Now almost a forgotten varietal, Alicante Bouschet really deserves our attention! It’s one of those grapes that has (literally) been losing ground for 50+ years. To me it has just as much, if not more to offer you than some of today’s more common varietals. In the early part of the 20th century, it was the workhorse of the California grape industry; now it’s acreage is in decline every year. The majority of what remains is blended into anonymity: used to add color and backbone to other more fashionable, but less potent varietals. Our 2014 A2Bblend is made up of 80% Alicante and 20% Grenache that was grown in California’s Madera AVA. An under appreciated region that with modern viticultural practices is producing some super high quality fruit. The addition of the grenache this year served to brighten up the fruit and smooth the tannins of the blend.  We produce this wine with zero wood (no oak and no cork) to allow the purity of the fruit to shine through unobstructed. It was fermented and aged for 9 months in stainless steel before being bottled bottled under cap in July 2016.