2021 Grenache

Allow me share with you the story as to why we make two wines from the Grenache grape; one from Paso      Robles and the other from the Alta Mesa District of Lodi.  In 2005, my search for a grape from which we could make light bodied red wine came to an end when we produced Grenache from Ron Silva’s ‘Silvaspoons        Vineyard’.  After venting my frustration with attempts to make a ‘summertime’ red using the Gamay grape, a colleague from the Livermore Valley, Thomas Coyne, suggested I try Grenache from Ron.  Unfamiliar with the delicacy of Grenache I left the wine in barrel too long; it ended up smelling and tasting like it came more from a lumberyard than a vineyard and it never saw the inside of a bottle with an “R” on it.  The second go round we nailed it.  Limited to just six months in barrel, the bright    lively succulence of Grenache radiated, and we had our man, er grape.

I met Steve Carter when I joined J. Lohr as their winemaker in 1990.  Steve had just returned to California after working for Penfolds in New Zealand and was heading up Lohr’s vineyard operations in Paso Robles.  Over the years we purchased grapes from Jerry Lohr, and then from Steve once he had established vineyards of his own.  In 2010 the site Steve was waiting for became available and he purchased the parcel.  At 1,600 feet in elevation in the Adelaide Hills West of Paso Robles he planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvedre (another story), Grenache and Syrah.  The Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre was an enticement for us to make a GSM blend, but when we made the wines separately, they were so stately as individuals, I didn’t have the heart to blend them.  Ergo two Grenaches.

The two wines are a wonderful example of the influence appellation has on the character of the resulting wine.  Lodi, with its deep fertile soils produces bountiful quantities of Grenache resulting in a delicate wine with a  lighter color and flavor than those grown in Paso Robles.  Steve’s vineyard struggles to yield three tons per acre and the deeply pigmented Grenache grapes make a more substantial wine that those from Lodi.  Both delicious in their own respects. I describe to the Silvaspoon’s Grenache as my ‘lunchtime’ Grenache and the Three Way   Grenache as the Grenache I reach for to accompany ‘dinner.’

Oak Regime:   33% American Oak      33% French Oak        34% Neutral Oak

Released: March 1, 2022                

214 Cases Produced