2013 Edmunds St. John Rocks and Gravel - USA, California (8/5/2016)
I opened this bottle at the spur of the moment, a passing comment making me want a bottle of ESJ. This is very early days for a Rocks & Gravel, but so it goes.
It was more translucent than other recent vintages of R&G, but no less expressive. There was plenty of red berry and cherry fruit, as well as the expected herbal and meaty accents for this blend of Mourvèdre, Syrah and Grenache. The finish only hinted at the rich, velvety element that Rocks & Gravel tends to get with age, and in fact showed much more drying tannin than I recalled from any other recent vintage. Thankfully there was plenty of fruit/richness, so no fear of aging to allow those tannins to round out.
Give this a few more years.