Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Drew Field Blend GSM is one of California's best examples of wine from this genre. TASTING NOTES: This wine is black and bold, yet refined and elegant in the end. Its aromas and flavors of focused black fruit and bright minerality should pair well with a rosemary-infused rotisserie leg of lamb. (Tasted: September 26, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
This firm-textured, tannic wine is the first Drew GSM we’ve tasted, and it captures plenty of black-fruit flavors lifted by good acidity. It seems more lean than the winery’s Syrahs in recent vintages and may need time to mellow. Best from 2024.
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Wine Spectator
Precise and well-built, with expressive red plum, fresh tarragon and smoked pepper flavors that build tension toward well-groomed tannins. Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache. Drink now through 2029.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
Essentially a northern extension of the Sonoma Coast AVA but part of Mendocino County, Mendocino Ridge is one of the rare appellations defined by elevation only. The Mendocino Ridge AVA is reserved only for vineyards at or above 1,200 feet between the Anderson Valley and Pacific Ocean.