Wine & Spirits - February 2021 - 33

Year's Best US Syrah & Rhône Varieties
There's an incipient richness to the texture
that's bound to become more complete and
satisfying with bottle age. Wait on it before
pouring for a spring picnic. -P.J.C. §
522317

91 | Birichino

$24

2019 Mokelumne River Old Vine Mule
Plane Vineyard Carignane (Best Buy) ^ Mule
Plane, planted in 1930, provides carignane
with a lot of flavor for fruit harvested at very
low brix (this is 12.5 percent abv). Though
the wines take time to come out, with air,
red cherry, briar and licorice root are in view,
the flavors tart, cool and satisfying. -P.J.C. §
519382

91 | Desire Lines

$32

91 | Saint K

$35

from a lower elevation site, fermenting the
wine spontaneously in large wooden vats and
then aging it in neutral French oak barrels.
Their 2019 is a lovely raspberry-tart grenache,
brisk and cool in its supple integration. The
flavors are bright and ripe, lasting in a clean
and vibrant finish. -J.G. §
521403

92 | Tablas Creek

$40

2018 Adelaida District Grenache ^ Grenache
with a French feel, the wine leads with vibrant
red-cherry fruit grounded by dusty aromas of
leather and turf-like Gigondas, I wrote in
my notes. With air, the red fruit brightens
into a raspberry sweetness, tethered by the
savory elements. -P.J.C. (W&S 10/20) §

2018 Contra Costa County Evangelho
Vineyard (Best Buy) ^ From one of the
county's oldest vineyards, this is a blend of
carignane with ten percent mourvedre. It's
deep in color and assertive in its light beam
of cherry flavor-juicy and gluggable, but
with the tannic oomph for a pork chop.
(W&S 4/20; 150 cases) -P.J.C. §
522071
2018 Santa Barbara County Gravesend
Carignan (Best Buy) ^ Dark and elegant, this
smells like dark wild berries in a bowl lined
with spices. It's youthfully forward, a little
plump, and so effortless in its deliciousness
that one taster said, " I'm having a hard time
not swallowing this. " Ditto. Pour for your
socially distanced winter picnic. -P.J.C. §

C A L I F O R N I A C I N S A U LT

91 | Chiron

$75

2017 Edna Valley Unfamiliar Truth ^ This
earthy grenache has a note of high-acid fruit
to go along with pomegranate flavors, light
and lithe, with tannins like vine tendrils,
holding the red fruit aloft. It's a light wine
with sneaky strength, to serve with roast
chicken. -P.J.C. §

$26

2019 Mokelumne River Old Vine
Bechthold Vineyard Cinsault ^ Lodi's
Bechthold Vineyard may be the oldest
cinsault source in California, a dry farmed
site on a decomposed granite wash from the
nearby Sierras. It can produce cinsault of
unusual depth, and yet Birichino's bottling
consistently goes against type for such a
warm place: This is just 13 percent alcohol,
but punches above its weight with a peppery
freshness and verve, light bodied and mildly
herbal, with vibrant acids for a charcuterie
board. -P.J.C. §

CA L I FO RN I A GRE N A CHE
522263

92 | Donkey & Goat

$32

2019 El Dorado Girard & Fenaughty
Grenache Noir ^ Chuck and Ron Mansfield
farm a Tablas Creek selection of grenache
noir planted in 2000 at Fenaughty Vineyard,
at elevations rising to 2,800 feet. Tracey and
Jared Brandt blend those grapes with fruit

91 | The Withers

$38

90 | Fine Disregard

$30

90 | Samsara

$48

90 | Samsara

$48

90 | Fine Disregard

$40

90 | Birichino

$32

2018 El Dorado Grenache ^ If fruit could
smell and taste like broken rock, it would
smell and taste something like this wine,
accented with blackberry and strawberry
seeds. The peppery alcohol shows a little,
the mineral tannins show a lot. It's grenache
in a tight, spicy, bold and rocky mode. -J.G. §
522200
2018 Sonoma County Grenache (Best
Buy) ^ From cool vineyard sites in Sonoma
County, this wine is a pale translucent red
in the glass, with red and black cherry scents
that are gracefully lined with a cut tobacco
savor. Despite the light tone, the wine's
insistent tannins have a scudding grip for
roast chicken. -P.J.C. §
522314

522322

92 | Birichino

and bright at this cool Pacific site, the wine
taking on a fine weave of leathery funk and
expressive strawberry fruit. It feels tense, with
a touch of volatile acidity which provides a
bit of lift and a playful feel for veal. -P.J.C. §
522269

91 | Skinner

$60

2018 El Dorado Grenache ^ Pale red in the
glass, this wine has an unexpected depth,
even in its initial aromas of warm plums and
sealing wax, a whiff of turf in the background.
The flavors start off quiet, but in a day the
fruit grows punchy and forward, one warm,
bright-red berry note. Give it time in the
cellar. -P.J.C. (W&S 10/20; 158 cases) §
522048

91 | Talley

$55

2018 Arroyo Grande Valley Rincon
Vineyard Grenache ^ Grenache grows soft

2018 Ballard Canyon Larner Vineyard
Grenache ^ This wine's black-cherry scent
so dark and pronounced it's almost blue in
cast, punched up a bit by a modicum of oak.
The flavors are lush and substantial, lined
with a generous oak complement, needing
six months in the cellar to integrate. -P.J.C. §
522315
2018 Santa Barbara County Colson
Canyon Vineyard Grenache ^ Brilliant red
in color and aroma, this wine's candied
maraschino scent is grounded by a tanbark
and cedar note. Its flavors are bright and
direct, red-fruited all the way, for a burger
and fries. -P.J.C. §
522199
2018 Alexander Valley Altas Piedras
Vineyard Grenache ^ A bright cherry scent
leads in this heady, tactile red, with a red-fruit
thrust that feels pure, linear and succulent. It
merits a chill, and a pairing with something
as pale, like mortadella. -P.J.C. §
522319
2019 Santa Clara Valley Mr. Natural Old
Vine Besson Vineyard Grenache ^ Besson is
one of the oldest grenache vineyards in the
U.S.; Birichino dedicated a portion of the
fruit they get from those vines to make a
natural wine, with zero additives- " nekkid, "
as John Locke says (the label, drawn by R.
Crumb, depicts a man clothed only in his
long beard). Bottled without added sulfur,
WINE & SPIRITS

FEBRUARY 2021

33
https://www.chironwines.com/current-releases https://store.skinnervineyards.com/product/2018-Grenache--El-Dorado?pageID=B628053A-B0AA-665E-F92A-F437602BCD9F&sortBy=DisplayOrder&maxRows=12&
Wine & Spirits - February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - February 2021
