Winemaker Notes
Blend: 85% Syrah, 12% Mourvedre, 3% Grenache
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
“It tastes like a forest,” said Publisher Josh Greene. He meant it as the highest of compliments. “You want to drink that when you smell it,” agreed Peter Steiner of Sens in San Francisco. “It’s really refreshing.” The wine smells like dry pine needles and leaf litter on a warm summer day, but also like fresh strawberries and roses. It’s powerful, and some of that power comes from alcohol warmth, while some comes from the tightness of the wine’s structure. (Greene called the tannins “craggy.”) It’s a regal, elegant form of power, especially two days after the wine is opened—layered, bright, ample and umami-rich. David Low, one of the three partners in Anthill Farms, makes the wine for Andrew Tow’s project, basing this blend on syrah (with some mourvedre and grenache); it grows at three vineyards with volcanic soils in northern El Dorado County, as well as the sandy decomposed granite of the Skinner estate in Fair Play. This feels like a wine that will age well. If you open it now, let it sit in a decanter all afternoon, and then grill some lamb chops.
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.
As home to California’s highest altitude vineyards, El Dorado is also one of its oldest wine growing regions. When gold miners settled here in the late 1800s, many also planted vineyards and made wine to quench its local demand.
By 1870, El Dorado County, as part of the greater Sierra Foothills growing area, was among the largest wine producers in the state, behind only Los Angeles and Sonoma counties. The local wine industry enjoyed great success until just after the turn of the century when fortune-seekers moved elsewhere and its population diminished. With Prohibition, winemaking and grape growing was totally abandoned. But some of these vines still exist today and are the treasure chest of the Sierra Foothills as we know them.
El Dorado has a diverse terrain with elevations ranging from 1,200 to 3,500 feet, creating countless mesoclimates for its vineyards. This diversity allows success with a wide range of grapes including whites like Gewurztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc, as well as for reds, Grenache, Syrah, Tempranillo, Barbera and especially, Zinfandel.
Soils tend to be fine-grained volcanic rock, shale and decomposed granite. Summer days are hot but nights are cool and the area typically gets ample precipitation in the form or rain or snow in the winter.