My love affair with Grenache is honestly, almost over. It’s been going on for 10 or 15 years and it is a charismatic grape, and quite interesting, and a bit of a chameleon, and of course I have been drawn to the lower bodied, more pinot-ish expressions of it, but still, I’ve been really starting to find enough flaws in this variety to seriously deter my interest anymore. The whole “Grenache delivers what Pinot promises” thing is just tired at this point. And the nail in the coffin is tasting something like this at almost 10, and the magic is plain GONE. I fully realize you can’t throw the baby out with one case of bathwater, but this has been a slow build, and even the fresh ones… I just just don’t find the magic in anymore.

This is a dreary, soiled wine, burdened with burnt nuances causing whatever hot fruit is left to churn and sear all across the palate. Flaccid and slutty in the nose, distilled down into harshly acidic body. It IS Ballard Canyon–something I have always felt too hot, too concentrated, too ripe and altogether too stuffed for intelligent appreciation–and this particular bottle makes all those feeling soar. I do not easily characterize an entire variety not worth having, but this is not doing my already furrowed brow any favors. All the beautiful Grenache things are present and accounted for, and that is what makes this harsh proposal justifiable. I’m serious: Grenache is somewhat over for me.

2016 BECKMEN VINEYARDS #grenache Purisima Mountain #ballardcanyon #santaynezvalley #santabarbaracountywines I can not find any ABV on this label. Going to guess 14.9