Carignan and Local Wines!

2011 Da Vero Carignan -Dry Creek Valley.

A quite rich wine with berry fruit and a delicious touch of earthiness and funk. This wine, however, is all about the "juiciness" and I mean that in a very good way. The acidity keeps the palate clean and fresh, but the berry fruit stands out in its juicy glory. A very "moreish" wine.

Green Valley Cellars, Solano County: A quick stop driving back from Napa (we did not even drink any wine in Napa!).

GV Cellars is tucked away down a dead end road in SOLANO COUNTY'S (not Sonoma) GREEN VALLEY. A beautiful valley divided among high end "rural estate" houses, nicer subdivisions (at the southern end) and vineyards. Anyway: Some highlights:

2015 Rose of Sangiovese: Starts slightly sweet, but turns very brisk and savory. There is a unique "peachy" character to the fruit here that was very refreshing.

2013 Sangiovese Green Valley. A pretty classy interpretation of California Sangiovese. Cherry fruit with a bitter touch that is refreshing. A very successful vintage for them!

2013 Black Label Cabernet. A very fruity cabernet, but the fruit says "Cabernet" not "generic red wine". Mostly Solano County, but they mixed in a little LODI! fruit as well. The cassis fruit is complemented by good acid and a touch of delicious funk. This darn wine was sold for $20 and I enjoyed it more than a couple of $100 Napa Cabs I tried this month.

2014 Syrah Green Valley. Again...very true to the variety. Did not like their last vintage as it did not say "Syrah" to me. This 2014 did. very fine black pepper underlying the dark fruit. A nice wine!

I'm a fan of Carignan. It was one of those grapes that were written off when I was doing formal wine education, but with a good winemaker and controlled production it makes a nice wine.

We had a weekend away at the coast, staying at one old grand hotel and eatingthere and next night at the even grander neigbouringhotel.

Had a good Carignan with our meal first night, and ordred Carigan onat the second hotel on the next night.

I recognised the bottle, same distinctive bottle but the label and names were different. And there was a 25% difference in prices. A googlingfound that both wines were supplied by the on-trade arm of a major wine chain. So I went to them to see if the same wine was being retailed under a third label. In the end I got the on-trade wine 'under the counter'!

Also recently went to a tasting of Chile dry-farmed old-vine Carignan, under the umbrella name of Vigno (takling the middle of Carignan) -- see http://www.vigno.org/

Interesting, Peter.
I have to admit I am a fan of "rustic" wines, so am also a fan of Carignan!

Favorites right now (including Davero) probably include Broc Cellars, Two Shepherds, Preston Family....

Ditto!