Grenache is one of
the lighter red wines we produce. From
the beginning we have always wanted to offer a wine that offers bright fresh
fruit, with little to no tannins, can take a chill and be a delightful quaff in
the warm summer months. At first, we
thought Gamay or Valdiguié would fit the bill, but after two disappointing
vintages we turned our attention to Grenache.
Ron Silva’s
vineyard in the Alta Mesa District of Lodi provides us with the fruit we use to
produce this wine. It has consistently
given us the soft texture and bright fruit that we are looking for. There are a couple of secrets to producing
this wine that I will share with you.
The first is that we limit the alcohol in this wine to 14%. Grenache is renowned for its ability to
produce very sweet grapes which commonly result in wines with alcohol levels
north of 16%. When that happens the
alcohol and tannin combine to create a course often chalky texture that
compromises the charming refreshing succulence that is the heart Grenache. The second is that while time in barrel is
beneficial it can be easily overdone.
Therefore, we limit the time Grenache sees in small barrels to just seven
months. The result is a bright fresh
easy drinking red wine.
