2022 Ovitelli Grenache

The 2022 Ovitelli Grenache is a wine of unexpected twists and turns ... on one hand, it aromatically offers amaro bitters and nuances of tequila sunrise (without the tequila, or perhaps it is anejo or mezcal), bitter orange and cranberry. There's a distinct biscuit character to note: Biscoff or malt. In the mouth, the wine is lean and spicy, layered with exotic herbs, graphite tannins and inflections of wet concrete and petrichor. The fruit on the mid-palate rises above its élevage and time on skins and envelopes us in raspberry and blood orange, which quickly sinks beneath a tide of clove buds and star anise and cardamom. It was handpicked from Block 20, adjacent to the High Sands block, destemmed and pressed to ceramic eggs for 150 days on skins. No pressings were utilized in the final blend. No oak was used at any stage; instead, the wine spent a total of 14 months in ceramic egg. Bottled June 2023. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.