French Archives - Frank's El Dorado wine blog

Dolcetto Rosé and a whole lot of other varieties…

frank — Wed, 13 May 2026 02:11:56 +0000

El Dorado County has a lot of varieties that grow in these rugged hills. Many accounts from official sources say the County has over 70 varieties in production. The winemakers have not sold out to Bordeaux variety heaviness and to be honest that’s truly one of the top tier reasons to drink El Dorado or Sierra Foothills wine in general. This County is authentic, however authentic that farmer wants to make it in fact. Rhône varieties, Zinfandel, some other French and Italian varieties dominate but never one particular grape. For any particular winery either. Zinfandel and Rhone styles are still the core grape varieties to be found. However, this blog is about Rosé.

When it comes to Rosé wine the variety variation can be a real treat. Because almost no Rosé wine is influenced with oak. They are usually stainless steel or concrete fermented. Often to the peak of dry or just before it reaches absolute peak dryness and then bottled quickly and sold. Some Rosé’s can even be aged but don’t age them too long. It usually doesn’t work out.

Here in El Dorado County you can find great Rosé from almost all the wineries that exist. They usually do at least one white and one Rosé. If you want to go really deep on Rosé, you need to focus on France, France exports a lot of Rosé, it was probably invented in Provence. The king region for Rosé today is Provence. This region is in the very south east of France and here you can find walls and walls of high acid, fruit centric, and complex Rosé. They use the similar techniques and it really comes down to the grape. The techniques often use no oak, so you will get the grape’s expression more fully. The wine is aged in concrete, or here in the USA in stainless steel with temperature control. Rarely is there residual sugar, but sometimes just a tad. A slight amount of sugar never hurts really, but to be honest most of these wines on the hydrometer will be 0 or -1 (perfectly dry).

The Rosé’s I like from around here are using a number of different varieties.

Dolcetto (thanks Lava Cap)
Zinfandel (yes better than the classic White Zinfandel which is often too sugary)
Syrah
Barbera
Grenache
Pinot Noir

many varieties exist in El Dorado County here is a rose wine made from Dolcetto

Grenache is a great varietal for Rosé, and most of Provence is using Grenache, except Bandol where Mourvèdre is always 50% of the blend there, so the Rose’ in Bandol will be Mourvèdre centric. And many say the Rose’s from Bandol are more complex and really special. The AOC rule in Bandol is Mourvèdre must be 50% of any rouge wine, and at least 20% of any Rosé. And most wines are blended by tradition. We are heading there in 2027 to find out more about the AOC’s of Provence.

Here are some grape varieties used traditionally for Rosé across Europe that you won’t find a Rosé from in El Dorado County or across the Sierra Foothills, but if you find one send me a note here on my website.

Mourvèdre (think Bandol)
Lagrein
Cabernet Franc
Aglianico
Nebbiolo
Sangiovese
Gamay Noir
Valdiguié
Côt (Malbec)
Grolleau

I suggest you try some nice dry (yes even complex) Rosé from the south of France as a starter anyway, or go high end and then go for a Tavel France Rosé. Much of it does come from the South of France but certainly all of France is notable. The Rhone Valley is famous for it as well and outside of Provence, Tavel is often on the finest wine lists (across France for sure). But if you want to look for something specific at your favorite wine store read this WE look into French Rosé. This excellent post goes far beyond just Provence or the southern Rhône. You have to remember my orientation and biases, they are towards Rhône varieties and southern France and Alsace. Other places that have some heritage and specialty in higher end Rosé, are

Spain
Italy
Austria
South Africa
Greece
Sicily

To name a few, but for many of these places you will have to go there to really immerse yourself.

Much of the Rosé I find in El Dorado County is just that. It barely exists.

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Tannat Oui Oui

frank — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 21:06:00 +0000

Tannat may be a varietal you have never heard of, it is really not very common at all in California, but it is something you probably want to try if you like black fruit, and bolder red wines. Think rich Bordeaux’s or Petite Syrah, or very big GSM. I don’t have a lot of experience with it, as it is not a Rhone varietal and it simply hard to find (locally in Northern California). And my most favored wineries do not make it, aside from Tablas Creek. It is from the southwest of France, more the Basque region. How does it do in the Americas. Well I have seen Tannat from South America(Uruguay mostly), Texas, Oregon, Virginia and areas here in California as well. The typical wine growing areas of California, but it seems most often a Paso Robles varietal scanning through hundreds of offerings inside of California on WE. There are 566 acres of Tannat planted within California’s borders. That is a pretty good number, so in the south state you are lucky, it is far more common there. Tannat’s acreage is pretty good, compare it with 1,175 acres of Mourvedre and 92,000 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. If you can find Mourvedre, and I’ve shown you how, you can definitely find Tannat.

What does it taste like? It is full of exciting aromas of mostly black fruits, palate power like licorice are often present. Even a 13% ABV Tannat can feel powerful in the mouth. This varietal packs a lot of polyphenals, which generate the flavors in wine. A complex wine that has 3 or more unique flavors in it is always more exciting than a drab wine, and Tannat has serious aging potential because it is often packed with tannins. I have only had 2 California grown Tannats in my life but I wish to have many more. I always look for it whenever I go to a new wine tasting venue or event.

Where can you access some excellent Tannat? Well Wine Enthusiast wrote a fantastic article on their favorite Tannats. As you can see Uruguay is a powerhouse in this grape with some 94 point Tannat on the list. So with that article and access to many online resources now for wine buying you can get some good Tannat wine very easily. Start with something good at least 90 points and you will be on your way.

How about the best wineries in El Dorado County and the Sierra Foothills, here it is tougher to find Tannat. I am literally going to give you access to a Texas based winery that has more Tannat’s than you may find in an entire wine region of California. Bending Branch has about 10+ Tannat renditions, and they have won many points and awards for their Tannats. Wineries that will give you Tannat inside of El Dorado County are Starfield, very close to Placerville, and Windwalker out in Fair Play (El Dorado County). Here are the links to the wineries below.

+ Shadow Ranch

+_Windwalker Vineyard

+ Starfield Winery (which also produces a Marsanne varietal)

+ Ursa Vineyards (Placerville, CA) and Bending Branch Winery (Texas) – Shop Tannat

I have not tried the bottom two, but I have tasted the Tannat from Windwalker and it was a motivator. I like the Shadow Ranch’s Tannat as well the latest 2022 is quite good. Lots of blackberry. I think the winning wineries for Tannat know not to press this wine too extra hard if it is a bit lighter than 14.5% and super deeply colored it has nice elegant aromas. Like I said I am no Tannat expert but the grape has potential in many parts of the USA, and is growing in popularity in Texas, Virginia and the Paso Robles region of California. Here in Northern California and Southern Oregon, it gets a bit scarce, but Rhone Ranger high achiever Troon comes through. Going Troon for you Rogue Valley folks is a no brainer, but if you live in a Tannat desert, solve that by considering a Uruguay based Tannat. The national wine grape of Uruguay. It is how I got started with this most interesting grape and anyone, anywhere reading this blog can find a Uruguayian Tannat, they try to export this varietal as their pride and joy.

Finally, WE posted a nice more recent article on the Tannat variety and offers some other first recommendations, from Paso Robles, Madiran (France) – (percieved origin of Tannat), and of course a couple from Uruguay too.

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