2018 Unti Grenache, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California (750ml)   

We love just about every wine Mick Unti has made and feel proud to support him and his family's business. This Southern Rhône-style wine is 79% Grenache, 15% Syrah, and 6% Mourvedre. The primary component of this blend comes from a 2.9 acre block, planted in 1998 to three selections of Grenache Noir, using budwood originally obtained from Tablas Creek and Alban Vineyards.

These selections, originally from Châteauneuf-du-Pape give darker color and better structure than the majority of Grenache planted in California. Mick describes the wine as follows, "The 2016 growing season provided extra hang time for the fruit, thanks to a cooler-than-normal August. The vintage, combined with our aggressive crop-thinning regimen produced a Grenache that is dark, with intense aromas and flavors of raspberry, cherry, blackberry, tar, licorice, pepper and dried herbs (enough with the descriptors!). Our 2016 Grenache has plenty of body and structure to age at least 4 to 6 additional years."