Mendocino Farms

2007 Darkhorse Ranch Grenache

Site

The Darkhorse Ranch is located on the eastern slopes of the Ukiah Valley in the upper Russian River watershed, Mendocino County, California. The Ranch is Demeter certified Biodynamic and has a mixed agriculture of vineyards, olive trees, botanical flowers and California native plants. It is home to horses, cows, sheep, goats and chickens. Other wildlife consists of raptors, songbirds and deer. The soil is a Redvine sandy loam, consistent with other high elevation vineyard sites in the Ukiah Valley. These southeastern facing vineyards are buried deep in terra cotta red soils that are high in iron, well drained and ideally suited for Rhone varietals.

Vinification

The 2007 Grenache grapes were gently de-stemmed and a small percentage of whole clusters were added to the fermenting tank for increased complexity. Whereupon, five percent of the fermented juice was drained off the skins and fermented separately, intensifying the color and flavor of the remaining wine.

The resulting wine exhibits aromas of red berries, hints of spice, and stone fruit where as, kirsch fruit is predominant in the mouth.