2015 Inspiration Vineyards, Grenache, Sonoma Valley.
Jon Phillips’ Inspiration Vineyards is a small boutique winery in Santa Rosa that is producing a strong lineup of hand-crafted wines, including this wonderful Sonoma Valley Grenache from Ceja Family Farms vines. Along with production manager Dylan Sheldon, of one of my long time favorites Sheldon Wines, Inspiration Vineyards makes elegant styled small lot wines from selected vineyard sites throughout Sonoma County, each wine is carefully done to highlight each terroir and delicate details, Phillips wants to offer easy to love wines that are full of flavor and value. The 2015 Grenache is highly successful in delivering the goods with a medium/full bodied and vibrantly expressive fruit along with concentrated depth and spicy lingering finish, this ripe and subtlety flamboyant Grenache shows off the vintage with forward nature, rich texture and silky refined tannins, while still being graceful and restrained in alcohol heat. The vines are set on a cooler site which helps with fresh acidity, but allowing the Grenache to express itself with juicy raspberry, sweet currant, dark loganberry, strawberry and pomegranate fruits as well as light peppery notes, mineral tones and tangy lavender. The color is deep red with bright ruby edges and the bouquet is grapey youthful with mixed floral elements with a touch of earthy charm that leads to the palate with a smooth transition making for a seamless and fun Grenache that is a bit lighter in styling, but exceptionally pure in varietal character and certainly it will thrill those that like old world wines, it gives that same sort of pleasure that you find in some Aussie Grenache or Spanish Garnacha. In Sonoma there is a cult of Grenache, somewhat underground, but thriving with wines like Bucklin, Mathis, Unti and Ridge Lytton Estate just to name a few good ones to check out along with this beauty from Inspiration Vineyards.
($29 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
