North America | California | Birichino | Rokurokubi & Inugami

Rokurokubi & Inugami

VARIETALS
40% Mourvèdre, 39% Cinsault, 21% Grenache,

NOTES

VINEYARD: A blend of fruit from three old-vine sources— Mourvèdre from Big Vineyard, Contra Costa County; Cinsault from Bechthold Vineyard, Mokelumne River Lodi; Grenache from Besson Vineyard in Santa Clara County.

TASTING NOTES: From Alex and John, winemakers: "We have tried for many years to conjure a fancy, congruent, ageworthy old vine blend of Besson Grenache, Bechthold Cinsault and Contra Costa Mourvèdre which eclipses the sum of its parts and, until 2019, we have done so with an unbroken record of abject failure.
Whether it is the individual wines or the individual winemakers – who should engage in sober self-reflection is not obvious, though we are taking complete credit for Rokurokubi & Inugami. We can thank three principal factors for the success of the 2019 iteration. First, 2019 is unambiguously the finest vintage for Besson Grenache in our experience. A small, even crop of small berries on small clusters harvested long after the heat spikes of September. Second is the exoticism of the Mourvèdre from our new source in Contra Costa County. These two components, both quite lush and “sweet,” mesh together seamlessly and provide the grounded Inugami dog spirit body of the wine. Third, Bechthold in 2019 produced a particularly botanical, wispy wine which constitutes the buoyant, just barely tethered Rokurokubi aspect. We anticipate this will evolve and improve over several years. Arigato, Bakemono Zukushi."
200 cases produced, 20cs for MA. This wine will be produced only when vintage conditions specifically allow. There will no 2020 vintage of this wine.