Once Lowly, Carignan Finds Favor in California

Okay, I didn’t do the tasting, but I wanted to recommend Birichino for Rhone Varietals. They make elegant wines from old vine California grapes. Their Cinsault and Grenache are fantastic Californian wines in their price class (around $25). Their grenache was a energy bundle of cranberry, Italian plum, cinnamon and dust.

We tried the Porter Creek first. We found it with a slight nose and thick color with strong dark fruit. It was not sloggy but silky with no tannins. The fruit did not linger on the palate. The wine stood up to a nut crusted seared Ahi tuna. The food seemed to smooth out the darker edge. The Lioco was lighter but had a bigger nose of blackberries and plums. It was sweeter and fruitier with no earth at all. When served with a marinated flank steak the fruitiness did not work. The Broc was dark like wine number one with some barnyard and the biggest nose of all. We loved the spices and herbs that it reflected. It was almost like a Rhone wine. It was served with a carne asada flatbread with Mexican spices and it was a great match. The food seemed to focus the wine. It was our favorite and best food pairing. George Erdle – Harper’s Fine Dining – Charlotte, NC

Good Morning: Decided to serve another Carignan for Turkey Day, a 2014 Mendocino Testa Vineyard from Horse & Plow. Aside from bird, dinner consisted of mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts with shallots & bacon, broccoli salad with a sesame oil/rice vinegar vinaigrette, and red onions sautéed in red wine and fresh rosemary. Appetizers: cheeses and Italian cold cuts, two kinds of olives, homemade pickles, mixed nuts. Music: Tom Petty, An American Treasure (and ain't that the truth). Clear dark ruby. Nose: blackberry, cherry, tobacco, cedar. Taste: same as the nose, plus oak, licorice, currant, spice. A bit tannic at first, but smoother later; long finish, good mouth feel. Maybe 5 years aging potential. Perfect turkey wine; bird and red improved each other. Went well with the potatoes, sprouts, red onions, cheeses and cold cuts. OK with olives and nuts. Not so well with the broccoli, pickles (probably the vinegars). Carignan certainly seems underrated. Paradoxically, this month convinces me more than ever that *in general* Rhone blends fare better in CA than individual varietals. However, won't argue with anyone who disagrees, because plenty of single varietal wines make a strong case to the contrary. Thank you for another successful month!

Always nice to be reminded what a gem American Carignane can be... Love the Broc Cellars bottling. Another wonderful crafter of delicious and well-priced Carignane based wines are the inimitable Jamie and Fred Peterson of Peterson Winery near Bradford Mountain, Dry Creek. Not easy to find in NY, but definitely in CT.

The Carignanes from Amy Butler at Ranchero Cellars and Janelle Dusi at J. Dusi in Paso Robles are both stellar interpretations of this varietal.

2016 Lioco Carignane. I found this red wine to be of medium color intensity, with red fruit and floral aromas. I found a the body medium in weight and a nice balance of medium levels of acid and tannins. Red fruit flavor characteristics stood out: fresh cherry, strawberry and maturation characteristics of tobacco , coffee, and some wood. I was expecting a bit more on the finish and it ended before I wanted it to. Overall I really enjoyed this wine. I found it smooth, silky and a real pleasure to drink. I enjoyed it solo and also with pork tenderloin and it paired nicely. This was my first taste of this wine and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I guess I was preparing myself to not like it. I think somewhere in my thinking was the belief that if its not popular it must not be good. And to my surprise I loved it both with food and as a stand alone drink. A fun lesson for me in staying open to new wine.

We had the Lioco and the Porter Creek. These are wines to serve with food. I made Melissa Clark's lamb with lemon salsa verde https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018469-butterflied-leg-of-lamb-with-lemon-salsa-verde. The meat took a bit longer than expected so we tasted the wine alone. My husband, "Yum! Let's get more of this for Thanksgiving" Me: "Whoah! This has got an odd aftertaste. This would not be good for guests unless you have an alternative to offer." The wine was much better with food. There was less of a fruit smell and more of an earthy smell than other reds. Hard slogging more than easygoing but worth the slog. These were good, interesting wines but I suspect this grape is one where the care and skill of the producer matters more than usual. If I saw carignan on a menu I would want to know more before ordering. I thought the two we had with their acid and tannins were perfect with the richness of the lamb and the spark of the lemon-herb sauce. Maybe Easter?

We have a vineyard of Carignane that ranges from 80 to 130 year old vines - all low-yield. Broc Cellars sources from our vineyard. But, I must say, that Carol Shelton is the master of Carignane and also sources from our vineyard. Thank you for highlighting this wonderful varietal.

Great article. Great recommendations. Don’t leave Frick Winery off your list. Bill is a pioneer in developing this varietal for his wine.

Last winter, I was navigating the picturesque roads of Sonoma Mountain and arrived at Coturri Winery situated just outside Glen Ellen, CA for a tasting. Here I enjoyed Tony Coturri's 2016 Carignane, among his other esteemed vintages. A 2018 James Beard semifinalist, Tony Coturri is producing some of the best wine in the United States, let alone California, and needs to be on this list when discussing Carignane.

We had Porter Creek ‘15 and Lioco ‘16 side-by-side. PC appeared beet colored, darker and murkier (unfiltered?) and wasn’t overtly fragrant, consistent with Broc Cellars, yet I detected earthy, savory, and fruity scents. PC revealed both sour and honeyed notes: black currant, sour cherry, a hint of caramel, cream soda, and unripe black berries. Rustic, brooding, and alive, it had a long warming finish. I was intrigued. Tannic, acidic, and complex, it seemed unsettled and not ready to reveal itself. Perhaps worth aging to see its potential to evolve and character to form. I was reminded of an Old World syrah, a St-Joseph perhaps, because of its grainy minerality and firmness. Lioco appeared more translucent, deep dark red, and surprisingly smelled like an animal barn. In contrast to its earthly smell and to PC, Lioco was brighter: sour cherries, acidic, jittery and energetic. At first it was unsettled, but it drank more easily than PC, and was more versatile. With time it balanced out. Lioco was silkier and lighter than PC’s and it was more accessible, gulpable, and lively, but not as interesting as PC. It reminded me of a pinot noir, from the New World, Willamette Valley perhaps. 2 different representations of carignan, terroir and wine-making, for different occasion, food and kind of drinking. One more serious and structured, to be waited for; the other giving a more instantaneous and direct expression, evoking a different kind of a response - yet both sincere and honest.

We enjoyed the Porter Creek 2015 Old Vine Carignane with a St. Martin’s Feast. We roasted a goose, much like Sam Sifton’s https://tinyurl.com/yalm7olz . The difference: I stuffed my goose with prune-stuffed-apples rolled in kosher salt and 5-spice seasoning https://www.instagram.com/p/BqFXA2_n8uL/ . We served it again with Florence Fabricant’s delicious braised red cabbage with cranberries. This wine was different from the other two. Dark, pitch black even, dusty, slightly bitter, tannic, notes of tar and leather. Here the 5-spice was not blending in with the wine but with the goose meat. This wine did not have the bright acidic cranberry tones (my wife compared them to woodwinds) like the other two. It was a contrast to the meal, a counterpoint, an elegant baseline.

We enjoyed the 2016 Broc Cellars Alexander Valley Carignan Old Vine with an Icelandic leg of lamb, grilled over indirect heat, and treated with a paste of lavender, salt, garlic, lemon zest, and olive oil according to Marc Bittman’s “How to Grill Everything”. https://www.instagram.com/p/BqB-l4cnSP7/ . The side was roasted Butternut Squash. This wine too had this element of cranberry, but it was sweeter than the Lioco, slightly tannic, somewhat piney, an interesting tingling mouthfeel. It went great with the tender, aromatic lamb meat and the rich winter spicy butternut squash.

We enjoyed Lioco Carignan 2016 with 5-spice duck breasts with Florence Fabricant’s Braised Red Cabbage with Cranberries, and boiled potatoes https://www.instagram.com/p/BqB-l4cnSP7/ . The wine was dry, refreshing, smelled of 5-spice seasoning, and tasted of dry cranberries, cinnamon, and licorice. It was like the wine was making all these flavors blend together, making the meal complete as if it was the missing spice. Interesting how all these flavors so typical of Christmas can be found in a Chinese spice blend and a Mendocino wine.

My first experience with Carignan was Spanish but not the more well known Priorat - instead, I worked on the national marketing campaign for Cariñena, a region that takes its name from these grapes. I remember the Cariñena being all that was described - dark fruit, high tannins, a bit "rougher" around the edges - but I also especially remember it being very indicative of the region. Cariñena in Spain is high altitude with soils of these huge, jagged stones and old vines. The wine took on that characteristic - it was mineral, great acid, and very old world. I found the Lioco 2016 and the Porter Creek 2015. The thing that struck me so much about these wines was that they too were so indicative of their terroir. Both had a pine note - reminiscent of the majestic California forests. Both also had very pronounced baking space notes, reminiscent of cherry or berry pie - or the 4th of July. The Lioco was softer and sunnier, like Mendocino, while the Porter Creek was darker and brooding, blacker fruits and more astringent tannins. Both were California - both were America. Interestingly enough, I have visited Porter Creek and the Carignan was the wine that impressed me the most - the only one I went home with. It has that energy that I often really appreciate in well-made biodynamic wines.

Tried the Broc Cellars Sunday night. Off the bat, I was looking for the “prickliness” that Ali got. Instead, the first impression on my tongue—wine cool, decanted, and tasted before food—was of a syrupy thickness. The prickliness only surfaced after tasting with food, and was stronger still with the PnP. This was an interesting wine. Barb liked its taste-the-money strength. I liked its herby, peppery, relatively light-bodied fruitiness. Ali also found the wine’s appeal somewhat divorced from the food she had it with, and so did I. For me, that’s a minus. Dinner was Ms. Clark’s fruity, nutty, olivey, deeply-spiced-but-not-spicy-hot lamb tagine tinyurl.com/y96flnqn (yum). The pairing did not live up to either wine or food. The Broc’s pepper got along with the exotic spices, but did not plus them at all. Its shining moment came when its fruit met the dish’s apricot. It had no use for the savory olive. (And was too bitter for a white wine-braised, cumin-and-thyme adaptation of Daniel Boulud’s carrots tinyurl.com/y778zyjv .) (Which were, however, a lovely addition to the tagine!) Of this month’s carignans my favorite by far, the Porter Creek, was also the one I had with the most acidic food, a lemony lamb chop. Both the Lioco and Broc were unsatisfying with mild-spiced Mexican and Moroccan dishes, and, the Lioco, with a simple hamburger. My impression is that the Porter Creek is a quite different wine from the other two. Wonder how much that’s a result of my pairings?

Took a Carignan side trip Saturday night from the west coast of California to the west coast of Sardinia. Dinner was orecchiette with sausage and escarole tinyurl.com/ybvnsga4 and wine was a 7-y-o, inexpensive Grotta Rossa Carignano del Sulcis. The bottle may have been a bit past prime, but still packed an acidic, peppery punch, along with some bloodiness and some sour black cherry. Not especially complex, but a pleasant mix of flavors. You could taste the family resemblance to the Porter Creek. It, the Carignano, was deliciously at home with the mildly spicy sausage and mysterious good with the bitter escarole. For what it’s worth, the vintner’s advice, to decant one hour, should be a requirement. Transformational.

Please try Jeff Runquist Carignan from Amador County in California. Absolutely delicious.

Fourteen frequenters met at our version of the Asimov Carignan School and added Boonville Road Wines '16 Casa Verde vineyard carignan to the 3 recommended. As expected opinions varied, but few negatives. Lower alcohol was associated with higher ratings. Several liked the Broc's body. Some enjoyed Lioco's lightness. Boonville Road's richness was the favorite with food.

Good choices all... I’m enjoying Denner Vineyards 2016 Sacred Burro Carignan. Intertwined with juicy red fruit, herbs and a hint floral, it’s a solid winner.

Internet wisdom said pair the Lioco with a bistro burger tinyurl.com/y8fxxtut , and a hunch based on the lovely Porter Creek said pair it, the Lioco, with something mildly Mexican, which, Tuesday night, was Mexican cauliflower rice tinyurl.com/y95rjuef (with ¼ the recipe’s chile pepper and an added ¼ cup of carignan). Pairing fails, both. The L, while intensely fruity like the PC, was far, far drier, and no fun at all with the burger, just “interesting” at best. It was also nervier (no calming clay mouthfeel) and much woody-herbier than the PC. I got delicate and, again, “interesting” notes of root beer and licorice but those notes were out of tune with the cauliflower’s tomato, pepper, cumin, garlic. In mood, where the PC had plain-spoken charm, the L was gussied up. Did not enjoy. (Or was it the election night TV?) On a happier note... butter. Butter in my book makes everything better, but wine can be a wallflower at that party. The Lioco came with bells on. Can someone explain why this wine so likes butter? The Mexican cauli on buttered toast paired worlds better than without. Same with some smoked gouda cheese: so-so on its own with the L, but on buttered toast, inexplicably nice, with the L lighting up to the juicy, fatty, smoky, dairy goodness. That was the night’s bright spot, though. After it'd begun with such high hopes for the Lioco, and Beto.

Porter Creek for Sunday dinner, with lemony lamb chops tinyurl.com/yc28w2nc and lemony, lamby, spiced parsnip mash tinyurl.com/y7pl58j6 . I can get why this grape was “once lowly.” The wine had a tarry, funky nose, and an ungraceful, gawky bluntness to it. Loved it. As Ali said of the Broc, it’s a red like no other. Its berry fruit was a juggernaut, as potent as any wine’s I can remember, but without a hint of jamminess. Instead, fresh and sweet on the attack, and puckery tart on the finish. Mouthfeel had an appealing clayness, and flavors suggested all sorts of peppery spices, plus a layer of citric acidity. It went beautifully with both our dishes, not surprising for the lamb, but very much so for the parsnips, maybe thanks to their lemon and their lamb jus. Still kind of amazed, though, that the bold, unapologetic wine was not too much for the herby, subtle root vegetable. (Another side, cold coriander mushrooms tinyurl.com/h8mtqkt did not do so well.) Hardly know what to make of the Porter Creek—it’s way outside my usual type of wine—but its rude, crude, strong, and immensely alluring flavors brought me back to the early Stones. After dinner, playing in my head on auto-repeat was... Even though you’re wearin’ those citified high heels, I can tell by your giant steps you been walkin’ through the cotton fields. Oh, you’re so down home girl. This was one down home delicious wine.

I've been enjoying Jessie's Grove (Lodi) Carignane for several years; their Zins too.

Good Evening: Many folks I know in the industry held that Rhone varietals might prove best for California, but debated as to whether the grapes do better on their own or in traditional blends. Have tended to prefer blends, but always willing to reexamine old beliefs. None of my usual six stores had any of the wines, but found a single bottle of Forlorn Hope "The Kerrigans" 2015. Having had a forlorn hope of finding the three main choices, this seemed like karma at $19.99. Day One: sheet pan roasted bratwurst, apples, grapes and shallots, accompanied by buttered carrots in dill, roast potatoes with Zatar, and zucchini sautéed with parsley. Music: "America" by John Fahey. Color: clear dark ruby. Nose: closed in at first, eventually cedar, oak, tobacco, cherry. Flavor: tannic, medium body, long finish, took a long time to open up. Eventually blackberry, cherry, earthy, cedar, oak, tobacco, and this is a first--tomato! Pretty astringent at the end, doesn't seem to have much aging potential. Day Two: Roast maple-rosemary chicken, leftover zucchini and carrots, boiled red potatoes. Music: jazz digital mixtape. Taste similar, better mouth feel, more velvety. The wine complemented and complimented all of the food. Unsurprisingly, went well with the roasted grapes, surprisingly went well with the apples. It appears that strongly flavored chicken and sausage dishes can work with Carignane. Good month. Tempted to try again with a different producer.

Please try Trinafour and Boonville Road Carignans. A couple of the very best California examples were omitted. Admittedly neither are in New York yet.

I've been drinking the Porter Creek Carignane for years! Nice to see them recognized.

Carignan is a red like no other. Last night was my first time having it, just like many of the wines we’ve drunk in the WS. I opened Bloc Cellars that I chilled well beforehand. Even though it wasn’t overly fragrant, its aroma was “prickly”. As was the first sip, which matched the nose of cranberry, brambles, and sour—a medley of fresh and just underripe red and black berries, crushed and concentrated. That invitingly “biting” taste was refreshing and appealing, and I wanted to come back for it (similar to an acidic taste in coffee that’s tight and bewitching). Deep red color of this wine didn’t seem to reflect what I would’ve expected of a deeply red wine like this - its body was light and vivacious, but it had an interesting texture. It was as if I detected a slight sediment on my tongue, but rather than tactile, it was elusive. We had it with a simple dinner of a charred salmon and roasted autumn vegetables, but frankly the food almost didn’t matter as the wine was interesting and enticing on its own. I want to say that it changed as it warmed, yet I can’t say how, because it remained as alive in a glass as its first taste when uncorked. It was lip-smacking and intense and it didn’t seem to settle with time. I just have to go back for more.

My favorite carignan is Terre Brune from Santadi in Sardnia. Whenever I go there I lug home as much as I can. It’s just wonderful.

The last sentence in this article is key. The nose, taste, feel, and finish of a red wine is highly dependent on it's temperature.

Although I am intrigued by the notion of California carignan, I can't help but think there are many Languedoc wines to explore for a considerably lower price. It might be wise to try one good french produced wine and one California wine for comparison.

Castoro Cellars in Paso Robles, CA makes a good Carignane. I had no idea the grape was maligned.

Purity makes a lovely Contra Costa Carignan ...

Clos Centeilles in Minervois makes the world's greatest carignan, Carignanissime de Centeilles. Fact!

$30! Way above my pay grade. How about some for $16?

With all of the options available, not sure that this grape varietal will get much respect for quite some time. Been around a long time.

I remember visiting Rabbit Ridge Winery in the mid 90's, where they offered a tasting of Carignan, bottled there in a limited production. This was a real eye-opener, as all I had heard was the usual bad stuff and some story about a 19th century scandal involving Burgundian vintners mixing in the horrible C with their own wines to increase output. The RR version was terrific, medium bodied and balanced with a hint of black current, pepper and vanilla. I bought a bottle or two for a more than reasonable price. Thank you Rabbit Ridge, your Carignan was unforgettable!

Cheers for spotlighting a worthy grape Eric. I would most definitely add Onward in the list of options as well. What Faith is doing with a plot in Contra Costa county really approximates what is being seen in terms of quality wines here in Spain. Truly lovely grape and I highly suggest those who are Cabernet Sauvignon lovers (especially Napa style) to seek it out if looking to expand the horizons. If you've been turned off to the sinewy fruit of Grenache from France and Spain (which Pinot Noir lovers often find appealing), Carignan offers up a very different beast with soft, luscious fruit, a wealth of tannins, and just enough natural acidity to keep it fresh and not the least bit flabby. I've been following the grape for some time now as I really do love it: https://wineonsix.com/the-grand-carignan-tasting/ Enjoy your explorations!