Matthiasson Helens Gate GSM 2021

Matthiasson Helens Gate Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre 2021
Einungis örfáar flöskur til

Our Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre is a celebration of this classic blend: fruity, earthy, rich, and layered. The three varieties balance each other perfectly in a time-honored union, described for generations in Chateauneuf du Pape as the Syrah being the “skin,” the Grenache serving as the “flesh,” and the Mourvèdre providing the “skeleton.”
The wine is a field blend and is co-fermented, so we don’t have exact percentages of the blend, but it is roughly one-half Syrah, one-quarter Grenache, and one-quarter Mourvèdre. We planted the vineyard to be a field blend, intending all the fruit to be farmed and harvested together.
We made the wine 100% whole cluster fermented with twice daily manual punch downs. We pressed after approximately two weeks of fermentation on the skins and aged the wine in neutral barrels for 10 months.
The wine was fermented with native yeast with only minimal SO2 added at bottling. Unfined and unfiltered.
The pH is 4.07, the TA is 5.24 g/l, and the alcohol is 13.0%. Only 73 cases produced.
The Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre is fruity/earthy, with crunchy red plum, blackberry, tar, and black pepper. It has gorgeous tannins and texture, but a lightness across the palate that is rare for this blend.
The Vineyard
The organically farmed Helen’s Gate Vineyard is the home of Arthur Berliner and Marian Lever. It sits on an east-facing hill along Whitehall Lane in the Rutherford District of Napa Valley. We planted the vines for them in 2009. We manage the vineyard organically, and all farming is done by us by hand (no tractors). The vines are surrounded by Marian’s riotous plantings of flowers and fruit trees.