Composition: Grenache 70%,
Mourvèdre 12% Cinsault 9%,
Carignane 5%, Vermentino 4%,
Appellation: California
These vineyards produce wonderfully aromatic grapes with the fine acidity (the Malvasia sits 2.5 miles due east) which complement our usual old vine Cinsault, Mourvedre and Carignane from the 1880s and 1890s, and 1920s, and some fresh-faced teenybopper Vermentino from Carneros. Hand harvested, and fermented native in stainless in one long, sequential co-fermentation, these traditional meridional varieties combine to produce a wonderfully prismatic, elevenesque wine with great perfume and sustain; familiar, yet achieving an extra Tufnelian push over the cliff into- if you close your eyes and dream - the azure waters of the Mediterranean, and aromas of stone fruits, rosehips, violets and fragrant Provencal herbs.