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Skylark Wine Company, “Red Belly” Red Blend

California, United States 2014 (750mL)
Regular price$23.00
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Skylark Wine Company, “Red Belly” Red Blend

It’s only natural for a sommelier to want to make wine. And it’s especially alluring for a sommelier who works in—or near—a great wine region. John Lancaster and his partner in Skylark Wine Company, Robert Perkins, have run the wine program at San Francisco’s iconic Boulevard Restaurant for more than a decade, amassing the knowledge, contacts, and sensibility with which to launch their own label. Their wines are, in a nutshell, what sommeliers like them want to drink: balanced, authentic, and above all, of a much higher quality than their price would suggest.
And, by the way, I say sommeliers “like them” deliberately: This is not a “boutique” winery, with all the exclusivity that word suggests. Skylark’s modus operandi is more about elevating the everyday drinking experience by recognizing value where others do not—as exemplified by today’s “Red Belly” red blend. With their notoriety, they could probably get their hands on some blue-chip Napa Cabernet fruit from a choice vineyard site and make a cult wine costing many multiples what Red Belly fetches. Instead, they base a blend on (very) old-vine Carignane—a grape that’s as widely disrespected as it is widely planted—from two heritage vineyard sites in Mendocino’s Redwood Valley. Add in some Mendocino Grenache and some Knights Valley Syrah and you’ve got a gutsy, aromatic, thoroughly delicious homage to Southern France from Northern California. As I say often, this price point is what I’d call Bulk Wine City, but that can’t be applied here. Red Belly is real wine, sourced from some genuinely special sites, and that’s always going to get our vote.
Like so many modern California wine projects, Skylark isn’t the château-on-a-hill model. It’s the grower-relationship model, in this case with a focus on vineyards in Mendocino County. The component parts of the 2014 Red Belly come primarily from the Redwood Valley AVA, where some of the first Mendocino vineyards were planted generations ago: The Carignane (40% of the Red Belly blend) is supplied partly by the Niemi Vineyard, way up near the headwaters of the Russian River, and the Casa Verde, about a quarter of a mile away, where some vines are 100 years old. The Grenache comes from a site north of Ukiah at about 1,000 feet elevation, while the Syrah is from a little further south in Sonoma’s Knights Valley (thus the catchall “North Coast” appellation on the label). It’s interesting that it’s the Syrah lending the ‘bass note’ to the blend along with its spice and florals. The Carignane and Grenache are from cool sites and reflect that—this is a luscious wine, but it is not massive and inky in the manner of some Carignane-driven wines.

In 2014, the Skylark team managed 50 barrels (1,250 cases) of Red Belly from grapes harvested in the third week of September. The Carignane component was completely destemmed, while small percentages of the Grenache and Syrah were fermented (on ambient yeasts only) with stems included. The wine was aged in used French oak barrels and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Red Belly succeeds on many levels: For one, it pays proper homage to southern France with some lavender/violet/garrigue aromatic notes; it’s also very well-modulated in terms of weight, both dark-fruited and deep but refreshingly brightened by acidity. In the glass, it’s a violet-tinted dark ruby extending to the rim, with aromas of black plum, Morello cherry, cassis, a hint of licorice, black olive, and grilled herbs. Medium-plus in body and framed by acidity and soft, fine-grained tannins, it bears more than a passing resemblance to a well-balanced Châteauneuf-du-Pape and to some (much more expensive) wines from the Côtes du Roussillon. It is ready to drink now—decant it 15 minutes before serving in large Bordeaux stems at 60-65 degrees—and is perfectly positioned to be your go-to summer grilling wine. You might choose to go a little cooler with the service temperature and pair it with well-charred meats of all stripes off the grill, sauced or not. If you have the time, go “low and slow” with some baby back ribs and have several bottles of Red Belly at the ready. Cheers!
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United States

Washington

Columbia Valley

Like many Washington wines, the “Columbia Valley” indication only tells part of the story: Columbia Valley covers a huge swath of Central
Washington, within which are a wide array of smaller AVAs (appellations).

Oregon

Willamette Valley

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become an elite winegrowing zone in record time. Pioneering vintner David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyard, planted the first Pinot Noir in the region in 1965, soon to be followed by a cadre of forward-thinking growers who (correctly) saw their wines as America’s answer to French
Burgundies. Today, the Willamette
Valley is indeed compared favorably to Burgundy, Pinot Noir’s spiritual home. And while Pinot Noir accounts for 64% of Oregon’s vineyard plantings, there are cool-climate whites that must not be missed.

California

Santa Barbara

Among the unique features of Santa Barbara County appellations like Ballard Canyon (a sub-zone of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA), is that it has a cool, Pacific-influenced climate juxtaposed with the intense luminosity of a southerly
latitude (the 34th parallel). Ballard Canyon has a more north-south orientation compared to most Santa Barbara AVAs, with soils of sandy
clay/loam and limestone.

California

Paso Robles

Situated at an elevation of 1,600 feet, it is rooted in soils of sandy loam and falls within the Highlands District of the Paso Robles AVA.

New York

North Fork

Wine growers and producers on Long Island’s North Fork have traditionally compared their terroir to that of Bordeaux and have focused on French varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

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