Syrah is perhaps the most well known of the Rhône varietals as it is well suited to produce really big wines that offer aging potential and varied flavor profiles for the high end consumer. If it wasn’t for my love of Grenache I would say Syrah is a most favored varietal for me because of its many profiles and adaptations both within California and around the world. I love the flavors and variety that Syrah offers.

California Syrah always held the promise to challenge Cabernet Sauvignon for a truly noble California grape with blockbuster wines, but its popularity has never been able to nudge out either Cabernet, Pinot Noir or Zinfandel in total acreage or volume. Acreage of Syrah in California is actually down in 2020 over the boom time of 2000-2010. Still total tons crushed are about 75,000 per year as published by the Wine Institute, and many counties across California have significant plantings of Syrah, from Santa Barbara County up through Mendocino County and many counties in between and beyond, including the interior and Sierra foothill regions. The 2022 USDA California Census report for wine varietals grown shows Syrah solidly in the lead for Rhône varietals at just under 15,000 acres. That is more than 3 times what exists for Grenache, and puts Syrah almost in the league with the most popular varietals.

What makes Syrah special? Well the variety you will find in a number of different styles. Syrah is often a big and complex wine, but it doesn’t have to be. I know of a Syrah running at 12% alcohol and with no barrel aging, it is the true essence of the fruit. It can be medium bodied too, if aged with very neutral oak for not too long. Of course some Syrah is allowed to get really ripe and offers big flavor profiles with a significant amount of oak aging followed with plenty of bottle aging, and yes high alcohol content too. So you can choose between a large swath of flavors and styles in this varietal. Syrah is of course often blended with the other 2 classic Rhone red grapes Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce GSM, although most GSM’s are typically Grenache or Mourvèdre heavy, but not always. Syrah dominant wines are popular and often the flagship of some of the most revered wineries in California. As far as blending, it is worth mentioning that across much of France, some Viognier (maybe ~5%) is often co-fermented with the Syrah to bring out some more special florals and texture to the wine. I love Syrah-Viognier blends. And you should ask your Syrah wine maker if they do it this way. I know for a fact Cedarville Vineyard do, as I watched it get crushed in 2023 when I worked at Cedarville.

What area of the state produces the most expensive Syrah? Well it is not Napa, it is a cult winery sourcing from the Santa Barbara and Santa Rita Hills area named, Sine Qua Non. This winery produces bottles in the $500 range from several sources. But you don’t have spend $500 to have excellent Syrah from California, a whole eclectic range of product exists from $15-100 a bottle, but typically amazing Syrah starts around $30 retail if you want special California Estate grown and bottled Syrah. I notice that Paso Robles, Santa Rita, and Santa Barbara Syrah’s that are highly rated often stretch from $50-100 a bottle, in the north state the prices are less steep, especially in the Sierra foothills, Mendocino or Sonoma.

If you are new to the endevour of a particular high end Syrah region such as Paso Robles, which is big on high end vineyards and estates now, you might want to search out a few from the list of members at the Rhone Rangers and give that method a try. Rhone Ranger members tend to be the pick of the litter. The ratings and info at Wine Enthusiast are reliable. Some of the wineries in this area that have highly prized Syrah’s are Booker, Sextant and TH Estate. But that is just a start, if you are endeavoring into the high end Syrah of Paso Robles you will need to be selective and careful, the list of top end wineries is deep. And of course, Syrah stretches much further south from there as well.

Wait, what about the northern half of the State, where I live? Well these wines can be stunning as well. Let’s take a look at a few wineries to consider. Amador and El Dorado Counties can be good sources for excellent Syrah. Bill Easton and Terre Rouge is a highly awarded Syrah specialist, and their Ascent Syrah was awarded 100 points by Wine Enthusiast, at least in one year, and typically it is 95+ wine. Many renditions exist at Terre Rouge, and his estate DTR Syrah is less expensive and still a blockbuster in my mind. There are a good number of well crafted Syrahs across this region, and one of the best vineyards I enjoy is the Fenaughty vineyard which produces rich, velvety smooth, smoke and violet tinged Syrah especially when you age it for 5-10 years. The Fenaughty vineyard has done the best in my cellar over the last 20 years. You can do a search on Google for ‘Fenaughty Syrah’ and see who produced with it, however for consistency I buy this wine from Holly’s Hill in the Pleasant Valley AVA of El Dorado (Holly’s Hill can ship you this wine). In the San Francisco area, you might try Donkey and Goat, and there are more that source this fruit. I know this wine sells out pretty quickly at Holly’s Hill so if it is available, you better move on it. The Syrah vines at Fenaughty were grafted way back in the 1980’s so this may be some old vine expression that you will enjoy, if you enjoy big and bold wine.

One winery in Sonoma that does complex and big Syrah very well is Argot Wines. Justin Harmon started with Syrah and he’s still doing it almost 20 years later, and his Sonoma Mountain fruit is something special. This wine is very big, I would wait a bit on opening the bottles and let them integrate for a few years. But they are very complex from blueberry to deep purple flowers and cocoa. If you want an incredible expression of Sonoma County Syrah, this would be my recommendation. You can read up on Justin Harmon’s love of Sonoma Mountain Syrah in this post by Wine Spectator.

What Grenache is to red fruit roll ups and intense herbal notes, Syrah is to complexity, depth, darker fruit, cherry, violets/flowers, cocoa, tobacco, leather, spices and more. If you are into big wines, maybe from Bordeaux, then you should give Syrah a try as well. California Syrah can be especially complex and delicious. I drink it often, both locally and from places like Argot Wines.

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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

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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So what kind of wineries exist today? Well there is the rather rare, 100% estate and I will feature a few from the Fair Play region below. There is the winemaker that adds some non-estate grapes to add to the portfolio, and then there is the winery that doesn’t have any vineyards attached to them. They are winemakers and they can source grapes from around the region. The 100% estate winemaker is special and I see it less and less these days.

You really want to focus on estate’s and product that you know are well cared for. Poorly cared for grapes will mean less complex and lower quality wine. The estate if it has a team, high standards, great vineyard management, and the processes that produce the style you like then you can get the wine you prefer at a pretty consistent level. Other factors still exist. Does the wine maker track key wine making data, and is the careful process controlled year to year. And of course the weather is a big factor, nobody can control that. So anybody who tells you a wine is the same every year, clearly is not an enthusiast. Every vineyard and winery is constantly changing. One winery owner pretty much lost my business when they told me every vintage is the same. This is simply not true, in fact wine once in the bottle has a lifecycle as well.

Don’t go to the supermarket for “estate” wines. Estates move wines into supermarkets or the national channel when something went wrong, and they can’t sell it direct to a consumer or restaurant (their best shot at the best margins). Perhaps the wine is in decline, or there is simply too much wine for their market. The wine broker will clear it out. Maybe they picked too late and this wine is a bit pruney, or the taste of the oak isn’t really integrated well with the variety or style. Wine is variable. Oak is difficult and doesn’t often enhance the wine properly or is harsh. Even the temperature and what you drink it with are impactful. Most red wine should be opened between 55-60 degrees. Be careful of drinking huge red wines on hot patios in summer, this is not a great combination.

So back to the estate, I was updating the history of the Fair Play AVA wiki and was noticing, what estates are really still intact and producing all on the same property. Lots of things have changed in Fair Play wine AVA since it started the modern era around 1980, almost 50 years ago. Several great wineries still exist and do some great wine from their own vineyards. Here are 5 I can recommend in the very heart of the Fair Play AVA all close to each other where Brian Fitzpatrick first started the modern era around 1980.

• Cedarville Vineyard (oldest estate with the original proprietor, mid 1990’s)
• Element 79 Vineyards (a large portfolio, estate and locally sourced grapes)
• Medeiros Family Wines (all estate winery, no sourcing)
• Shadow Ranch Vineyard (10 acres planted, sources off property)
• Chateau D’ Estienne (one of the newest estates in Fair Play)

These all have vine to bottle estate wines worth your time. Some of them source varieties such as Sam Patterson, of Shadow Ranch, which has 10 acres planted. I have left out other estates that may have had changes recently, so I can’t recommend.

So much is about hospitality these days, and not necessarily about the wine. This blog was about the very core, why grape to bottle from one team matters. A wine that never leaves its place, till you take it home.

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Another varietal that has a very interesting and diverse spectrum is Merlot. Merlot is really something special, I like it more that Cabernet Sauvignon. If you forced me to choose, I choose Merlot over Cabernet, because Merlot can be really amazing with the its skin tannin, and it can have these complex minty or bay leaf flavors that exist that really shine on the palate, especially with a nice meal.

If you love large, deep, rich and ripe wines and have not had the lighter varietals of that grape, you can try to go to a wine shop and ask for wines that are lighter versions of Syrah (think Crozes-Hermitage) and others come from other parts of France as well (think further north). As far as Merlot , all over Bordeaux you can find Merlot of all capacities across the full spectrum. Pinot Noir is also this kind of grape, it is often oppressed by heavy oak but a lot of vintners realize Pinot is so special as it is, so I find plenty of Pinot Noir that is lightly touched and very Provincial.

In the foothills the easiest grapes are the ones I already mentioned. Zinfandel, Syrah (although most Syrahs are opulent and rich), and Grenache. Any grape variety has a spectrum of lighter to richer and fuller, these are just example varieties that might be more accessible.

So my 4 varieties for spectrum deep diving are:

Zinfandel
Merlot
Barbera
Syrah

You might wonder why Grenache is not on this list, it could be, but very heavy Grenache is not my favorite, so I pass on Grenache here with this theme. California Grenache really does poorly with too much oak. If I wanted to see lots of oak attached to a variety it would be my list above. I give an honorable mention to Pinot Noir since it is so accessible to people, especially here on the US West Coast.

Go out there and learn the spectrum on your favorite variety, since any grape, for example Sangiovese or Tempranillo, and so on, have these characteristics, where the spectrum exists, of elegant to rich. Wine is a human product, it can get highly manipulated, and grape forward wines can still be very complex. The easiest grape to show off a spectrum may be Barbera. In California, these tend to be very opulent and powerful wines, and in Barbera d’Asti they are elegant, cherry filled and so straight forwardly delicious. That is the easiest comparison of how the spectrum works. And if you live in New York City, the easiest to compare, since a store will probably stock both types.

The white varieties that have an amazing spectrum are Marsanne and Roussanne. The artists of the Northern Rhone do amazing work with Marsanne and Roussanne, so this will require a trip to south eastern France of course. Because the heavily opulent whites are not too prevalent or easy to find, especially in the USA. You will need to spend like $80 a or more for the really amazing rich and opulent white wines that are the best expression of what the Rhone valley whites can deliver. These whites are amazing!

Learn it, and love it, with your favorite variety. Go Provincial, then go New World. Or for a US resident or wine lover this order will be reversed. As it was for me.

Some further reading on wine flavor spectrums can be found in this article at Wine Folly.

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Oregon’s Willamette Valley is not ready for Mourvèdre just yet. Give climate warming some more time. However, it can be found in the Rogue River regions of Southern Oregon which are plenty hot enough and also provide the soil attributes it loves.

Mourvèdre goes from spicy, to sultry, to earthy, and deeply so, but can also be subtle, lively and herbaceous. It is hard to pin point Mourvedre, in all of its directions. It has surprised me, both for its acid and its tannin. But maybe now as Mourvedre gets ever more serious and pricey, we are catering again to the Cabernet drinker that loves tannin rich wine. So the winemakers respond, and the varietal has moved far beyond obscurity and lower price points, to a more serious varietal. Exotic spices, and herbaceous tones are the distinct characteristics you should always find in a good Mourvèdre. Or Monastrell, Mataro, wait what is it? Mourvèdre has lots of synonyms and a complex history.

In the under-rated geographic zone, and for the budget minded, maybe it is time to find out about Monastrell. From a region than rarely overcharges for wine, Spain. Spain offers excellent export bottles of this varietal, which in Spain is called Monastrell. Jumilla, is a wine region that is expressly committed to producing the Monastrell grape, and some very elegant ones often mixed with Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is worth searching out some wines from Jumilla Spain, I have yet to be disappointed, especially in the $15-25 price point that is often “exported”. It’s a great way to budget start this journey.

However you discover Mourvedre, and whatever price point, the spectrum’s are vast. Be sure to open up the wine for a while, and it will change. Mourvèdre is often one of the wines most receptive to decanting, and of course to serving with a rich spice filled meal.

So where do you go for some varietal focused Mourvèdre in California? Well you can hit up Tablas Creek which has a plethera (at least 5) renditions of this grape in their offerings. Tablas Creek is the grandfather of Rhone varietals within California. A truly exceptional winery, with a lab, an amazing staff and the support of the Perrin family that birthed modern Rhone varietals within the state of California.

Oak must be complimentary to the complexity of this varietal. How often is oak not overdone? Not often enough, and when you jump into the Mourvèdre pool this becomes especially interesting. An example of Mourvèdre from fruit to savory notes is Edio Vineyards which consistently ranks very high with this varietal. We are talking winemakers that pick their fruit at peak flavor. All critical factors in creating a wine that stands on its fruit and terroir pillars first and then layers in savory notes. Edio sources its grapes from the grandfather of Northern California, namely grapes that were planted and managed by Ron Mansfield.


Holly’s Hill is somewhat rare in that its number one varietal in terms of total acreage planted is, you guessed it, Mourvèdre. That is right alongside the Tablas Creek playbook. However that is still rare. This is a winery that sourced from the Tablas Creek nursery over 20 years ago. Carrie and Josh Bendick the winemakers continue to experiment deeply with this varietal. If you stay committed to them through the wine club you will be able to taste a spectrum of Mourvèdre that is hard to match across California.

California Mourvèdre is typically earthy in its flavor tones, with hopefully a “slight” amount of toasted oak. Savory notes of mushroom, truffle-like notes, or some unique tones out of the oak blending in with the grape. You can try a rich, yet young feeling Mourvedre when you try Holly’s Hill Poco Loco variant. Is there a wee bit of residual sugar in that varietal? The focus with Poco Loco is a “drink it now” varietal that is both juicier and yet opulent. Overall, Mourvèdre is quite expansive in what it can deliver, and I have given you a range of wineries here to try to be purposeful on what this variety can deliver. Mourvèdre is hard to pin down in this AVA. It gets even more crazy on a global scale.

Speaking of young Mourvèdre, the first-ever Mourvèdre release from Jonathan Lachs at Cedarville is a remarkable study in restraint and polish. Eschewing the rustic intensity often associated with the grape, this wine is centered on pure, refreshing fruit. With high quality integrated oak, the structure supports a beautifully complex, savory-earth core that drinks like a classic, fruit-spectrum French benchmark. This is a triumphant niche addition to the Cedarville repertoire that reflects years of thought and dedicated effort.

If you spend time looking for wine, you’ll appreciate spending more time looking for unique Mourvèdre’s, once you make friends with it. It is more complex and diverse than say (some leaner) Grenache and should last longer in your cellar as well. It is an under appreciated grape in the world of wine today. Mourvèdre loves lots of sun and heat so its future is bright. Mourvèdre sometimes ripens slowly if the harvest time gets too cool, delivering some of the spectrum I laid out for you in this blog.
Cheers!

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I would not trust rating numbers except from this list (*maybe Vinous too, but their data is locked down). And no, I pay no attention to this County Fair, or that State Fair. Those ratings mean little, as the fairs rarely have a well chosen list of well trained sommeliers doing the work with a consistent and evolving process, over years.

If you see a 90+ rating from any of these above noted expert organizations, then for sure this winery has some “exceptional” stuff and is worth a tasting. And wine itself has a lifespan, most wine does not improve with age, but rather lives on a curve. Some wines do improve, but that is a complex topic about tertiary flavors developed in the bottle. It is still your palate though, so drink up and be critical about what you like. Elegant and light; varied, big and bold. Fruit forward or oak me up to the moon. Tannic bomb, or spice box; figuring out all these notes, helps you find better wine that suits you. And trust me, supermarket wine is not where to spend most of your wine money. The best wine is direct to consumer and often within restaurants or fine wine stores that hire experts to bring in elite wines.

I do have a subscription to Jeb Dunnuck, mostly because his small team tries to go to some unique regions, and doesn’t just focus so hard on Bordeaux style grape varieties and wine making of the ultra oaked. He talks often of the Old World style of wines, and this helps, he also calls it Provencal. Although they all seem to gear their work to people with wine budgets well into the thousands of dollars per year. They don’t necessarily buy into light, old style wines or give them high points, because the system is geared towards aging, highly complex wines that have had expensive oak impart many notes into the wine so you get a very complex experience from the wine. You won’t find an old world styled Grenache getting 98 points with this philosophy. But that old world Grenache, or that lighter Zinfandel may be just what you like best?

Be aware of their methods! If you want to see these methods in action, check out Konstantin Baum. He often rates on this 100 point scale, and you’ll find that the more opulent, deep and rich the wine is, the higher the points. In his Merlot episode, you can watch how things go. When he gets to the tertiary bomb, 15.5% alcohol wine, you get him rating it at 98 points. You want a fruit forward or even medium bodied Merlot, good luck finding that any higher than maybe 90 points, and so in that sense this elegant bottle may actually be 100 points to you. You see this plays out on Vivino all the time. Those are the methods. And the older you get, the better fine, elegantly, made wine tastes. Peak fruit is really the best direction to head in. But hey that’s just me talking. The wine’s flaws can’t be as well hidden in this direction either.

Finally, thanks for reading this far if you have, one consolidator tool that is very searchable and offers e-commerce wine sales as their business model. They offer a history and collection of wine critic notes which is very helpful. This tool is called https://www.wine-searcher.com/ ….try it out.

Wine-searcher is perhaps better than Vivino for finding classic wines, because it gives you less crowd sourcing and more expert opinions in one place. Pay attention to the highest scores on the list, and what styles and comments you like best in the critic notes, and that could be a way to get to more clarity and less bias. You’ve learned the methods, now use them to your advantage.

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https://belongwines.com/ Belong wines is a Napa company that actually smartly sources a lot of amazing fruit from El Dorado AVA, and this gives many more people the chance to try mountain spice. This wine company will delight you with the open, fruit forward, lightness of their wine. They make an amazing mountain spicy Mourvedre. A wine that really delights. Try some of their wine and see if this beautiful style works for you. Never overpriced, and always a very cleanly made varietal is what you can expect. They can reliably be found at K&L. Who will ship them to you.

Remember, there is not a lot that the bottle’s label reveals, so ask some open ended questions. You can also get some details on the wine making process in the winery’s details pages. This is all varied of course, but an expert winemaker wants to import some important details on their site. Here you can see a methodology of letting Grenache be Grenache, ok light skins, means lighter color, so maybe some blending was done for color. But anyway these type of descriptions should make you want to try this wine. Based on the thesis of this blog.

I still remember when Lava Cap was on allocation for their Grenache. There is a distinct reason there is a second block of Grenache on this property now. The soils, the elevation, Grenache loves it…

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Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio (grey Pinot) – this grape is very extensively available in Oregon, but California grows a large amount of it as well. At 17,000+ acres it is one of the top 5 white grapes grown in California. You can find excellent Pinot Gris all up and down the USA West Coast, but certainly plenty of it from California. It is dry, fresh, acidic, and full of life. Flavors of honeysuckle, almonds and some spiciness to it is often in the glass. It is a lovely grape. A nice white wine only winemaker that offers a number of Pinot Grigio’s is Massican. Make sure you try some Pinot Gris from either California, Oregon or even Alsace France as these places have great Pinot Gris, that is much different (better?) than say that average $17 Pinot Grigio from Italy.

Let’s move onto special red varieties with so much to offer:

Merlot – this is a special grape that is truly loved in France, but less so in the USA. It is a medium to full bodied grape that can do wonders in the lead role. I love it, especially special ones from Napa Valley where the grape does exceptionally well. My favorite Merlot and most likely the most expensive wines I own, comes from the Sullivan Collection. Delicious, so complex, and almost worthy of that lofty price. If you want a more introductory Merlot, try a bottle of Duckhorn Three Palms Merlot, which is about $100. Or look at this post on the Comeback of Merlot in California, which offers really excellent suggestions. Thanks WE!

Zinfandel – If you have not tried really well made Zinfandel from California you should. It is perhaps the most versatile of the grape varieties in this blog. It can go from elegant, and crisp and light, to very rich, dark and brooding, so the variety has a tremendous spectrum. Usually the wines in the store are big and tannic, and are referred to as jammy. I would recommend you try a really special winemaker team that exists at Turley wine cellars. Turley specializes in the very best old vine vineyards of Zinfandel across California and their selections are so good. I buy from them, whenever I feel I need more 5 star Zinfandel. Turley can be found in the best restaurants where the sommelier really knows their stuff, and many of the wines are under $100 a bottle, which compared to Bordeaux blends out of Napa, is a bargain.

Pinot Noir (or Grenache) – Pinot Noir is extensively grown on the West Coast, and with superior results. This grape really loves the cool climate of the coastal Pacific of North America, we are so blessed out here. The interior version of Pinot Noir is Grenache and to a lesser extent other varietals of Rhone. Why? because of their fruity profile yet strong acidity (from elevation) and full body (from thick skins). These are all fruit forward varieties and if you like more fruit forward and less heavy oak or thick tannins, then these two grape varieties are for you. There is so much good Pinot Noir all across both California and (especially) Oregon. Pinot Noir is like the most heralded grape from Oregon, as is the Pinot Gris mentioned above. I think any fairly expensive Pinot Noir from the West Coast is going to do you well, I have found some great ones from Edna Valley and of course Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino to get you going. I am going to send you to this Pinot Noir landing page, at my favorite Wine Enthusiast, where good information is generally free. Enjoy a Pinot Noir tonight in fact, it’s a really luscious, fruit filled grape. Yes you can even try Meiomi which is probably the most well known supermarket Pinot Noir that exists across North America. But many wonder, is that Pinot Noir?

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https://www.cedarvillevineyard.com

http://www.hollyshill.com/

https://www.lavacap.com/

https://www.bellagracevineyards.com

https://davidgirardvineyards.com/

https://gracepatriotwines.com

Why try Grenache? … you may ask, I am a Zinfandel, or Syrah hard core. Well if you like really opulent deep ruby, power wines, it might not be for you.

Grenache when artfully made in California is an open fruit grape, with amazing red berries complexity and acidity, with light and long spice on the finish if done correctly. It tends to be lighter since the skins hold less colors and thickness so the really best Grenache of the foothills will be picked at the peak of ripeness and offer a lighter pale ruby color, yet lots of structure and layers of complexity. From that woody spice and anise, to raspberry, strawberry, pomegranate and black cherry fruit notes.

It can work as an aperitif, or a table wine, (it works great at Thanksgiving since it pairs super well with turkey). Traditionally in France, Grenache is used in blending wines that are of exceptional high end quality. My experience shows up to 5 years is about the max for getting the peak youthful fruit and acidity from this varietal at the wineries you see portrayed here. Opinions on aging Grenache vary, but if you are new to it, you won’t be setting it aside anyway. I prefer the vibrant nature of Grenache, so that means drink young!

Grenache when it overproduces is less amazing than the lean years, I have found. It is good to ask the grower if he has a had a small harvest, and drought years and underproduction can be especially good for that exceptional Grenache vintage. Excellent Grenache is also grown in Sonoma County, and the Paso Robles region, so those are areas where the terroir is well suited. To try one of the truly exceptional Grenache’s of Paso Robles, please try, https://tablascreek.com/. I think Tablas Creek is some of the best California Grenache I have ever tasted, and they veer towards the elegant side of being grape forward, as many Grenache fans love. Neil Collins and his team, are masters at Grenache. And Neil himself has been at this for about 25 years and is highly recognized.

The grape does not do well with too much oak, so the masters of this wine, think Lewis Grace and Tablas Creek here, do not apply very much oak in their process. Grenache used to live in the shadow of bolder grapes, especially the venerable Syrah or the earthy Mourvedre, but in today’s market it is seeing a fan club all to itself. Producers are figuring it out, and that’s a wonderful thing.
As one long time French producer of wine once said:
“Grenache delivers what Pinot Noir promises…”

Before heading out, maybe consume this deep dive to remember a few things before jumping into the car for the tastings.

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One winery that has significant love towards both Portuguese and Spanish varieties is St Amant. This winery is worth a visit as they have scored a plethora of 90+ scores from Wine Enthusiast over the years and across the collection. With their Tempranillo you’ll be drinking Amador County (technically Foothill grapes) in the process. Their Spencer vineyard is their largest vineyard and that is located just on the western edge of Amador County. Another winery out of Lodi that sponsors a Tempranillo tour in November, is Bokisch Winery, and they helped sponsor the Lodi Spanish wine tour, that hit 8 wineries just for their Tempranillo. If you are looking for a list to do your own tour use the page I just provided.

Within Amador County I have to mention a relative newcomer winery that has lots of potential. Casino Mine Ranch has a good amount of (Tempranillo) grapes planted in Amador more along Shenandoah Road, which is the heart of Amador County wine country. I can’t say Tempranillo is their flagship grape, this winery takes a lot of pride in diversity, but the Marcel flagship blend uses Tempranillo to its perfection. This wine is both very bold and highly complex in its characteristics so you get what most people are looking for in this wine. Marcel is a bold wine, and a very complex wine. I see that Casino Mine Ranch also doesn’t release the Marcel till its ready, a few years on, and even then you can tell it needs some more time (at least 2 more years) to develop into something tremendous and perhaps a bit softer.

Tempranillo varietals in the Foothills (Amador/Lodi) regions is often big, high in tannins and simply “strong, bold wine”. If you prefer a more medium bodied wine I advise that you be patient and look around more, to find that balance that this variety can provide. It is both exceptional and truly noble in a way only a many generation Spanish wine-making family can truly understand. To take a closer look with great graphics about Tempranillo, step into the world of Wine Folly and their comprehensive, yet easy to consume guide on Tempranillo. My takeaway is that this grape and wine provide medium body and color, and do best when the wine is crafted in the middle of that elegant to bold scale, where the fruit can really show its many faces in the glass.

So glad that Tempranillo has begun to shine out from under the excellent and dominant Old Vine Zinfandel shadow of the southern parts of my (favorite Foothills) region.

You’ll need to figure out what kind of (Tempranillo) you really like.

Cheers!

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