2011 God Only Knows Grenache

The 2011 Grenache God Only Knows is shockingly good in the vintage. Sporting a big, masculine profile, with notions of lite gunpowder, ground pepper, herbs and wild strawberry and blackberry fruit, it flows onto the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a full, rich mid-palate and a healthy dose of tannin that will require short-term cellaring to integrate. This knockout Grenache will be at its finest from 2016-2026. Enough can’t be said about the quality coming from this estate, and Christophe Baron, who’s assisted by Elizabeth Bourcier, produces, in this reviewer’s opinion, some of the most distinctive and exciting wines on the planet. As I said last year, there’s no secret here, and Christophe simply has fantastic terroir, works his ass off in the vineyard (everything is farmed biodynamically), and then gets out of the way in the cellar. Looking at the vintages reviewed here, his 2011s (which come from the lowest yields ever at this estate) check in at the top of the vintage and have uncommon richness and depth. Stating that it was the coolest vintage of his career, Christophe loves the European style of the wines and feels they’ll reward 5-7 years of cellaring. As a group, they show superb aromatics, medium to full-bodied richness and fresh, lively characters. In contrast, the 2012s are flamboyant and decadent, with awesome textures, beautiful purity of fruit and brilliant underlying structure. To my palate, 2012 is up there with finest vintage from this team to date. 2012 is possibly the best vintage I’ve ever tasted from Christophe. Across the board, the wines shows incredible aromatics, awesome purity and full-bodied richness and concentration. Tel. (509) 526-0686; www.cayusevineyards.com