2023 Tierra Alta Grenache

Tierra Alta Vineyard is a dramatically steep site that is full of chalky white limestone. It’s because of this soil profile that these wines always carry a strong streak
of minerality.

The wide variation between the tops and bottoms of the slopes contributes to the energy in the wine. Richness and power from lean soils at the top of the hill; juiciness, and freshness from the heavier solids at the bottom. This dynamism also plays out in the micro-climate of the area.

Tierra Alta is perched at the northern end of Ballard Canyon. The fog pushes and pulls against it almost every day during the growing season - filling up the canyon in the morning and emptying out in the evening.  Ballard Canyon is a cooler part of the Santa Ynez Valley and as a result produces wines that show more fresh and savory flavors from that spectrum.

To make this wine, we hand harvested the fruit, and left about 25% of the whole clusters in the fermentation-  the rest was destemmed. After crushing and foot stomping the fruit, we let the wine naturally begin fermentation with ambient yeast. We pumped over the must 1 time / day and pressed after an extended maceration of about 30 days on skins. The wine was aged in neutral French oak puncheon and wasn’t racked until bottling. 

The result is a beautiful cranberry-garnet colored wine that shows the fresh berry side of Grenache.  Red cherries, cranberries, plums, spices, and new leather explode from the glass in a wine built on brightness.  The inclusion of 25% whole clusters gives some savory balance to the wine’s red fruit.

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