2021 SALENGO GRENACHE
TASTING NOTES
Inviting fresh aromas of green herbs and flowers mix with enticing red fruits highlighted by tobacco leaf, earth and sweet spice notes. One the palate, this wine is deceptively light in color and has a silky-smooth texture. It is elegant and medium bodied and very complex with abundant red berry and citrus peel flavors that harmonize with licorice and dried herbs and cinnamon and a little pepper. As the wine opens up, with each sip, you experience different flavors as the wine releases a beautiful perfume. A fun finish of chalky tannins help pair this wine with almost any food and give this wine longevity (5 years +).
PRODUCTION NOTES
The Grenache comes in from the highest elevation in the Coble Ranch Vineyard (approx. 150-200 ft.). It is harvested from a very special four rows that have a soil transition gravelly loam and rich clay soil, which contributes to this wine’s complexity. These soils help produce a complimentary balance of minerality and red fruit characteristics background of earthiness. The grapes were harvested in the early morning to maintain cool temperatures to preserve the integrity of the fruit and aromas found in this delicate yet complex wine.
Once received at the winery, the Grenache is optically sorted and fermented in a small lot. We remove about 15% of the juice to make rose and this improved the juice to skin ratio aiming for a little more concentration of color and flavor. The grapes then underwent a cold soak for 48 hours and as the temperature naturally warmed, we inoculated with a yeast strain isolated from Burgundy to highlight the elegance of the wine. It was then mixed by hand by punch down two times a day to control fermentation temperature with the goal of preserving delicate aromatics in this wine that present as red fruits like strawberry, cranberry, pomegranate and alpine strawberry. After the wine was fermented to dryness, it was then pressed then aged at 55 degrees in neutral French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. This wine was aged two years in bottle before release to allow for the tannins to integrate.
2021 had an ideal growing season with a moderate to cool spring and a warm but not too hot summer. This allows for ideal flavor development in the berries without accumulating too much sugar that can make this warm climate variety have a high alcohol content. It was a vintage where 'the wine was made in the vineyard' so we didn't need to intervene in the cellar, just help it along. Due to the cooler than usual growing season, the 2021 vintage of this wine is lean in body but packs a punch of alluring flavor. It has more tannins that other vintages which means this wine is one that is drinkable now but will easily age another 5 years and even longer as this wine was intended because it is modeled after an age-worthy Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
This is the final release of this wine under the Salengo brand. Thank you to everyone who has supported it!!!