Last night’s wine showed brash reflections of a barely-of-age wine, but what does a Grenache which tastes nearly as wild on release feel like with a couple years under its belt? Clear, murky amber out to thin yellow at the rim. A nose positively glowing with ripe cherry and lush under-growth, mountain stream splashing rocks on its way to wider, much calmer green depths and finally to saline oceans. Sharp Vit. C punctuates the bouquet, but age has imbued ripe maturity throughout.

Still sharp and abrasive on the tongue, a nearly unfathomable amount of concentration injected onto the palate–considering the viscosity of the actual liquid. This wine is not designed for age, but plentiful years can be extracted from well-made bottles with this much balance and buried splendor. I’m not saying I would push it too much further–it IS feeling a bit tired–the fruit glassine and crystalized, the funk roiled in buttery elegance, the acid overwhelming nearly every turn. No tannin: the finish a Jolly-Rancher cherub of pasty berry glowing with adolescent smarts in a North Coast body.

2019 DEUX PUNX Grenache Tejada Vyd Lake Co. California 14.0

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