Cline Big Break Vineyard Grenache 2014
As you enter Sonoma county from the south on California 121, one of the first wineries you encounter is Cline Cellars, and there could hardly be a better introduction to the Carneros AVA.
Even as a young teenager, Fred Cline learned to make wine from his grandfather, Valeriano Jacuzzi (yes, he of the hydrotherapy tub, as well as many other innovations).
With a $9000 inheritance from Valeriano, in 1982 Cline founded the eponymous Cline Cellars in Oakley, California.
The winery was relocated to its current location in 1989. The property is the original site of the Mission San Francisco de Solano, the 21st and final of the historic California missions. Although the mission was moved in 1823, the Cline tasting room is located in a rustic 1850s farmhouse that is original to the property, surrounded by spring-fed ponds and thousands of rose bushes. The vineyards also reflect this history, with vines ranging from 80 to 120 years old.
Cline is one of the first of the pioneering Rhone Rangers, a group dedicated to wines from the grapes of the Côtes du Rhône in France (ironic for a boy with an Italian grandfather, no?)
Cline also has been a pioneer in sustainable farming. It is the second-largest completely solar-powered winery in California.
Natural cover crops are used to nourish the soils, sheep and goats roam freely as they graze on weeds, and compost teas are used as fertilizer. “We’d be considered ‘organic’ if we wanted to follow the rules of the government,“ said Cline. “We are actually more sustainable [than the law calls for] by not following their organic rules.“ He calls his methods “beyond organic.”
Cline Big Break Vineyard Grenache 2014
Grenache is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditions such as those found in Spain, where the grape most likely originated.
Cline’s Big Break Vineyard is named after a levee that collapsed over 80 years ago, flooding the surrounding local farmland near Oakley. The vineyard itself has extremely sandy and well-drained soils, and is cooled by breezes from the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. The century-old vines are dry farmed and head pruned.
The juice for this Grenache was fermented at moderate temperatures in stainless steel tanks, using a selection of cultured yeasts. After 10 days of gentle “pump-overs” and near dryness, the wine was drained and pressed from its skins. This Big Break Grenache was minimally handled and aged for 12 months in new, medium-dark toasted French oak (approximately 38% new) before bottling .
This robust Grenache offers up flavors of rich plum and prunes, with hints of cocoa, juicy blackberry, and cassis. There is good acidity and supporting, but not dominant, tannins. It has a medium finish and 15% ABV.
Pair this wine with lasagne with Bolognese meat sauce, braised rabbit with green olives and onions, or Spanish chicken with sweet peppers.
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