#carignane

Quick notes of a few of these since people have asked… Tyler chard and Bourgeois Les Baronnes open on arrival as samples… both clean and nice: the former a tightly-wound COMPLETELY un-slutty version and the latter an equally un-(insert typical SB descriptor which I refuse to stoop to) version, all clean with slight grass and alpine acidity. 17 Ancient Oaks RRV was full and beautiful, but kinda…

Something I learned over the past weekend at the huge fambly gathering at my parent’s house was one of my nieces works at a cheese and wine shop in Salem Mass. Of course, I instantly stalked their winelist and turns out it is a naturally-sorta collection of great bottles. Many of them jumped out at me as favorites, including this darling… so I had to open one in recollection and honor. Maybe I…

Everyone knows Carignane is my back-pocket variety. Once the largest-planted variety in France and once the largest-planted variety in California, now relegated to odd, *I can’t pronounce that* weird also-ran but WHY was it so popular at one time? The answer is obvious: It makes GREAT wine. Here we have a producer I am freshly familiar with, and the product stands for itself: it makes great wine.…

Ridiculous funk on opening: gorgeous, supple baby-poop, pond-water and sharp sullen vegetal coating the nose. No sediment in the curageous flint bottling though. Gradually, deep cherry emits from the depths, a spicy melange of cinnamon and berry, ripe and slightly touched by tertiary. Still, the gritty angst of asphalt and roasted wet leaves never fades. In the mouth, it’s begging for a bit of a…

A most impressive Priorat, the oldest thing on the wine list and priced well… Absolute TEXTBOOK Priorat, with a nod to California palates–I will admit. Rich and decadent, churning with cinnamon and spice, tannins rather light in the long, chalky finish. AS I was drinking it (no info on label) I told myself it MUST not be 100% Grenache, and was hoping for gobs of Carignane. I even asked myself,…

This is a thick, grimy wine, impenetrable in color and hinting at brick in its ability to stain the glass a deep garnet maroon. Ridiculously heady nose of choking mire, barnyard and composty briar; a sweet, piquant cherry rises above considerable alcohol; rich, concentrated berry and distinct chocolate coursing in on all sides through equally concentrated early signs of tertiary. South France…