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.

The post Sierra Foothills Grenache appeared first on Frank's El Dorado wine blog.

This blog is about very select GSM makers across California who I am familiar with. GSM is perhaps most prevalent in Paso Robles where all 3 varietals have taken significant hold and Paso Robles is probably now the Rhone capital of California as the wine industry there is quite big, especially high premium wines. The Paso area has done extremely well for the Rhonists. I live in El Dorado County, and therefore try to visit all the wineries I can, of the Sierra Foothills, but we are 200 strong, and hitting 20-40 is more realistic. For coastal inhabitants, the Sonoma to Santa Barbara coastline is also very strong in producing these three varietals, so you can find GSM’s probably in all the major California regions I just mentioned. For the Foothills wineries these are my favorites that perennially focused on producing a top quality GSM blend.

El Dorado County – Pleasant Valley wineries

Holly’s Hill – this is a purest Rhone vintner that focuses only on Rhone varietal on their large 40 acre estate. Their Patriarche and Lover’s Leap are both excellent blends of M-G-S. Josh and Carrie Bendick, the winemakers here, love Mourvedre and often blend in more Mourvedre into their blended wines than you will find at other wineries. Their wines and their Syrah’s as well are just delicious. Patriarche is their flagship product.

Sierra Vista – this is the grandfather estate that dates all the way back to the 1970’s when Barbara and John MacCready started wine making up on this hill, pretty far from downtown Placerville (30 minute drive). It is now run by a new owner, Jim Czachorowski, and things have been changing here since Jim took over. There are two GSM offerings here, namely a more classic GSM called Fleur-de-Montagne, and the robust and age worthy Outlaw which is Syrah forward and much darker, heavier and richer.

El Dorado County – Fair Play wineries

Bumgarner Winery – The Fiona wine from Bryan is a very nice expression of complex, and textured GSM, and he’s been making it for years. In Fair Play this is one of the two you should try. The Fiona is not a big (dark, robust) GSM, but rather a finesse GSM that shows of the herbal notes that are so common with mountain Rhone grapes. This is a tremendous accomplishment for our area, and simply one reason to visit this beautiful family run winery that has two tasting rooms. One in Camino and another in the high hills of Fair Play!

Gwinllan Estate – Directly in the very heart of Fair Play on Fair Play Road is this family run winery with innovative winemaker Jonathan Pack. Jonathan has a GSM that he considers his most complex and textured wine. Give it a try and enjoy the tasting in his tasting room cave, where you might find Jonathan’s mom Chris pouring with their dog by her side. Jonathan calls his GSM the Winemaker’s Selection. Make sure you taste this wine carefully and slowly.

Amador County – Shenandoah Road

Terre Rouge/Easton wines – If you know anything about Rhone and the Rhone Ranger clan that helped bring these varietals to the forefront in California. Then you have heard of Bill Easton. He’s a founding member of the Rhone Rangers, and his wines are varied, robust and excellent. My favorite GSM blend from Terre Rouge is the L’Autre, which means the “other” in French and probably his most popular in terms of volume and exposure is called the TÊTE-À-TÊTE, or face to face. His focus on all the varietals that make California great is amazing, but his work with Syrah has earned him 100 points from Wine Enthusiast and Bill Easton’s work is simply too good to pass up. Look here

Paso Robles – Adelaida District

Tablas Creek – founded in 1989 this is definitely a winery of master distinction since it has a deep and family-based connection to Chateau Beaucastel. There are many wines here of Grenache or Syrah mixture so study carefully. From the Patelin to the Gobelin, the choices are rich, varied and generally off the charts good. I discovered this winery about 20 years ago on a trip my wife and I took to the area to discover some great wine and I am still as big a fan as I was that day tasting that amazing wine. Their GSM mixtures are very varied and beautiful. As long as Neil Collins is leading the cultivation and wine making team at Tablas Creek, you should expect nothing but excellence out of this exceptional property and management. This is one of the few wineries that has a full lab and works on the wine chemistry with a complete focus. Tablas Creek tries to do everything to perfection. What a delight of a soup to nuts direct to consumer winery.

Other notable GSMs from Paso Robles (this is not comprehensive at all):
Booker Wines (Oublie)

Derby Wine Estates

Peachy Canyon

Coastal California

I am no expert or even deep taster of this area, but it should not be overlooked as Syrah has branched into the Santa Lucia Range and many of the appellations outside of Paso Robles. So look into the wineries of Sonoma, Santa Maria, Monterey and Santa Barbara Counties to find Syrah and perhaps a great G-S-M blender. I know from my studies of the Rhone Rangers that Bob Lindquist is a master of the Rhones.

You can find his work here:
Lindquist Family wines

Another Rhone wine master is Randall Grahm , he works with a Santa Maria vineyard to produce his Language of Yes experiments, which is not G-S-M but does involve Syrah and Grenache just to his liking. His latest renditions are pretty deep on the complexity scale, as I bought his first vintage of this new experiment, and was delighted with the outcome.

To finish off, here is a picture of the soulful heart of the G-S-M wine region in France. I took this shot in November 2022. The town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, on the hill where the castle ruins barely stand. You are looking at the very nice homes of the tiny town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The chateau for the church elite is no longer there… The GSM components, they are thriving, and ready for a good long rest as well.

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