Red blends are a wonder of wine. Most, if not all of the most famous red wines are not single varietal (or single grape variety), but a blend of various grapes that all bring different flavors to the party. French Bordeaux and Italian Chianti and "Super Tuscans" come to mind immediately. But for whatever reason, it seems that most domestic wines are not blends. The rise of "Cabs", "Merlots" and "Pinots" from California, Oregon and Washington State seem to dominate the conversation when talking American wines. (Note: Although I have been drinking wine for years, nay decades, I am far from an expert, and the opinions I express are only my own. So if I'm way of base with your experiences, well, so be it.)
Since opening Leavitt & Sons last year, Marie and I have had the opportunity, if not the obligation, to drink lots and lots of wine. As SoPo Wines (a small distributor who brings lots of great wines into Maine) puts it, "we drink alot of bad wine so you don't have to". As we have expanded our repetoir from our traditional comfort zone of wine, that being Cabs, Pinots, Chardonnays, we have re-discovered the delight of great blends.
Aside from the obvious European blends mentioned above, there have been a few standouts that really caught my attention. The first was the Wolftrapp blend from South Africa. This wine was big, bold and delicious. We told everyone who came into the store about this wine, and sold a fair amount of it. It was even part of the the review Todd Richard wrote for the Portland Pheonix (you can read that review here). Unfortunately, as soon as the review came out, the wine supply dried up. The 2005 vintage was gone, and the 2006 vintage had not yet arrived (we're STILL waiting for it to get here!). Fortunately for us, along came Mariner Beverages and The Sacred Stone from Petra Santa Vineyards.
Tim, the owner of Mariner Beverage (who, like SoPo brings great small winery wines into Maine) told me about this wine last week. Even from the description I had a good feeling about this one. An even blend of Sangiovese and Merlot, with some Cab, Syrah and a little Granache, it sounded delicious. When my first case came in, I immediately took a bottle for home that night.
Sacred Stone is a domestic blend from the California coast, about 25 miles from Monterray. The owners of the Peitra Santa vineyard write: "Warm, sunny days here are moderated by cool ocean breezes creating an ideal climate for grape growing. The Valley is crisscrossed by the San Andreas Fault whose subterranean movements over the years filled the soils with limestone and granite deposits. These rocky soils stress the vines and add interesting and unique flavors to the wines. The estate was first developed in the 1850s, and the wines benefit from the estate's granite and limestone soils, much like soils found in the best vineyards in the world. The winery is named Pietra Santa or "Sacred Stone" in honor of these unique soils."
With a great pasta dinner of Al Dente pasta and Pembertons sauce, this wine is my newest addition to the $10 favorites list.
The vineyards tasting notes are very accurate, and do better justice to describing this wine than I could!
"Dark ruby in color, with warm, plummy aromas, a hint of raisins and a dash of spice; floral and peppery notes on the nose carry over to the palate with a burst of fragrant pepper and bright red fruit. Full bodied, tart and somewhat tannic, with an intriguing minerality lurking behind the forward fruit and peppery spice. Powerful alcohol (14.8%) leaves a distinct warmth in the finish. Made by a California producer and bearing no regional appellation or vintage, it's described as a "Rhone-style blend," with Syrah, Carignan, Grenache and the less characteristically Rhonish Sangiovese and Zinfandel."
We have lots of this wine available, for only $9.99.
