Clear ruby, thinning nicely out at the edges. Big smokey oil, wet sand and thick candied fruit–canned peaches and sour-worm jelly–make the tar and rust in the nose almost a side-event.

What kind of Grenache do you like? Every time I pose this question I get about 50/50 I HATE GRENACHE and “Spanish”. I mean–WHAT does that even MEAN?!? I don’t even listen to that stuff anymore. I mean–sure, Spain’s gonna make a couple versions of Garnacha–all funky–and throw in a couple more versions in the Rhone, and here in California, we get the benefit of ALL the styles (plus a couple we invented ahem). Here, for example we have a BEAUTIFUL style, that–while I can see in it a few reasons people would hate Grenache–is NOTHING like Spain. This version has a lot of ‘Zinfandel’ things going on in it.

In the mouth, it’s a little fat. Not much acid, ripe and round, pretty unctuous mouthfeel bristling on all sides with curvy fruit. A little bit of a Vitamin C bite glosses the finish.

This is nicely done, and it falls kinda in between a couple categories here in California. It’s ripe, but not concentrated. It is sweet, yummy, and fun to drink.

2015 TROIKA WINES Grenache Mendocino County North Coast California 14.6

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