I love the honey-tinged rasp of dank fruit on this wine. So much life and energy in the nose. Chalky brown dust, ripe sunshine heat AND chilling fall edginess, all wrapped around a core of almond paste, stemmy goodness and pear-sauce, rich green melon, burnt rubber and grainy depth impossible to put in words. Is Grenache Blanc my favorite white wine? No… I wouldn’t go THAT far, but when it’s right, man oh man can it sing.
Tasting it brings much more subdued nuances–and that’s another reason I like it. Where other whites smell nice and blast you with more decadence on the palate–obscuring the memory of the bouquet–this wine plays it still and calm, FORCING you to go back and consider the nose. Where did all that go? You know it’s in there, cuz the nose never lies, but the way it all lays back, stroking the velvet with the grain, smoothing everything down into an even sheen of thoughtful complexity–NOTHING out of place–pure WINE, effervescent and alive. The heady sprite of earth and acid is dominant on entry, plum and strawberry crisp and crunchy. Over the middle, an almost Gewurztraminer ghost of lychee and delicate liliko’i bring a whimsical thread of tropical, but still: bitter stone-fruit chugs on. A finish grating and raw–sandpaper and tea–begs you to cellar for 5 years, but ain’t nobody got time for that. I don’t think I’ve ever said this about a white wine before, but buy a case and drink one a year. Nobody will be able to do that, of course, but if you DO take my advice, I’ll be here ready with the “you’re welcome”‘s.
2019 THE GRENACHISTA Grenache Blanc Mounts Vyd Dry Creek Valley Sonoma Co. California 13.8
Stephen McConnell 