It's funny, I would use that description for Mourvedre - everything "medium", everything "mid". But in a good, balanced way. At least when grown in warm enough climates like Spain, California, or Texas.
I've made Ruby Cabernet from the Central Valley. There were some Somms that wanted it for a special program, so I obliged. It was my first and last time. It offers up great color and some of that Cabernet backbone, the downside it took a long time to ripen and didn't shake the pyrazine flavors. I remember the must smelling like cucumbers.
Carignan, that's a different story. I like working with it up in Alexander Valley, got my hands on Mazzoni Vineyard these last couple seasons. Makes a nice wine as a stand-alone or blended with Zinfandel.
Oh that's awesome, do you have a Carignan in the works from this season? Re: the Ruby Cab experiment – I've had an incredibly good blend from Grape Creek Vineyards (based in Fredericksburg, TX) called Cabernet Trois, which uses about 10% Ruby Cab in most vintages, so I know it's possible to do good things with it, but I rarely see any producers really doing that. Do you think the main reason it isn't being used more in "serious" blends is the public image of it, or is it truly because it has too many pitfalls in terms of quality?
I do have pure 24 Mazzoni Ranch Carignan in barrel currently (along with Zinfandel). I think a lot has to do with public perception of the particular clone. I'm sure it can be grown properly and for quality. My experience with it is anecdotal, but I'm sure if a Sonoma County grower planted/grafted an acre of it treated it like they do normal Cabernet, I'm sure we could come up with a very good result. The color great, flavors needed development
It's pretty obscure. I heard about it from trusted sources many years ago, but I probably got the spelling wrong. I think there might even have been a song about it. I was hoping the TP lads would be able to track it down.
I'm striking out. The smallest wine grape seems to be the "Pixie grape", a dwarf version of Pinot Muenier. And the smallest non-wine grape is the Black Corinth aka Champagne grape (the grocery store kind.) Maybe the dwarf grapes have broken the "little" record since you heard of the previous grape? Haha, I want to know but Google is not offering up anything. May have to poke ChatGPT to see if it has access to yet more obscure info.
I just had a stunning Carignan dominant wine, Domaine de Fontsainte Corbières, 60% Carignan, 30% Grenache Noir, 10% Syrah. It was absolutely delicious!
Thanks for the rec! It looks like it's pretty widely distributed on the East Coast so I'll have to force Zach to track some down for us to try. Cheers!
"What makes Carignan so fascinating in the glass is the consistent mediocrity it delivers on all fronts"
Marketing genius!
Completely unbiased "journalism" at its finest
It's funny, I would use that description for Mourvedre - everything "medium", everything "mid". But in a good, balanced way. At least when grown in warm enough climates like Spain, California, or Texas.
Another excellent, informative and fun-to-read post.
Cheers!
I've made Ruby Cabernet from the Central Valley. There were some Somms that wanted it for a special program, so I obliged. It was my first and last time. It offers up great color and some of that Cabernet backbone, the downside it took a long time to ripen and didn't shake the pyrazine flavors. I remember the must smelling like cucumbers.
Carignan, that's a different story. I like working with it up in Alexander Valley, got my hands on Mazzoni Vineyard these last couple seasons. Makes a nice wine as a stand-alone or blended with Zinfandel.
Oh that's awesome, do you have a Carignan in the works from this season? Re: the Ruby Cab experiment – I've had an incredibly good blend from Grape Creek Vineyards (based in Fredericksburg, TX) called Cabernet Trois, which uses about 10% Ruby Cab in most vintages, so I know it's possible to do good things with it, but I rarely see any producers really doing that. Do you think the main reason it isn't being used more in "serious" blends is the public image of it, or is it truly because it has too many pitfalls in terms of quality?
I do have pure 24 Mazzoni Ranch Carignan in barrel currently (along with Zinfandel). I think a lot has to do with public perception of the particular clone. I'm sure it can be grown properly and for quality. My experience with it is anecdotal, but I'm sure if a Sonoma County grower planted/grafted an acre of it treated it like they do normal Cabernet, I'm sure we could come up with a very good result. The color great, flavors needed development
Speaking of little grapes, when are we going to see an article about lonceé donceé, the littlest grape? Way overdue IMHO.
Is that a real grape? Google is giving me nothing on ot!
It's pretty obscure. I heard about it from trusted sources many years ago, but I probably got the spelling wrong. I think there might even have been a song about it. I was hoping the TP lads would be able to track it down.
I'm striking out. The smallest wine grape seems to be the "Pixie grape", a dwarf version of Pinot Muenier. And the smallest non-wine grape is the Black Corinth aka Champagne grape (the grocery store kind.) Maybe the dwarf grapes have broken the "little" record since you heard of the previous grape? Haha, I want to know but Google is not offering up anything. May have to poke ChatGPT to see if it has access to yet more obscure info.
I just had a stunning Carignan dominant wine, Domaine de Fontsainte Corbières, 60% Carignan, 30% Grenache Noir, 10% Syrah. It was absolutely delicious!
Thanks for the rec! It looks like it's pretty widely distributed on the East Coast so I'll have to force Zach to track some down for us to try. Cheers!
It was really tasty!!
Two Shepherds Carignan out of Mendocino is a must!
Nice, hitting a wedding in Mendocino in June, I'll check them out!