100% Grenache from the Besson Family’s 112 year-old dry-farmed vineyard in the Santa Clara Valley. George Besson Sr. purchased the grenache vineyard and farmhouse just after WWII on a gently north-facing rocky slope. These non-irrigated vines, planted on their own roots in 1910, sit a short distance from the start of the Santa Cruz Mountains, but several dozen feet too low to qualify for the appellation. Since 2012, a small portion of the Besson Grenache is made appassimento, from which a portion is bottled separately and used for blending back into the main cuvée. in 2022, small amounts of this appassimento fraction were used from multiple vintages – 2018, 2020 and 2022, combined totalling roughly 4% of the blend. The resulting wine exhibits a highly amplified Amaro/Chinato/mountain herb scent, along with an intense raspberry liqueur quality. Elevage was in 450 & 500L neutral oak puncheon, and bottled in late summer 2023 without filtration/fining.