A Tribute to Grace Murmur Vineyard Grenache 2016
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Jeb
Dunnuck
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Grenache Murmur Vineyard is slightly deeper colored and comes from a cooler site in Santa Maria Valley. Forest floor, peppery herbs, black cherries, and some olive tapenade give way to a medium-bodied, silky, awesomely textured, pure, elegant Grenache that has ripe tannin and a great finish. It shows the charming, silky, sexy style of the vintage beautifully.
A Tribute To Grace Wine Company is dedicated to crafting authentic expressions of Grenache. All wines are single-vineyard sourced to maintain authenticity, and remain 100% Grenache.
Angela Osborne is a New Zealand born winemaker who moved to California in 2006 with the dream of making Grenache. In the land from which she stems, the climate is too cool to ripen this sun-loving beauty. And so began her search: northern Spain, southern France, southern Australia, California...
Abundant sunshine and entrepreneurial spirit led Angela to the latter, and in 2007 she sourced her first Grenache fruit from the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard. Nestled high above the Pacific Ocean and 33 miles inland, this high-desert vineyard provided the perfect balance of heat and light that was sought. Angela named her label after two of her favorite things: her Grandmother Grace and her most beloved attribute. Angela's winemaking intention is to capture this spirit, and stay as close to nature as humanly possible. The trio is completed by the grape itself, which to me encapsulates grace.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
A lesser-known but elite AVA within the larger Santa Barbara district, the Santa Maria Valley AVA runs precisely west to east starting near the coast. The valley funnels cool, Pacific Ocean air to the vineyards more inland, allowing grapes a longer hang time to ripen evenly and achieve their full potential by harvest time. Combined with minimal rainfall, consistent warm sunshine, and well-drained soils, it is an ideal environment for grape growing.
Many of the wineries here are small and highly respected, having established a reputation in the 1970s and 80s for producing excellent Central Coast wines like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. More recently, Syrah has also proven quite successful in the region. Many vineyards are owned by growers who sell their grapes to other wineries, so it is common to see the same vineyard name on bottlings from different wineries. Bien Nacido Vineyard is perhaps the best-known and most prestigious.