2016 Ian Brand & Family Winery, Old Vine Mourvedre, Enz Vineyard, Lime Kiln AVA, Cienega Valley.
Wow, what an amazing follow up to the remarkable 2015 version, if anything I might love this new vintage even better! This has to be one of my the top wines of the year so far, another stunning old vine Mourvedre from Ian Brand and the Enz Vineyard, planted in 1922, it’s a wine that rivals Bedrock’s Heritage for California cool. A gorgeous and complex wine of pure fruit and intense spice, this 2016 Ian Brand, dry farmed and now officially organic, Old Vine Mourvedre, set on granitic sand with significant limestone, starts with a nose of youthful concord grape, wild flowers, peppercorns, baked earth and incense, leading to a full and vigorous palate of gripping black and red fruits, minty anise, roasted herbs, flinty stones, new leather and sticky lavender oil. This wine impresses for it’s soulful style, deep boysenberry, black cherry and wild plum fruits and it’s energy as well as it’s heavenly textural mouthfeel, this is almost euphoric in it’s sexuality and seductive charms. This is a wine truly formed from it’s place and vineyard, it’s starts native ferment and partial whole cluster with some stem inclusion in most vintages and aged in mostly neutral cask, a variety of small barriques and large puncheons are used in combination for about 11 months, then bottled unfined and unfiltered, making for a magical experience in the glass with bright/snappy freshness and a dark garnet/purple with a magenta edged hue that is inviting, this is the real deal, gaining in detail with air and more than a few swirls this Enz Vineyard Old Vine Mourvedre reveals a chalky saline element all the while swinging between fruity and savory in a teasing and entertaining manner, you’ll want a few bottles of this wine! While Ian Brand’s P’tit Paysan line is the volume and value label that offers exceptional quality for the price, you’ll not want to miss his La Marea Albarino and Grenache(s) or especially his signature set of wines, in particular this one, as well as his Cabernet Franc(s) and Cabernet Sauvignon, all of which are next level wines, truly authentic and original Central Coast expressions, impressive and impossible to resist.
($42 Est.) 94+ Points, grapelive
