2015 Sanguis The Modern

"This is almost entirely John Sebastiano fruit, with a tiny bit from Bien Nacido," Matthias Pipping says. "We have a block of own-rooted Syrah. Own-rooted plants, they are something else. A little wild in the first few years, but then around four years old, they behave like older vines, much more in balance. Think about it. If someone chopped our legs off and gave us fake legs, we probably wouldn’t be as healthy and strong as we would be with our original set of legs. The average life span around here of a grafted vine is about maximum 18 years, and somewhere before that the vine starts to get various diseases, versus with own rooted vines, they seem to not have those issues. They seem to be healthier and more consistent. Phylloxera and nematodes were a concern, so it was an analysis: What are the chances of phylloxera and nematodes killing our vines versus a grafted vine being killed by some other disease. But own-rooted vines make better wine, that much I’m convinced of. So, since working with this, we’ve planted a bunch more own-rooted vines." Composed of 90% Syrah, 6% Grenache and 4% Viognier and made using about 40% whole cluster, the 2015 The Modern has a medium ruby-purple color and wonderfully expressive nose of warm licorice and chocolate with very pure blackcurrant, black cherry and blackberry, plus layers of dusty earth, graphite, dried violet, garrigue, green peppercorn and red fruit sparks. Medium to full-bodied, it explodes in the mouth with gorgeous spicy/chocolaty/savory fruit layers, framed by wonderfully fine, ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and savory. Wow!