Discovering Spanish Granacha - Las Rocas Vinas Viejas

We always say that shared bottles are the best bottles.

Last night, we enjoyed a bottle of 2009 Las Rocas Vinas Viejas Grenacha that was given to us by our friend Alisa. It was delicious. 

Quick trick - whenever we receive a bottle of wine as a gift, we write the name of the person on the bottle with a silver marker. This way, we’ll remember who to toast when we enjoy it.

Back to the bottle.

Grencha is the Spanish name for the Granache grape. This particular wine is from the Catalyud region in Spain, where Grenache accounts for approximately 55 percent of the grapes grown. “Vinas Viejas” means “old vines.” According to the Las Rocas website, the grapes are grown on vines between 50 and 100 years old. 

We’ll be the first to admit that we’re a bit California-centric when it comes to wine. That’s not at all because we think wine from elsewhere is inferior. We just don’t know other wine regions quite as well as we know our Californians.

Thanks to Alisa, we’ve gotten to know a good Spanish wine a bit better.

This was definitely a darker Grenache. It has black cherry and plum on the nose with dark fruit continuing onto the palate along with a little earth. The finish was slightly acidic with a touch of heat, which went well with our meal of rotisserie chicken and roasted root vegetables.

Note: The "regular" Las Rocas Granacha (i.e. younger vines) received a nice recommendation on the Reverse Wine Snob blog. It sounds like either one is worth a try if you can get your hands on a bottle.

Herman Story Weekend

Herman Story is one of our favorite wineries.  If you aren’t familiar with it, you should get to know it. Winemaker, Russell P. From, makes bold, flavorful wines without going over the top.  Every bottle leaves you wanting more.  We recently had a “Herman Story Weekend”, by enjoying two of our favorites ~

2010 On The Road ~ 100% Grenache

What better way to enjoy one of your favorite wines than at one of your favorite restaurants.  We started the weekend by bringing this bottle with us to Terra.  When Emily popped the cork, her first words pretty much summed it all up, “I smell blueberry”.  This wine had heavy flavors of blueberry compote, and was silky smooth.  At first pour, it did have a little ‘sting’ on the back end.  But, this definitely mellowed out the longer it was open. If you’ve never had 100% Grenache, this may not be the one to start with… as it will ruin all others (sorry Emily!).  Yes, it is that darn good. 

2010 White Hawk Syrah ~ 97% Syrah, 3% Viognier

Clearly cooking was not in the cards this particular weekend.  The next night, we brought a bottle of White Hawk Syrah with us to Poseidon in Del Mar.  While the sunset views can be quite stunning here, the wine definitely won the night.  Like the 2009, this wine is rich in color and flavor.  Very structured and well balanced, full of raspberry, hints of herbs and notes of white pepper. 

The wines are somewhat hard to find.  The best way to get your hands on some is to join the club (well, join the wait list).  Or, visit the tasting room in Paso Robles and pick up as much as you can while there.  Every now and then you may find a bottle or two in a specialty wine store (like San Diego Wine Co.).  But, your best bet is to find someone who is already a club member and get them to share a bottle! 

Have fun with friends at a local wine event

It's amazing how many wine events there are in town. We're in San Diego, but the same seems to be true nearly everywhere. There are special tastings, winemaker dinners, classes, and festivals. Huge crowds aren't our favorite scene, but the are plenty of smaller, low-key events to choose from.

Finding Fun Events

Start by signing up for The Juice. It's a free email newsletter from LocalWineEvents.com that can be customized to send you a weekly listing of wine events in your area.

Do you have a favorite wine bar? Many have their own email newsletters, Facebook pages, and Twitter feeds, so sign up to get their updates too. If you're in San Diego, we recommend Village Vino in Kensington. They were recently named the best wine bar in San Diego by San Diego Magazine and regularly have special tastings and classes that can be a lot of fun. For example, we attended a wine and cheese pairing class a few months ago that was edulicious! (That's educational + delicious.)

Elyse Winery at Village Vino 

I met our friends Dave and Sarah at Village Vino last Tuesday for a winemaker event. (Sally was on a business trip and couldn't attend.) Ray Coursen, Elyse's winemaker and owner, was on hand to pour his wine and chat about Vino. We split some hummus and a flatbread while sampling five of Elyse's wines. It was a great way to catch up with friends after work.

My favorite was the 2008 Le Corbeau. It's a Grenache blend that is very versatile with a wide varieties of food. The 2007 Le Corbeau was outstanding and Coursen told me that the 2008 will taste just as good after another year of aging.

2006 Ridge Lytton Estate Grenache

We've been on quite the Grenache kick lately. When done right, it can have a wonderfully complex flavor without being too overbearing. It pairs wonderfully with a wide variety of foods but is equally tasty on its own. 

A few nights ago we enjoyed a 2006 Ridge Lytton Estate Grenache. It had a floral nose that gave way to plum and other dark fruit flavors. It was a little peppery with subtle tannin throughout. That's one of the cool things about Grenache - it can take on a variety of characteristics.

We thoroughly enjoyed it with rack of lamb and filet mignon at Blue Boheme in San Diego's Kensington neighborhood. 

This wine was comprised of 80% Grenache, 10% Petite Sirah, and 10% Zinfandel. Only 49 barrels were produced, and this vintage is sold out. I'm not really sure how we got our hands on some.

Two new shared bottles we really really like

Sally and I hit the jackpot this weekend with two dinner invitations from friends who share our passion for great wine. We firmly believe that shared bottles are the best bottles and lucky for us, they do too. And, as luck would have it, we discovered an amazing new wine at each dinner.

On Friday, we dined with our friends Gaby and Steve. They have turned us on to a lot of wonderful wineries over the years including Herman Story (see "Herman Story - a winery you need to know"). This time, they shared a bottle of 2007 McPrice Myers Beautiful Earth, which is a GSM blend of 70% Syrah, 24% Grenache, and 6% Mourvedre. It's silky smooth with substantially more body and deeper, darker flavors than you'd expect out of this type of blend.

McPrice Myers runs Barrel 27, which used to be a collaboration between McPrice Myers and Russell From, until From left in 2011 to focus full time on his own label, Herman Story. Yes, the circle of (wine) life is complete.

On Saturday, we visited our friends Karin and Jeff. Like us, they enjoy a wide range of varietals. Lamb shank was on the menu, which pairs well with Pinot Noir or Syrah, so they generously provided both options. One of the wines they served was a 2009 Seufert "Johan Vineyard" Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. It was an excellent example of Oregon Pinot: good earth tones, bright but subtle fruit characteristics, and light bodied but bold enough to pair very well with food. Needless to say, we were all disappointed when the bottle was finally empty.

This really is the best way to discover great wine - make friends with good, generous people who will share a bottle of their good stuff with you and then try to score a dinner invitation.