Ampelaia

“roasted strawberries, white pepper”

Grenache is a grape with stories to tell.

You’ll find it planted all over the Mediterranean: in its homeland of Spain, but as far afield as Sardinia, Sicily, France, Morocco, and Israel.

It was carried out from Spain by the Aragon empire, a large Medieval economic power in the Mediterranean in the 1100s and onward. They planted it on steep stone terraces, dry riverbeds, and sandy berms. They left it in the hands of capable local vignerons wherever they went, and it came to produce wines even more famous than its home region of Aragon. Châteauneuf-du-Pape, anyone?

I mentioned sand a minute ago. On purpose. When Grenache Noir is grown on sand, the resulting wines are some of the most aromatic, ethereal reds you can experience. When I tasted this Alicante for the first time, I could really smell and taste the classic markers of the Grenache grape: roasted strawberries, white pepper, rosemary and wet stone. Something about those notes is consistent with sand-grown Grenache, whether it’s from California, Spain, or Italy.

Ampelaia was founded by an influential winemaker Elisabetta Foradori. She’s one of the most influential figures in the natural wine movement, and one of the first to popularize aging wines in clay pot amphoras. Having her blessing on this project in Tuscany was a good sign from the start, and judging by the wine, Ampelaia is absolutely killing it. These are very good wines with a strong sense of place and loads of personality.