Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This quietly impressive wine wraps superfine tannins around deep, haunting flavors that range from ginger-spice cookies to cooked blueberries, new leather and dark chocolate. It's big in terms of flavor impact, but the wine itself is just medium to full bodied, and offers a silky, polished texture that's hard to resist. Best from 2024.
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Wine & Spirits
Jason Drew farms two vineyards in the hills above the Pacific—Perli, which makes up 65 percent of this blend, and Valenti Ranch. He focuses the wine on syrah (85 percent), mostly as whole clusters, spontaneously fermented with mourvedre, grenache and viognier. There’s some initial reduction that—combined with its provenance—brings a low-tide scent when it’s first poured. As the aroma and flavors open with air, that oceanic note adds complexity to rose- scented fruit, thorny with the peppercorn prick of acidity. Cool, tense and lasting, this is a refreshing red for cioppino or the saffron notes of a seafood paella. Best Buy
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.