2017 The Grenachista

Divvy-Up

Tasting Notes

<

p>92 Points, Vinous-

<

p>

"Andrew Murray turned out a striking set of 2018s that shows just how compelling this vintage is, especially for Rhône-variety wines. This is an impressive range of wines that offer tremendous pleasure. The 2018 Syrah Alisos Vineyard is one of the more gracious wines in this range. Floral accents perk up a core of ripe red fruit in a suave, silky Syrah that hits all the right notes. Medium in body and supremely expressive, the 2018 is inviting and ready to drink now. Hints of cedar, spice, mint and licorice linger on the close." This is only the 5th release of this single vineyard Syrah from the Organically Farmed Alisos Vineyard along Alisos Canyon Road, just around the corner from the winery. It is across the road from Thompson Vineyard and down the road from Watch Hill Vineyard. This neighborhood is definitely a sweet spot for a cooler climate style Syrah. We employed nearly 25% whole clusters in the fermenters and a tiny of bit of Viognier as well just to add to the complexity of this Syrah. This ageworthy beauty certainly tastes delicious now, but it will hold in your cellar for a decade or more...that is if you can wait that long. The Alisos vineyard lies along the Los Alamos Valley, about 5 miles east of the town of Los Alamos. The topography has steep south-facing hills in blocks 5 and 6 which are all farmed organically. We typically source from blocks 5 (clone 7) and 6 (Estrella clone) The soils are chert-laden (a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline silica), and very well-drained. Berries tend to be more delicate and fragile than any other Syrah we source (indicative of the Estrella clone). We forgo any sorting from this vineyard, and rather focus on whole cluster and some simple destemming. Despite the delicate nature of the fruit, the wines are always big in structure and benefit greatly from time in the bottle.