Abacela Vineyards and Winery

In his ten years of producing wines at his Abacela winery, Earl Jones has become an influential leader in Oregon’s wine world, and a harbinger of Southern Oregon’s viticultural maturity. If you need an example of what this means, seek this wine.

Richly hued with an unusually deep garnet color, this Grenache makes an impressive statement even before you sniff or sip. Wafting from the glass are a mélange of appealing scents: crushed raspberries, warm pie crust, dried sage, white pepper—to get plenty of pleasure from this wine all you have to do is simply sit and smell it!

In the mouth, the wine presents oodles of fresh crushed red berry flavors, with swirls of darker blackberry and even cassis notes. The fruity center is framed by tones of warm toast, dried spices, and hints of dark cocoa. The structure is vibrant and assertive, with crisp acidity and plush tannins combining to give the fruit a compelling animation—the flavors fairly dance on the palate!

There is not a lot of Grenache grown in Oregon. Abacela has been an early pioneer of the varietal in the state, and this release marks an exciting high point in the quality of Oregon Grenache wines. A somewhat cooler 2005 produced very ripe fruit, and winemaker Kiley Evans decided to keep the wine for ten months in neutral French oak puncheons in order to preserve the focus of fruit the vintage delivered. Good decision, Kiley! (249 cases produced.)

Reviewed April 26, 2007 by Cole Danehower.