A gravely river rock baseline in the nose quickly builds to broken glass and lime lollipop, dragging a little banana and pear along the way. Honey and gardenia and a touch of sulfur. Beautiful in the mouth: tart and nice and fully fruited and not slutty, finishing in a nice bitter wave of tannin. Simple and clean at 50°, buttery and complex at 60°.
Big fat tire, black walnut, and a hillside sort of briary-ness baked into the fruit. One of the first things you notice in the mouth is the tannin. This thing comes at you unapologetically from all sides creating a chewingly viscous version of Grenache which I’m guessing is north of 14. Rich berry and Mexican leather massage the blows of the structure, but it’s barely enough as this thing just assaults your mouth with stuffed beauty. Dry Creek is never going to be shy and this wine is definitely a testament to that. I love it.
2016 C. R. GRAYBEHL Grenache Blanc Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County 13.2
2015 C. R. GRAYBEHL Grenache Mounts Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Sonoma 14.4
Stephen McConnell 