13 May Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Edaphos Wines 2018 Grenache, Steel Plow Vineyard, Sonoma County

Grenache is one of most planted grapes worldwide. While approximately 450,000 acres of Grenache are planted in the world, France, Spain and Italy are home to the majority of the plantings. The United States is home to only approximately 10,000 acres so despite its popularity around the world, it is less known in the US. For those who know it, they love it. And when I took a sip of the Edaphos Wines 2018 Grenache, Steel Plow Vineyard from Sonoma County, I was reminded why I love Grenache and that is why it is the Please The Palate Wine of the Week.

The Edaphos Grenache, which was sourced from the Steel Plow Vineyard (the estate vineyard of Landmark Vineyards), goes through partial carbonic maceration, meaning that the whole berries begin to ferment from the inside as a result of filling a sealed vessel of whole bunches of grapes with carbon dioxide. A typical method used in Beaujolais, carbonic maceration makes medium-bodied red wines fruitier with softer tannins.

The Edaphos Grenache spent almost a month on the skins before being lightly pressed in a basket press and then fermented concrete Amphora and aged for 10 months. The wine is filtered but no sulfur is added.

The wine is very aromatic. A potpourri of violets, lavender, wild strawberry and plum jump out of the glass, as well as earthy spices and mineral notes. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied with sandy tannins.

There are 165 cases of the Edaphos Wines 2018 Grenache, Steel Plow Vineyard, Sonoma County which retails for $38.