Palate
: Like Rhône meets The Rocks District, this compelling blend combines
classic mourvèdre notes of meat, minerality and black pepper, with alluring red berry
layers of raspberry strawberry and cranberry from the grenache. Savoriness from the
syrah complements the fruit, while adding depth and a sophisticated note of olive
tapenade. Throughout, the silky tannins that are one of the hallmarks of the rocks
provide richness, with the mourvèdre’s excellent natural acidity underscoring the blend’s
age-worthy structure.
Growing Conditions
While the 2016 growing season delivered our fourth year in a row
of early budbreak and flowering, a perfectly timed mid-summer cooldown extended the
season. This provided the grapes with an ideal amount of hangtime, while preserving
the natural acidity that is so integral to our style. Our mourvèdre and grenache were sourced from
the Tablas Creek nursery, and were originally from Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Harvest
We harvested our mourvèdre and
grenache on October 10th at 21.7˚ and 22.8˚ Brix respectively. Our Clone 174 syrah
was picked on October 3rd at 23.8˚. Grapes were harvested by hand and hand-sorted on shaker tables.
Bottling
The final blend was bottled unfined.
Winemaking
Everything was destemmed, and the mourvèdre and syrah were fermented in small 2-
ton containers, with slow, cool native yeast fermentations. To enhance extraction, the
grenache was fermented in an upright wood tank. The syrah took 14 days until
pressing, the mourvèdre 13, and the grenache took 11.
Aging
Only free-run wine was
selected, all of which was aged on the lees in 100% neutral Burgundy barrels and 500-
liter puncheons for 19 months.
