2015 Edmunds St. John, Rocks and Gravel, Mourvédre, Grenache and Syrah, Dry Creek Valley AVA, Sonoma County.
The beautifully mature, silky and stylish Rocks and Gravel 2015 from Steve Edmunds at Edmunds St. John Winery is a Chateauneuf du Pape inspired Rhône red blend, 47% Mourvédre, 39% Grenache and 14% Syrah all coming from the rocky terroir of the Dry Creek Valley that is loaded with evolved dark fruit, spice and a warm stony character. I have long been an admirer of the wines of Steve Edmunds, a legendary California winemaker and who was one of the heroes of the Rhône Rangers and a pioneer of true Gamay Noir in the state, I especially loved his Amador County, Sierra Foothills bottlings, including his amazing Syrahs from the mid nineties and then later on this delicious Rocks and Gravel Rhône blend. It was nice to try this with friends and celebrate Steve Edmunds, who recently announced his retirement and the end of this label, a big thank you to Lee Lightfoot, who dug this bottle out of his cellar to share. This 2015 Rocks and Gravel is ripe and supple, especially at this stage of life, giving an array of raspberry, black cherry, strawberry, plum and red currant fruits, along with hints of crushed flowers, peppery spices, truffle earthiness, a touch of blood or iron ore, a bit of leather, mountain sage and anise. This crimson/garnet red is drinking as smooth as satin and is wonderfully seamless, this is a wine to enjoy now and was delicious with a variety of meat dishes and would be even better with Spring herb crusted lamb. The Rocks and Gravel, made with a gentle touch and no oak is sultry and raw, but missing nothing, it just hits all the right notes and reminds me of a Gigondas and or Vacqueyras in many ways. These Edmunds St. John reds have lots of personality and have always been over the years a fabulous value for the money.
The garage based Edmunds St. John winery, located in Berkeley, was founded by Steve Edmunds back in 1985 with a focus on Rhône varietals, yes, way before in was a thing, about the same time as Randall Grahm started his Bonny Doon Vineyard label, and Edmund’s was inspired by old world producers that favored finesse and elegance over power and richness. His wines have certainly proved that his vision and passion had followed a rewarding path with wines that aged gracefully and that had, in my own experience, beautiful layers and fresh details at well over 20 years old. As mentioned I was drawn to Edmunds’ Fenaughty Vineyard Syrahs, from vines set on volcanic clay-loam above the historic Gold Rush town of Placerville, which were incredible, deeply complex and very Côte-Rotie like in my opinion at the time. Steve says he started working with this vineyard in the late 80s and I remember buying his early 2000s versions from plots that were planted in the mid to late 90s. The Rocks and Gravel, coming from biodynamic vines at Unti Vineyards in Dry Creek, was crafted as most of Edmunds St. John wines, with a light hand using what he called La Méthode Ancienne from grapes picked at a window that allowed for no additions and with enough natural acidity retained to give the wine the desired elegance and balance, as well as delivering transparency and just the right amount of rustic charm. Typically this wine is fermented with de-stemmed foot trodded grapes that only see stainless steel, and maybe some concrete for aging. Pretty soon it’s going to be hard to impossible to find these wines, but I highly recommend searching them out, in particular the El Jaléo, from Shake Ridge Ranch, it’s Rhône meets Spain blend, with 31% Mourvedre, 29% Grenache, 26% Graciano and 14% Tempranillo, as well as this one, and the Gamay Noir, which is a lovely quaffer!
($29 on release) 93 Points, grapelive