It’s November first! Time to give thanks for all our blessings and to share some exciting news! We have some industry scores that we want to shout to the rooftops! We have had some amazing reviews from Robert Parker, Antonio Galloni, and Wine & Spirits Magazine and now we are pinching ourselves over being named the 2017 California Winery to Watch by Wine & Spirits.
At Folded Hills we are most thankful for YOU! Your support has been humbling and gratifying. Please know that when we raise our glasses this month we will be toasting to you all!
We Are Excited to Share Our Wine Scores With You. Cheers!
Wines & Spirits Magazine – Folded Hills Voted the 2017 California Winery to Watch!
Angela Osborne makes one of California’s most delicate rosés under her A Tribute to Grace label; the wine she makes for Kim and Andrew Busch’s estate project is similarly cool and lifted. Made from grenache grown on a hillside between the warmer Ballard Canyon and cooler Sta. Rita Hills, it moves from a sunny cantaloupe flavor to a more savory scent of thyme. “It’s fresh and bright,” said Gianpaolo Paterlini of Acquerello, “and long for a rosé.” Match it with an aromatic, saffron-heavy paella. (495 cases)
This is brisk, lifted grenache, its bright, strawberry-red flavor turning floral at the end, while the tannins are gripping, herbal and refreshing. It’s not a complex wine, but it’s all about fruit, with no oak or overripeness to mar its vibrant grenache character. (527 cases)
If you like old-vine grenache from South Australia, check out this grenache/syrah blend; Angela Osborne sourced it from four sites farmed by Ruben Solorzano (which is to say, it comes from a sort of Santa Barbara grenache dream team). It has a rich, umami-laden red-cherry flavor that hints at smoked meat, and great textural appeal, fleshy and fresh at once. It’s an enveloping, supple wine for roast duck. (449 cases)
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
A blend of 64% Grenache and 36% Syrah, the 2015 August Red has a medium garnet-purple color and offers a wonderfully spicy nose of cinnamon stick, cloves, pepper and cardamom over a core of kirsch, raspberry preserves, sautéed herbs and roses. It fills the medium-bodied palate with vibrant red berry and spice flavors, framed by velvety tannins and plenty of vivacity, finishing long and perfumed.
Very pale ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Ballard Canyon Grenache opens with fragrant rose petal and dried lavender notes over a core of kirsch and raspberry leaves plus a touch of baking spices. Medium-bodied, elegant, softly structured and oh-so-pretty in the mouth, it has lovely expression and a long, velvet-lined, spicy finish.
The 2015 Ballard Canyon Syrah has a pale to medium garnet-purple color and is scented of red currants, black cherries and plums plus notes of black pepper, fertile earth and underbrush. Medium-bodied and delicately played on the palate, it features plenty of spicy cherry and red berry-inspired flavors, framed by ripe, rounded tannins, finishing with lingering peppery notes.
Antonio Galloni
The 2015 Grenache Grant is a very pretty wine. Sweet red cherry, plum, mint and rose petal notes give the 2015 lovely brightness and striking purity of expression. Inviting and impeccably balanced, the 2015 is a flat-out delicious wine to drink now and over the next handful of years. A dollop of Syrah rounds out the blend.
Pliant and bold, the 2015 Red August is another gorgeous wine from Folded Hills. Dark cherry and plum are pushed forward in this beautifully layered, supple wine. The 2015 is 64% Grenache and 36% Syrah.
The 2015 Syrah (Ballard Canyon), from Stolpman, deftly balances the natural intensity of this site with a perceptible element of restraint. Juicy and pliant, with lovely depth to its dark cherry and plum fruit, the 2015 remains very much medium in body and laid back in style, not to mention impeccable in its balance.
If you enjoyed reading this article please add your name to our mailing list HERE. You will be the first to know when new and limited release wines are available, along with fun updates of what’s happening on the ranch.