2005 Mendocino Carignane – $22
Release Price: $24 (subject to change)
Note: This is a future wine. It is still in the barrel. Once the wine is ready to drink, we will release and ship the wine. There is a minimum purchase of 6 bottles for all of our "future" selections. You may mix and match with other wines to place an order of 1 case (=12 bottles) to qualify for the 10% case discount.
Chocolate
aromas with a palate of truffles & boysenberry that
makes your heart melt with joy.
Vineyard Location: Rich Vineyard, Mendocino
Varietal Composition: 100% Carignane
Total Acidity: 0.67
pH: 3.66
Brix at Harvest: 22 degrees
Residual Sugar: .01
Alcohol: 13.5
Cooperage: Sansaud French Oak
Aging:
Quantity Produced:
Accolades
SILVER MEDAL — 2009 SF Chronicle Wine Competition
Winemaker’s Comments
(subject to change after bottling)
A surprising contrast from a rich nose screaming of chocolate covered cherries and blackberries with the lightest touch of earth to a bright palate of Black truffles, cranberries and boysenberries finishes with soft lingering tannins with blueberry and a smooth, light toffee. This wine is considered to be one of Zina Hyde Cunningham’s cult wines. The immense popularity of this wine literally takes it off the shelves. Don’t be left out.
Carignane
Thriving in warm climates, Carignane was until the late 1970s, the most widely planted red variety in California. Today, this high-yielding, thick-skinned grape is still important for the blended jug wines of California’s hot, dry Central Valley, and in France’s Midi, where it is usually the main component in basic ‘vin de tables’.
Carignane is one of the world’s most prolific wine varieties. In both the Golden State and in its home territory (the Mediterranean coastal regions of Spain and France), its role has been similar – to produce oceans of simple, everyday wine. Hailing from Aragon, Spain, this grape is capable of deeply colored, extracted and tannic wines of considerable alcohol. It is a late-budding varietal and does not ripen until late in the season. Highly prone to mildew disease, it requires long, dry growing conditions.
Carignane rarely enjoys a marquee presence on a label as a varietal wine. Instead, its principal use is as a blending component with other, more anemic, hot-climate varieties, like Grenache and Cinsault, which typically lack the deep pigment and extract which Carignane brings to the blend.
Preferred Pricing
1 - 2 cases: 10% off,
3 - 5 cases: 15% off,
6 + cases: 20% off
(does not apply to Library & Reserve wines).
Mixed cases allowed. Wine club members are given an additional 5% off on all purchases.
