The 2015 Carignane is built from two great sources in Mendocino County, both farmed by the father-son team of Don and Darrin Colombini. The primary source is the Rovera vineyard, planted in 1942 in the sandy, quartz-flecked soils of the eastern bench of Redwood Valley. The Rovera vines have incredibly small clusters and berries, with correspondingly low yields—less than 2 tons per acre in 2015. This gives the fruit tremendous intensity and depth, backed by lightning-rod acidity. The Cemetery vineyard planted 1954, is dry-farmed in almost pure gravel and contributes bright cherry fruit and aromatic lift.
The resultant wine features vivacious blackberry and raspberry aromas inflected with iron-like mineral complexity. Carignane has an intensely savoury edge to its fruit: stones, smoke, and celery seeds, evoking the wild herbs and rocks of its homeland in the Priorat of Spain. The palate is rich and generous, with plenty of structure from Carignane’s characteristic acidity and tannin.