2014 Sanguis Grenache Verve

"Verve is always a Grenache-based blend," Matthias Pipping says. "Where we grow it, the Grenache wants to fly away, light, ethereal and super pretty. It needs something to ground it. Syrah and Petit Verdot can do that really well, so we often co-ferment and sometimes include Roussanne and Viognier, and that works really well too. Even 5% to 10% can add so much body and volume, and Grenache can benefit from that, depending on the vintage. But it’s always the main character and takes the lead role. Grenache around here is about as close as we can get to something like Nebbiolo. High acid, high tannins, nervous and high strung. Those savory and rose petal aromatics. I don’t use new oak on Grenache. It’s awful." He adds that Grenache "has these huge, tight clusters, so that’s a challenge. It tends to bleach with too much sun early, but too much sun late and it tastes grapey. So we developed a system that’s kind of screwy. We have head trained vines, and we shape them up like a bowl, doing that leaf work during bloom. People said we'd get terrible set. But actually, that's what we want, some shatter to create looser clusters. So we use these loose clusters inside the leaf bowl and get rid of everything else. The vines are growing much more naturally. We stop watering at some point, all the basal leaves wither and fall off, and they get more sun exposure. It's like opening the blinds. It’s taken us years to learn how to farm Grenache, and the wines have gotten better every vintage. I’m super proud of that." Made with about 30% to 40% whole cluster, the 2014 Verve, a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Roussanne, has a vibrant medium ruby color and wonderfully expressive nose of woodsmoke, pipe tobacco, garrigue and green peppercorn with notions of desiccated lilac, baked red cherries, cranberries, salami, black cherries and dusty earth. Medium-bodied and silky in the mouth, it gives up oodles of juicy fruits with pleasantly grainy tannins and a long, savory, textured and layered finish. Yes!