Mixed Blacks
Friday, October 23, 2009 at 6:33AM 
Girard Winery has taken full advantage of one of these vineyards producing their 2006 Girard Mixed Blacks from a century old vineyard with a mixed planting of syrah, zinfandel, petite sirah, grenache, mourvedre, carignane and a few other varieties whose identity remain a mystery. All the varieties are co-fermented (always an interesting idea) and aged in a blend of French (85%) and American oak for eighteen months. What a wine this is! Loaded with explosive black fruit and layered with earthy touches of porcini and smoked meats, it fills the mouth without being heavy. Girard has avoided the ponderous, one dimensional character of so many “old vine” wines from these varieties. A crisp acid bite keeps this wine alive and it will remind Rhone lovers of a good Cornas or Crozes Hermitage, of course with an added dose of ripe California fruit.
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Reader Comments (3)
It's too bad that so many of these old field blend vineyards are gone. I have not tried the Girard yet but from your review, that will not be a long lived problem.
Cheers!
Roger
Craig:
You make this sound irresistible. I want a bottle, but you didn't mention a price. How much is it?
Craig, I've always loved these old mixed black vineyards and the wines made from them.. Head-pruned, gnarly old vines that produce amazing stuff. Often, but not always, they're mostly zinfandel with some cinsault, petite sirah, carignane and grenache thrown in - and sometimes even a little mourvedre (mataro). Perhaps the most visible example is Ridge's Geyservillle bottling, but I remember well being in the old home vineyard at Mirassou on Aborn Road. It was a mixed black vineyard that even had some alicate in it.
BW