Winemaker Notes
This is classic cool climate Grenache, with that beautiful cherry red color and wild cherry aromas as well. It also has nice, cool climate spice notes. It is deliciously ready to drink now, but will certainly benefit from 2-3 years in the bottle.
Blend: 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A lighter shade in the glass, this bottling from a special site pops on the nose with snappy, easy red fruit tones of pomegranate and ripe cranberry. The palate is zippy and fresh, with darker pomegranate and light herb elements, exhibiting both a structure and flavor set that will stand the test of time. Drink now Cellar Selection.
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Vinous
The 2020 Grenache Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard is quite delicate and understated in this vintage. Sweet floral and spice notes lend nuance to a core of red/purplish berry fruit. There's a full 25% Syrah in this year's blend, but that does not come across as especially evident. The Grenache does reflect the personality of a ripe, exuberant year. It spent 16 months in French oak.
Rating: 90+
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.
California’s coolest wine growing area, Edna Valley excels in the production of high quality Central Coast wines like Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Rhône Blends and aromatic white wines. It has a cool Mediterranean climate and an incredibly long growing season, giving late-ripening varieties plenty of opportunity to develop great phenolic complexity.
Its northwest to southeast orientation creates a direct path for cool Pacific air and fog to penetrate the valley from the Los Osos and Morro Bay area inwards. Low hillsides of both calcareous and volcanic soils are home to much of the vineyard acreage of the Edna Valley.