2007 Sticks and Stones

(63% grenache, 25% mourvedre and 12% syrah) Deep, bright red. Spicy red berries, flowers and minerals on the pungent nose. Juicy and bright, with harmonious acidity giving vivacity to the sweet red berry fruit. Becomes creamier as it sits in the glass, picking up a note of spicecake. This lively wine should put on weight with a couple more years of bottle aging. Finishes with fine-grained tannins and very good energy.

The 2007 Sticks and Stones is a blend of 63% Grenache, 25% Mourvedre, and 12% Syrah. This cuvee always comes across like a Paso Robles version of a Chateauneuf du Pape. Elegant as well as substantial, the 2007 exhibits sweet kirsch liqueur, raspberry, lavender, and dusty, loamy soil characteristics, medium to full body, and ripe tannin. Enjoy this beauty over the next 7-8 years. Matt Trevisan has a new state-of-the-art winery and barrel-aging facility as well as access to a new 18-acre estate vineyard. Like some of his nearby neighbors (particularly Justin Smith of Saxum), this is one of the most exciting wineries to visit on Vineyard Drive, essentially the tenderloin section of the limestone hillside vineyards of West Paso Robles. Production at Linne Calodo was off by 30-40 percent in 2007, and another 10% in 2008, but given the global economic crisis most wine producers are probably happy to have high quality, but smaller quantities given the financial climate throughout the world. Tel. (805) 227-0797; Fax (805) 227-4868