
Look for vibrant red fruit and spice aromatics reminiscent of classic Rhône style wines. On the palate, look for lush, mouth-filling flavors and a lingering finish with notes of vanilla and dried wild herbs – also a marker of wines from the Rhône valley.
A BLEND???
It was formed in the post-prohibition era, when American wine was nothing like it is today. Back then, the most successful wineries were blending all sorts of inferior grapes (and sometimes less expensive fruit juices!) to create wines under brand names such as “Rhine Wine” or “Hearty Burgundy”. These names were crafted with marketing in mind, and the wines rarely contained the same combination of juice from batch to batch. Vintage dates rarely appeared back then, and high alcohol was the rule – people were more interested in the kick than in sensory pleasure.
These labeling trends finally began to change in the late 1950’s, when the better producers started using the name of the grape used in the vinification of the wine, and limiting their grapes to the Noble types. Soon laws were passed stating that any wine whose label contained a grape varietal must contain at least 51% of that grape (today’s wines must contain 75% to use the grape name on the label).
But now we don’t have a problem with poor wines from errant fruit juice. Many winemakers taste the likes of world-class wines like the Chateauneuf-du-Pape (a blend of 13 grape varieties!) and resent the fact they can’t replicate it here in California without wine drinker’s thinking it’s plonk!
We’ll, their frustration is our gain, as this wine is worth more than its generic name would indicate. Enjoy!
Cheers!
Tasting Notes
This Red Blend is from Tamayo’s estate vineyards in the far Eastern edge of Contra Costa County, California. This great every-day wine is a blend of 8 varietals - Petit Sirah, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Tinta Cao, Malbec, Alicante Bouschet, and Carmenere. I think you’ll find it’s a lot of wine for the money, and perhaps your perfect house wine.
This wine has eight grape varieties. Eight. So let me take a moment to dispel an American myth that goes something like “A wine is no good if it doesn’t have the name of the grape on the label!” Well, Joseph Campbell and the power of myth aside, this one has outlived its usefulness.
Dave the Wine Merchant
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