2019 Besson Grenache

Deep ruby color. Scented rich blueberry, blackberry, and berry pie. Hint of orange peel, tobacco, cinnamon, and mint. Smooth entry with elegant old-vine spice finish.

Being a cool year with heavy summer fog, the grapes ripened slowly and were picked on October 9th. Made in a classic style, this wine shows beautiful fruit, firm acidity, and is well-structured. It will be enjoyable over the next ten years. EB (10/20)

In the early 1900s, Jean Auguste Besson, a French immigrant, arrived on the shores of San Francisco. In search of a property to begin his new life, he settled south of San Jose outside the town of Gilroy. Little did he know then that the land he would settle on would end up being in the family for five generations. With warm summer days and coastal fog settling on the hills in the evening, the land and climate served the family well and provided all that was needed to survive and thrive. Ample acres for livestock, groves of fruit and olive trees, row crops, and yes, acres of vineyards. One of the oldest vineyards in Santa Clara County, the Grenache vines that make up this wine were planted in 1910.

Rainfall: 50 inches (above normal)
Bloom: Late May
Weather: Summer weather was typical with hot days, cool nights, and heavy morning fog during the summer months. The grapes ripened slowly and were picked on October 9th.

Harvest Dates: 9 October
Grapes: Average Brix 23.8˚
TA: 6.58 g/L
pH: 3.39
Fermentation: Grapes were destemmed and fully crushed; fermented with a floating cap and pressed at five days.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (17% new and 83% three years-old).
Aging: Twelve months in barrel

All Besson Family Vineyard grapes, hand-harvested; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 65 ppm over the course of aging), pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Average Rating: 89.6

No. of Tasting Notes: 5

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