in line with a sense of wild cherry cough drops sprinkled into the mix.  It's fun and it's refreshing, as well as being a little more complex than I anticipated. 

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Rosés For Spring: South African Pink

Hey, is it rosé season already?  Maybe it creeps up on me because it's always rosé season at my place.  We are taking a couple of weeks to spotlight some worthy pink wines which will help get us in the swing for spring.

The Wolftrap Rosé 2018

This pink wine comes from Boekenhoutskloof winery, on the Western Cape of South Africa.  They've been in operation since 1776 in the beautiful Franschhoek Valley, less than a hundred years after wine production began in the country.  The winery website indicates that the name derives from words meaning "ravine of the Boekenhout" - pronounced Bookn-Howed.  That's a Beech tree native to the area which is used for making furniture.  The entire winery, vineyards and all, were retooled in 1993.

The Wolftrap Rosé was named after an old wolf trap found on the property.  It must have worked, as there are said to be no wolves anywhere around, although you may spot a leopard from time to time.

This rosé is made from three grapes, 69% Cinsault, 21% Syrah and 10% Grenache.  Winemaker and vineyard master Marc Kent reports that the Cinsault adds perfume on the nose and fresh fruit to the palate, while the Syrah accounts for the spiciness and the Grenache gives the wine a red berry character.  Alcohol is restrained at 13% abv and sells for less than $10.

This wine colors up exotically, a step past salmon and into day-glo orange.  There's cherry and apricot on the nose, along with a healthy helping of earth.  That dirt shows up n the palate, too, with cherry, apple and stone fruit flavors.  I find it an unusual taste, but not off-putting.  It's a bit like some wines I've tried that were made from North American hybrid grapes, although the grapes here have their roots in the Rhône Valley. 

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Rosés For Spring: Vin Gris De Cigare

Hey, is it rosé season already?  Maybe it creeps up on me because it's always rosé season at my place.  We are taking a couple of weeks to spotlight some worthy pink wines which will help get us in the swing for spring.

Bonny Doon, the Santa Cruz-based winery that's on a self-described "adventure to make naturally soulful, distinctive, and original wine," is heading into spring with another vintage of its beautiful rosé.  Randall Grahm calls his Vin Gris de Cigare the "pink analogue of  Le Cigare Volant," the flagship wine of the Dooniverse.

The 2018 vintage, maybe the 35th or so, is made from 38.5% Grenache grapes, 30.5% Grenache Blanc, 12.5% Carignane, 10% Cinsaut, 6% Mourvèdre, 2% Picpoul and a dash of  Vermentino.  For me, it's a rite of spring, and a rite I would love to have on Thanksgiving, too, if I could hold off that long on opening the bottle.  Grahm says the pink wine will improve in the screw-top bottle for several years, by the way.  He sorts the grapes this way:

"The Grenache for our Vin Gris came in large part from bespoke sections of the Alta Loma Vineyard, a cool climate site in the Arroyo Seco region of Monterey County that gives us grapes with a distinctive black currant character.  The Carignane, responsible for the fundament of the wine, derived from very old vines from Antioch in Contra Costa County.  A substantial percentage of the wine is composed of the elegant Grenache Blanc variety, adding a lovely richness and foundation to the '18 vintage.  The Cinsaut,... ah, a delicate cherry top note."  He also notes that the lees were stirred to give a creamy mouthfeel.

The '18 Vin Gris de Cigare is very pale pink in the glass, quite lovely in fact.  The nose shows red fruit and a light floral note with a savory mineral edge.  The palate displays cherries and apples, with a very light and creamy mouthfeel, yet with a wonderful acidity.

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E Is For España

Great wine is all about location.  The location of the vineyard makes all the difference in the end product.  Locations is an experiment of place for winemaker Dave Phinney, of Orin Swift fame, in which he makes wines from all over the world.  These wines are labeled only with a big letter or two, depicting the place of origin - F for France, P for Portugal, I for Italy, and E is for Espana, much like those European bumper stickers.

Phinney sold the Locations brand this past summer to Modesto's E and J Gallo, two years after selling off the Orin Swift brand.  A price wasn't announced, but Phinney will reportedly stay on as the winemaker "indefinitely."

E5, the fifth vintage for his Spanish red blend, combines Garnacha, Tempranillo, Monastrell and Cariñena.  Those last two you might know better as Mourvèdre and Carignan.  Phinney says unabashedly that E5 is all about the "interplay of provenance, artistry, freedom, and creativity" with the Iberian peninsula as a backdrop.  Five regions are represented by the grapes in this wine, Priorat, Jumilla, Toro, Rioja, and Ribera del Duero.

That guy Parker loved a previous vintage, throwing around adjectives like full-bodied, opulent and voluptuous in his wine-porn style.  The wine was aged in barrels for ten months and hits 14.5% abv for alcohol and retails for about $20.

For starters, this is an aromatic wine.  The nose blasts dark fruit and a drawer full of savory aromas.  There are cigars, trod-upon leaves, tar and an old catcher's mitt in that dark liquid.  Herbs abound, with thyme, sage, nutmeg and peppers leading the way.  On the palate it's blackberryland, with a heapin' helpin' of currant and licorice.  The flavors are rough-cut and rustic, as is the tannic structure.  This wine needs a big, fatty steak to give it something useful to do. 


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Pink Wine With Plenty Of Complexity

Bonny Doon, the Santa Cruz-based winery that's on a self-described "adventure to make naturally soulful, distinctive, and original wine," knocks me out every year with their releases, the red, the white and the pink.

Owner and winemaker Randall Grahm makes a great variety of rosés, of which this is probably the leader and the pink flag of the Cigare line.  It's the Reserve version of the rosé, but vinified in five-gallon demijohns instead of larger containers.  The bottle is adorned with the classic aliens-in-the-vineyard artwork that identifies the full line of Cigare Volant of all shades. 

The 2016 Vin Gris De Cigare Reserve is composed of 50% Grenache grapes, 15% Grenache Blanc, 12% Cinsault, 12% Mourvedre, 8% Carignane and 3% Roussanne.  Labeled as Central Coast pink wine, the grapes came from eleven vineyards, principally Rancho Solo. 826 cases were made with alcohol hitting 12.9% abv.  Grahm advises, "Be careful not to serve it too cold."

This is a rosé for people who don't drink rosé because they feel there's no complexity there.  This is loaded with complexity, starting with the color - is it pink, salmon, copper, onion… - and continuing on the nose, which offers up a hint of funk along with a host of saline, herbal aromas.  The palate shows more fruit, but stays in the savory range.  Zesty acidity tops off this piece of perfection with poise.

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Hello? Grenache Department, Please

From the Cotes Catalanes region in southwest France's Languedoc-Roussillon, Others is a blend of Grenache, Carignan, Syrah and Mourvèdre.  It's made by Dave Phinney, who says he fell in love with the land around Maury on his first visit there.  He says the red soil is peppered with black schist, granite and limestone.  He not only fell in love with the dirt, but also the people.  So much so that he has a home there.  His Department 66 winery is also located there.

The 2015 wine is imported by Bloodlines of Sausalito, California, rings the bell in strength at 15.2% abv and sells for $25.

This deep, dark Grenache shows a bit of savory funk on the nose, with black olives, meat and tobacco coming through.  The palate has cherry and dark berry flavors, along with chalky, earthy notes.  The mouthfeel is full and refreshing, with enough tannic structure to handle a steak, or any other meat dish.  The finish lingers awhile, which is a pleasure.


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Criminal Wine Marketing

Some wine companies go to extreme lengths to create unusual back stories for their product.  We've seen wines marketed using dogs, cats, bears, birds, bicycles and UFOs as attention-getters.  Now, criminals get their turn on the label.

The 19 Crimes line features a variety of Australian juice bottled behind the faces of people who were reportedly sent from England to Australia during Queen Victoria’s reign as punishment for one of 19 criminal offenses.

Different labels have different criminals, who can talk and tell their stories if you download the free smartphone app and view their faces through it.  It's hokey-tech, in a way, but alarmingly captivating.


Liquor barrel aging is another trick being used to market wines into different consumer demographics.  Usually, the barrels in question formerly contained bourbon, but The Uprising employs old rum barrels, to good effect.

The winery describes the reason for rum in The Uprising: it “pays homage to Australia’s Rum Rebellion of 1808.  Due to the Government's hindering of the rum trade, citizens and soldiers banded together to overthrow them.”  Like a Boston Tea Party, with a bit more of a kick.

This Australian rum barrel treatment gives a softer effect than the bourbon barrels that are popularly used these days.  The nose gives off a light caramel note along with the usual dark fruit one expects from South East Australia.  I hear it's a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache, but I've seen no official word of that.  Tasty, bold, great grip, acidity, tannins.  Perfect with a rosemary grilled steak.

Three Wineries For The Price Of One

There's a three-way wine tasting room in San Luis Obispo.  Baileyana, Tangent and True Myth all show off their wines in a little yellow school house.  There's a great view of the vineyards to one side of the old structure, and a field of sunflowers off the other side.  The Niven family planted their Paragon vineyard three decades ago, from which the lion's share of their wines are still produced.

Natalie poured for Guido and me.  It was another great trip up the 101 into California’s beautiful Central Coast.  Tasters once had the option here of doing a flight of Baileyana, a flight of the all-white wine Tangent or a mix.  Now, only the mix is offered.  True Myth was not represented on the tasting menu the day I went.  The tasting cost $15, a charge which is waived with a two-bottle purchase.

On the menu:

Tangent "Clone 530" Sauvignon Blanc 2017 smells and tastes a bit more New Zealand than Cali SauvBlanc usually tastes.  There's grass, tropical and a clean zippiness, although the acidity was not extreme.  $32

Baileyana "La Pristina" Chardonnay 2016 doesn’t come off as wildly oaky, until you sip it.  One-third of the wood is new French oak and it was in there for nine months.  There's a nice acidity.  $30

Baileyana "La Entrada" Pinot Noir 2016 is light and gorgeous.  It's an elegant Pinot, a rarity in California, where ripeness generally takes them into the heavyweight category.  Cherries, strawberries, roses, violets, all for $35.

Trenza "Mosaico" 2013 is a 60/40 blend of Grenache and Syrah.  It's made from Paso Robles grapes, while all the other wines on the list are estate bottlings.  Big and juicy, this wine shows off the best of warm-climate grapes, ripe and fresh with a great grip.

Zocker Late Harvest Grüner Veltliner 2012 is a very drinkable dessert wine which can pair with great versatility.  It's not a huge sugar rush, rather a delight with a shade of tartness that balances the wine beautifully.  $20


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Fall Is Time For Rosé, Too

Pink wine screams spring and summer, but there shouldn't be such a mad rush to discard the rosés simply because the calendar page flipped.  You can stow away the white slacks until May if you like, but keep some pink wine handy all year long.

Not only is rosé a very food-friendly wine - especially the one we're concerned with today - it's just about a perfect match with turkey, as well as with those leftover turkey sandwiches.

Randall Grahm makes a great variety of rosés, of which this is probably the leader and the pink flag of the Cigare line.  Bonny Doon Vineyard's 2017 Vin Gris De Cigare consists of 57% Grenache, 18% Grenache Blanc, 9% Mourvedre, 6% Roussanne, 5% Carignane and 5% Cinsault.  Nearly a quarter of that grape content are white Rhône varieties.  The grapes were grown all over California's Central Coast, in vineyards like Alta Loma, Beeswax, Bokisch Ranch, JD Farming, San Miguel, Cass, Gonsalves, Scheid, Wente, Rancho Solo and Ventana. 

The bottle is adorned with the classic aliens-in-the-vineyard artwork that identifies the full line of Cigare Volant reds, whites and pinks.  The 13.2% abv alcohol number makes for an easy-drinking pink while stirring of the lees during and after fermentation gives extra creaminess to the wine.  The trademark Bonny Doon savory notes also help make a nice food wine.

Vin Gris De Cigare's nose offers tart aromas, stemmy strawberries, raspberries and apricots.  The palate is riper, but still not a fruit bomb by any stretch.  Acidity is at just about the perfect balance between food-friendly and sipping.  I can't wait to have it with a ham sandwich - that's my post-Thanksgiving leftover favorite.

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Concrete-Aged Côtes du Rhône

There's a lovely French restaurant across from L.A.'s Pacific Design Center which serves as a great place to grab a bite and a glass of something French either before or after.  Zinqué has an open feel with lots of natural light in the daytime and a garden atmosphere all around.

They have the 2015 Domaine du Trapadis Côtes du Rhône on the menu for $13 by the glass.  I see it selling elsewhere for $38 per bottle.

The wine is made by Helen Durand, and he uses his young-vine (average age 35 years) organically farmed Grenache grapes from Rasteau and Cairanne.  He sees wine as a "photograph of an environment," a snapshot of the land, climate and cellar, taken by the hand of one person.  The wine is fermented in cement tanks with extended maceration, then aged in those tanks for 18 months.

The 2015 Trapadis Côtes du Rhône shows up dark, in the glass and on the nose.  There's an earthy, Rhône-ish barnyard funk aroma that's extremely fascinating.  The palate displays complex, dark fruit, with big notes of tar, plum and spice.  The fruit gets plenty of play in this wine due to the concrete aging, rather than oak.  The complexity does not suffer and the overall impression is extremely fresh.  The medium firm tannins do what they are supposed to, nothing more, and the wine finishes nicely.


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Locations: F Is For France

Great wine is all about location.  The location of the vineyard makes all the difference in the end product.  Locations is an experiment of place for winemaker Dave Phinney, of Orin Swift fame, in which he makes wines from all over the world.  These wines are labeled only with a big letter or two in a white oval, depicting the place of origin - F for France, P for Portugal, I for Italy, and WA is for Washington, much like those European bumper stickers.

Phinney sold the Locations brand this summer to Modesto's E and J Gallo, two years after selling off the Orin Swift brand.  A price wasn’t announced, but Phinney will reportedly stay on as the winemaker "indefinitely."

For the fifth release of "F" Phinney has again tapped some of the best regions in France for grapes, drawing upon his network of growers from Rhone, Roussillon, and Bordeaux.  Phinney says the grapes were grown in "exceptional old vine blocks located in revered sub-appellations."  F5 is a blend of Grenache from the Roussillon, Syrah from the Rhone Valley and assorted Bordeaux varieties.  The wine was fermented in oak vats, barrel-aged for ten months and has an alcohol content of 14.5% abv.  It retails for about $20.

The wine is all Rhône on the nose, with a huge tar element along with anise and the smell of a nice box of cigars.  The medium-dark wine has a palate of the northern Rhône valley, too, and a splash from the Roussillon - just hint of Bordeaux, to my taste.  Dark fruit abounds and the oak usage is a treat, not a detriment.  Tannins are firm enough for a hanger steak and the finish lasts a long time with plums and blackberries lingering.  Phinney says drink it now, or let it evolve for four years or so.

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Temecula Celebrates

Temecula Valley Wine Growers are celebrating their 50th anniversary with a special wine release.  The wine style was decided by a group committee made up of Hart Winery's Jim Hart, Baily Winery's Phil Baily and Jon McPherson of South Coast and Carter Estate wineries.  They tossed around ideas like a Bordeaux blend, a Super Tuscan-style blend and even one made from "offbeat" international varieties, including Portuguese.  The wine they finally decided upon is made from 50% Syrah, 26% Grenache and 24% Mourvèdre

TVWA's director Krista Chaich says the 50th Anniversary wine perfectly represents the "People, Passion and Perseverance" theme of Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country.  She says the 50th Anniversary wine will be available for purchase at special events and through Hart Winery, retailing for $50.  Special etched magnums will also be available for purchase.

This Temecula wine is a medium dark beauty.  It offers up a bit of oak on the nose, but it smells beautiful.  Smoke, vanilla, tobacco, dark fruit.  It may be a little heavy-handed, but it's enticing.  The palate doesn't completely follow suit, though.  It tries to be a Rhône, but trips up about at Pinot Noir.  One or the other, okay.  In between, not so much.  The wine tastes pretty good, but it's a bit thin, with some tartness that's not really welcome.  Nice try, but it misses.  There are plenty of good wines being made in Temecula, though, so don't let this scare you away.


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Bonny Doon Wine In Cans

A fizzy, pink Bulle-Moose de Cigare is already on the loose from Bonny Doon Vineyard.  Now, two other canned quality wines join in because, as winemaker Randall Grahm says, “Yes We Can.”  Grahm is a noted trend bucker and setter in California wine, championing Rhône varieties, screw caps and honest labeling before anyone else did.  Wine in cans is his next frontier, although he's not the first to jump on that idea.

Bulle-Moose Blanche is a fizzy California Vermentino, canned for convenience.  Grahm says he also plans to make a still Vermentino in the near future.  The 2017 Fizzy White of the Earth was limited to just 800 cases of 375ml cans, which retail for $8 per can.

The White: It's 100% California Vermentino with a jolt of CO2 to get it slightly fizzy.  It's a 12% abv dry wine, which is best served cold and can age for a couple of years.

The Bulle-Moose Blanche tastes almost like Vermentino from the Italian islands.  It smells like one, too, with savory, salty aromas meeting the California citrus.  Think of it as the midpoint between Italian Vermentino and California Sauvignon Blanc.  The palate shows off a beautiful salinity - from Randall Grahm, no surprise - and zesty lemon and orange peel.  It's a refreshing wine that begs to be taken outdoors.

The Bulle-Moose Rousse is a fizzy Grenache wine in the convenient can.  The 2017 Fizzy Red of the Earth gets an introduction from the Le Cigare Volant UFOs-in-the-vineyard backstory.  Grahm says "no one is truly prepared for fizzy red wine from not around here."  Fortunately, these aliens are "known for their friendliness."  They're also good at picnics.

The Red:  A can of 79% Grenache and 21% Syrah, all Central Coast grapes, fizzed up to just below the legal limit for the sparkling wine tax.  Alcohol hits only 13% abv and it's dry.  Get it while it's cold.  It should age well for a couple of years, and some 2,500 cases of  these 375ml cans were made, which sell for $8 per can.

The Bulle-Moose Rousse pours up fun - you aren't drinking from the can, are you? - with pretty pink bubbles on top of the purple wine.  The color is actually more like medium ruby.  A nice frizzante stays after the bubbles dissipate.  The nose is deep and lean, with more earth than fruit there, and on the palate.  The savory notes for which Randall Grahm is known as present, even in an offering that’s made just for fun.

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Dry Rosé - From Livermore Valley

Winemaker Robbie Meyer took to Snooth recently to discuss the latest vintages from Murrieta's Well, in California's Livermore Valley.

The vines of the Murrieta's Well estate vineyards were first planted in 1884 by Louis Mel with cuttings from Chateau d'Yquem and Chateau Margaux, says the winery.  Mel sold the property, lock, stock and wine barrel, to Ernest Wente in the 1930s, and it's still part of the Wente Family estate.  Today, Meyer personally selects grapes from all over the five hundred acres.

He says there is "nothing quite like growing fruit in the vineyard, caring for it in the winery and crafting it into something people can enjoy."  Through the growing, the harvesting and the fermentation, Meyer says blending is where he sees the real art of winemaking.

He sat in with a group of invited wine writers and helped us sip through the Murrieta's Well Sauvignon Blanc, dry rosé, white and red blends and a pre-release of the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Murrieta's Well Dry Rosé 2017

This pink wine was made from LIvermore Valley grapes, 42% Grenache, 39% Counoise and 19% Mourvèdre, all grown specifically for rosé.  The alcohol is easy, at 13.5% abv.  They made a couple thousand cases of it and sell it for $30 a bottle.  Stainless steel vinification and 2 months aging make for a clean and fresh wine.

This rosé is a vibrant salmon pink in the glass.  Its nose offers cherries, strawberries and a savory touch of lanolin.  Red fruit dominates on the palate along with a side of herbal notes, like the greens of the berries.  The acidity is just enough, almost silky, in fact.  The wine will pair quite nicely with fish or a salad of any sort.

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Paso Robles GSM Hits Homer

The Paso Robles wine region sprawls over a good part of California's Central Coast.  It sprawls so, that it was recently divided into eleven sub-AVAs.  That's a testament to the variety of terroirs in the region's 600,000-plus acres, 40,000 of which are under vine. 

Hall Ranch sports five sustainably farmed estate vineyards - 300 acres in all.  They grow 21 different grape varietals there in the neighborhood of the Estrella River.  Head winemaker Don Brady was Texas-trained, back before Texas had a wine industry of which to speak.  He's been with Hall for nearly two decades.

Robert Hall's 2016 Cavern Select GSM is a Rhône blend of Grenache, Syrah and Morvèdre in more or less equal parts.  About half of the grapes came from Paso's Adelaida sub-app, about a third from the El Pomar region and the rest were from the Creston and Santa Margarita Ranch appellations.  Oak was used in the fermentation and aging process, Fresn and European (Hungarian?) and much of it was new wood.  Alcohol sits at 14.5% abv and it’s available only through the wine club and tasting room at $45.

This inky wine smells the way you want a GSM to smell, full of blackberry, cigar box and tar.  It has aromas that won't quit until you notice them.  The flavors are just as insistent, and just as dark.  Oak is pronounced, but well integrated, while the tannins can handle a steak without getting in the way. 


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SBC Tasting Room: Rideau Vineyards

A trip to Santa Barbara County's Santa Ynez Valley is always set off with a Rideau Vineyard visit.  Recently, we left L.A. early enough to get in our traditional stops at the bagel place in Camarillo and the Milpas Trader Joe's with the marine layer still making a cool morning of it.  Soon there will be an extra diversion when the blueberry farm starts selling those beautiful berries.  The sun broke through as we pulled into the grounds of Rideau Vineyard.

It's a Cajun French name, so I have always pronounced it as REE doh, as it would be in my native southeast Texas. At the tasting room they pronounce it rih DOH. Maybe they’re just trying to be fancy, but I'll go with what they say. They oughta know.

Iris Rideau owned the place for 20 years before selling it to some folks from Montreal in 2016.  They operate the winery with the same family-run feel as did Iris.

Here are the wines I tasted:

Rideau "Coquelicot" Sauvignon Blanc 2016 - Really fresh nose, more floral than grassy.  Easy-drinking acidity with a mineral-laden palate that is clean almost to a fault.  $26

Rideau "Sierra Madre" Stainless Steel Chardonnay 2016 - Great nose.  Such a bright, full mouth I would swear there’s oak in there, but no.  $28

Rideau Lagniappe White 2014 - Rhone-style blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and Viognier with an earthy, nutty nose.  Bright minerals, anise on the palate.  Extra years of aging have made a difference.  $33

Rideau "Camp 4" Sangiovese 2015 - Earthy, cherry nose; light mouthfeel with red fruit, then vanilla.  91 Points Wine Enthusiast.  $34

Rideau Lagniappe Red 2013 - Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre.  Very earthy palate (a Rideau hallmark) with red berry flavors.  $33

Rideau "Thompson" Syrah 2014 - Very nice, fruity nose, although somewhat subdued.  Dried stem inclusion offers a green, savory quality.  $39

Rideau Estate Syrah 2014 - Big earth on the nose, fantastic red fruit and oak notes on the luscious palate.  $44


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Syrah, Grenache, Tempranillo Blend

Morgan Winery is a Salinas outfit with vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands of Monterey County.  The winery's location makes me think of Steinbeck, but the wine makes me think of the Rhône Valley with a splash of Spain.

Dan Morgan Lee was making wine from other people's grapes in the 1980s, and bought the winery's Double L Estate - for double luck, twin daughters - in the 1990s.  The ink wasn't even dry then on the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA papers.  The vineyard is certified organic by  Monterey County Certified Organic, and it's certified sustainable as well.

Winemaker Sam Smith used grapes from from  northern and central Monterey County to create the 2017 G 17 Syrah.  It's one of those only-in-America blends featuring two Rhône grape varieties and one from Spain, all grown in Monterey County, of course.  The mix is 87% Syrah, 9% Grenache and 4% Tempranillo.  G 17 was aged for 15 months in French oak barrels, a quarter of which were new.  The grapes came primarily from the Santa Lucia Highlands and Arroyo Seco Appellations of Monterey County.

Alcohol hits 14.4% abv, so it's hefty without being overpowering, and it retails for $22.  Just under 1200 cases were made,

The first whiffs of this medium dark ruby wine are pretty boozy, but they're loaded with black berries, tobacco, smoke, leather and spices.  The palate picks up black cherry and a ladle of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg.  The wine drinks surprisingly gently, with enough tannic structure for roast or pork.  A medium finish is noteworthy and is missed when it fades away.


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