Tasting today’s “Gravels” Grenache from Newfound Wines filled me with irrepressible optimism about drinking domestic—it’s groovy, fresh, fun, elegant, affordable, and radically delicious. In this 2018 release, Newfound mixes lots of extraordinary Napa Valley fruit with grapes from a legendary Mendocino vineyard—a perfectly executed combination of the classic and the unexpected.

It’s their most affordable and exciting bottling yet, designed to highlight Grenache’s brighter side by amplifying its herbal top-notes and maintaining loads of freshness. Matt Naumann’s decade of service at Pinot Noir producer Failla provides a sturdy foundation for Newfound’s approach to farming (nature-first) and winemaking (restrained, elegant, but rugged). Meanwhile, his wife, Audra, is the engine of progressive thinking responsible for their departure from the tried-and-true, a vision she developed while working in wine marketing and sales. Together, they’re absolutely unstoppable and each passing vintage of Newfound turns more heads (including Jancis Robinson’s). And while Gravels is inspired by the rugged coastlines of the French Mediterranean, it’s the Pacific’s cooling influence that imparts that unmistakable freshness and tension. This is Grenache at its brightest, juiciest, and most nimble—oh, and affordable, too!

As California leaves heavily manipulated and environmentally irresponsible wines in the rearview mirror, it’s invigorating to discover joyful, conscientious projects like Matt and Audra’s. In 2016, they purchased a 40-acre ranch in the Sierra Foothills, 2,100 feet above sea level and way outside the proverbial “box” of Californian grape-growing. Since then they’ve been patiently revitalizing their soils, pulling out old vines, replanting new varieties, and breathing life into the surrounding ecosystem. Their dream is to become first-generation grape-growers and independent winemakers, modeling a new path of responsible land stewardship and delicious, transparent wines. All evidence points to the fact that they are well on their way, and I’m burning with curiosity for what the next years—and estate-grown fruit—will bring. 

In the interim, they’ve leveraged strong personal relationships to source some of the Napa Valley’s most coveted fruit. Ten percent of today’s “Gravels” Grenache comes from the 22-year-old Scaggs Vineyard, perched high up on Mount Veeder and once owned by the musician Boz Scaggs. Another 10 comes from the Yount Mill vineyard, a beloved source of concentrated, organically grown grapes since 1987. The remaining 80% comes from the Cemetery Vineyard, which is currently owned by the city of Ukiah and home to some of California’s oldest plantings. Grenache does particularly well in its gravelly, granitic soils, with little water and a lot of sun. 
 
Matt developed into a fervent cool-climate viticulturist during his years at Failla, and he uses a lot of the same principles to craft Newfound’s Grenache. The ideal harvest dates for each component vineyard are determined through rigorous pH checks, and their handpicked fruit is kept separate until blending. This way, Matt preserves site-specificity and knits together the final blend with the utmost attention to detail. After harvesting by hand, the Newfound team treads grapes by foot before a “whole-cluster” fermentation in open-top tanks. Gravels Grenache stays on its skins for a full month, before being aged in large, neutral vessels for a year. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered with just enough sulfur to keep it stable. 
 
And wow, wow, wow. Gravels came ready to play right out of the bottle, bursting with wet raspberry leaf, cranberry sauce, and rose jelly on the nose. The palate is delightfully silky, its juicy, transparent ruby depths underpinned by the flavors of chalk, sagebrush, and orange rind. The bramble component is soft but wild, and the perfume seems to concentrate after half an hour of breathing. The tannin is just tactile enough to remind you to reach for food—I chose a saucy Cubano from my favorite Bay Area joint, but if you’re feeling ambitious here’s a recipe for the homemade version. That long, juicy finish (the wine, not the sandwich!) will tickle your tastebuds and tantalize the senses for years to come, by which time I’ll be enjoying a different Newfound wine for every day of the week.