Ruddy maroon at the rim, with medium ruby down below, a slight dirty baby diaper in the nose so refreshing and alive. I know a lot of people gonna read this and be like EWWWW, but not me–or the people who matter. That funk is pure life and represents wine-making NOT burdened with lame satisfaction from the fruit-FWD 99% Meomi demographic. It’s fermented and churning with glorious aspects of the grape. Deep peppery spice and cherry solidify the bouquet, and the earthiness doesn’t bog it down, but rather presents an auxiliary nuance enlivening the experience. Dirty and ripe, it causes ponder as to REAL WINE.
I tasted this in the TR and just HAD to get a bottle home for closer consideration and break-down. Loving every minute of it. I think this is the best wine they make, and your experience will be the same. Stunning on entry: the fruit casually throwing out ridiculous blackberry and black pepper and black mold in a balance hard to quantify. Acid grips every surface–and this is where Mourvedre really shines: in the pepper and dank black dearth of effortless expression. Herbaceousness goes sagebrush and not vegetal; fruit goes saline and not slutty. Not particularly super-stuffed, AGAIN an outlier in the realm of Paso reds. A bit of oak-induced glycerine butteriness graces the middle before a smooth finish pries in velvety tannins. With air, it becomes a bit chubby, but the nose never falters from European grandeur and the palate monitors its Paso Heroin carefully. I adore this wine.
2019 RED SOLES Mataro Willow Creek Dist. Paso Robles 14.8
Stephen McConnell 