Man, this is gorgeous wine. And it’s a shame Grenache as a single-variety bottling isn’t more popular in the US. Grenache doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue of the majority of wine-people as a go-to grape. People get in their sad ruts. “I only drink Cab.” “I want your biggest Rhone blend.” “I only drink Chardonnay.” “I’m a Pinot guy.” But the number of people who immediately point to Grenache as a solution to their red-wine cravings is–although growing–still quite limited. But wines like this could change that. Brilliant through-and-through, balanced and fruity and dark, brooding with earth and acid, and honestly: NOTHING *weird* to throw the 99% off.
Medium ruby in the glass with *just* the faintest hint of trademark garnet. Wide clear rim tinged with purple and blue. Sparkling transparent, it exudes ripe, succulent cherry, clean and focused, a core of applesauce and nutmeg, cinnamon spices shimmering over faint vegetal and barnyard isms. Puffy and round, slight Pinot-esque funk and a brightness of fruit leaning towards Syrah.
Tasting it fulfils all your fantasies. The sharp wings of berry pause at a chalky cliff, building spirit and nerve before throwing themselves off into a tumultuous mélange of ridiculously restrained–but wholesome–fruit: cranberry and pomegranate, faint wisps of licorice and sagebrush, citrus minerality, shrill acid, and the weedy mist of tannin. Drinking perfectly at the cusp of a LONG life, this is impossible to not like now, and probably has 2 decades of life ahead. Alder springs doesn’t mess around, and this wine is testament.
2018 THE GRENACHISTA Grenache Alder Springs Vyd Mendocino Co. 14.2
Stephen McConnell 