Tom & Marie brought this as a mystery wine last night:
1. KennethVolkVnyds Negrette CalleriVnyd/SanBenitoCnty (13.4%; www.VolkWines.com) SantaMaria 2012: Med.dark color; some Am.oak bit herbal light peppery/black pepper/Negrette slight chalky nose; lightly tart light Negrette/black pepper bit earthy/chalky light toasty/Am.oak flavor w/ light gentle tannins; long light black pepper/Negrette some earthy/chalky light toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a rather mild-mannered/understated expression of Negrette and not as good as some of his early ones. $30.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Negrette: A grape that is mostly grown in the Cotes du Frontannais near Toulouse. It is a direct descendent of Mavro, a grape grown on Cyprus. In Calif, it was once cultivated under the name Pinot St.George, primarily in the CienegaVlly of SanBenitoCnty.
When Kenny was originally at WildHorse, I liked to scout around up in SanBenitoCnty for some lesser known/old-vines grape varieties. Negrette (and Cabernet Pfeffer) was one he happened upon. Back in the 1960's, as Almaden was expanding and moving South out of SantaClaraCnty, they conived a bunch of people into planting grapes for them. Mostly for use under their top-end Charles LeFranc (the founder of Almaden) label. And, of course, as Almaden went under, these growers were left holding the bag. Some of these old vnyds still exist. Where the grapes go is anybody's idea.
Kenny originally got his Negrette from the DeRose Vnyd. The Calleri vnyd is a new source of Negrette for him. I presume DeRose is keeping all the Negrette for themselves now. They make some interesting wines. They make Viognier from 100+ yr old vines that they advertise as OldVine Viognier. In point of fact, in the late '90's, they grafted over a block of old Zin vines to Viognier. OldVine Viognier?? Beats heck out of me.
Negrette makes a rather interesting wine. In France, they wine often has a distinct black pepper character. Clearly, it is a variety they should be planting all up&down the Coast of Calif.
Tom