Grenache
75cl * 13.5% ABV * Sardinia, Italy
Notes by Michael Palij MW: Sardinian winemaker Federica Dessolis channels her training from Vincent Girardin, Domaine de la Romanée Conti, and Domaine Marcoux in Chateauneuf du Pape into her native Cannonau (which is the Italian Grenache - back bone of most Chateauneuf du Papes). This – and you heard it here first - is the moment for Cannonau’s coming of age. The potential may always have been there but now, most importantly, there is the will and the outside investment to make something special take flight. Ancient vines, tiny yields, weathered granite soils, and 700 metres of altitude make for conditions about which Chateauneuf can only dream. This is from truly ancient vines treated to a 20% whole bunch ferment and then rounded off in old oak. This is the sleekest and raciest (not the biggest) Grenache I have tasted.