Cochon Old Vine Grenache Cherry Bomb 2021, Sceales Vineyard, Alexander Valley, California

Ralph Sceales 3-acre block of thick, twisted, gnarly old head-trained vines that his family has been farmming for over 40 years contributed to this wine. The vines were planted around 1914. The vineyard is planted on a gentle slope in classic Alexander Valley’s heavily cobbled, aluvial soils. The vines are naturally low yielding, but produce big bunches of bountiful fruit. This early release of Sceales Vineyard Old Vine Grenache is made to highlight and showcase the stunning, vibrant fruit from this amazing vineyard. Winemaking: 1/2 of the grapes were placed directly into a tank whole cluster, covered with a blanket of CO2 and sealed. This lot would undergo an inter-cellular fermentation using only the grapes native yeasts called carbonic maceration. 50% of the remaining lot was gently destemmed, leaving 50% whole bunches and placed the fruit into an open top fermenter for cold soak and primary fermentation. These grapes were punched down by hand two times daily for a period of 2 ½ weeks till the wine was dry. The wines were gently pressed and transferred to a mix of seasoned 300L French oak Hogsheads, and 500L Puncheons, for malolactic fermentation and aging for 6 months on the lees, then racked and blended, 90% Carbonic, before being bottled unfiltered. The wine: Brillant electric ruby-purple color with lifted aromas of Rainier cherry, wild strawberry, pomegranate and tart, crunchy cranberry. The flavors follow the aromatics with lively acids, and a beam of bright red berry fruit, silky texture medium bodied with a balanced tension that is both seductive and mouth watering.