Latest Review
2019 Sandlands Vineyards, Carignane, Contra Costa County.
I’ve been a fan of the Sandlands Carignane since I very first tried it and in fact it was the first Sandlands wine I got to taste, and I’ve been chasing bottles of it ever since, it is one of my favorites, though hard to get as the production is tiny and the demand for these wines always out strips supply. This grape, which doesn’t get the respect it certainly deserves, really excels here in the 2019 vintage, a smaller yielding year with a mostly long and cool growing season that allows for excellent flavor development and retaining an awesome freshness of detail with lively natural acidity as well as lower alcohols, similar in style, though maybe even better, to the fabulous 2018s that Tegan Passalacqua made here at Sandlands. The deep purple opaque old vine Carignane is at first crisply dry, tartly fresh and vibrant with a mix of zesty juiciness and savory crunchy elements with a medium bodied palate of crushed berries, plum, cherry and grilled orange fruits along with a nice mix of generous florals, spice and snappy herbs de Provence with just a kiss of cedary wood. As the wine opens, a more elegant and opulent side emerges and especially when matched with food it gains a beautiful roundness and textural quality, which is a common grace in these Sandlands wines, which are exceptionally well balanced and tasty efforts. The fruit really deepness with simple and or rustic cuisine, it matches well with BBQ, pasta dishes and wild mushrooms, at just 12.6% natural alcohol, it is a fun wine to enjoy with a slight chill, in much the same way you’d do with a Cru Beaujolais and the Sandlands Carignane is perfect for Spring and Summer outdoor dining. Carignane (or Carignan) is the main grape in the Corbieres region in France’s Languedoc, where you can find it in hearty reds and as a component in Rosé as well, it has a long history here in California, where it has long been part of field blends, usually picked and co-fermted with mixed blacks and as a part of heritage Zin blends.
As noted here in my reviews, and from the winery, Sandlands is the personal project of Turley Cellars head winemaker and vineyard manager Tegan and his wife Olivia Passalacqua. The line-up of Sandlands, as the Passalaqua’s add, encompasses many the forgotten classic California varieties, like this Carignane, plus Cinsault, Chenin Blanc, which is making a huge comeback and the extremely rare Mission grape, that are primarily grown on California’s decomposed granite (sand), from regions and vineyards that have been farmed for many generations, but have somehow, as Tegan puts it, remained the outliers of California viticulture. These vines are primarily old gnarly head-trained, dry-farmed and own rooted, with the vineyards Sandlands work with being sites that take us back to California’s roots. The wines here highlight the hardworking farmers of yesteryear and the honest and authentic wines of a different era, they pay tribute to the state’s fascinating history of rugged viniculture. Tegan Passalaqua’s Sandlands 2019 Contra Costa County Carignane, only 5 barrels produced was sourced from an old vine vineyard that was planted back in the 1920s in one of California’s most unique terroirs, it is set on what is classified as Dehli blow sand, that is made up of decomposed granite that has been deposited here by wind and water. Made using classic old school methods with lots of whole bunches, native yeast fermentation(s), with lots of gentle hands and feet being employed and aging or elevage being done in well seasoned (used) oak barrels. I know, these are unicorn wines and incredibly hard to get, but search them out, get on the mailing list and never miss a chance to enjoy them with friends, they are worth it! Carignane is a really compelling grape and I have been really thrilled by what this new generation of winemakers are doing with this grape here in California, especially in the wines of Ridge Vineyards, Broc Cellars, Liocco, Martha Stoumen, Desire Lines Wine Co., and in particularly here at Sandlands, keep an eye out for these tasty versions.
($28 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive