2022 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! 'Ancient Groove' Old Vine Mourvèdre / Carignane

“Buy anything this man makes. He is vine whisperer, Hardy Wallace.”- GQ MAGAZINE

“The stylistic range of EWCY! also has breadth. It is a bit like finding a wine portfolio that parallels the range found in the paintings of Matisse.”- Elaine Chukan Brown US Editor, JancisRobinson.com

60% Mourvèdre and 40% Carignane, sourced from old vines at Del Barba and Evangelho vineyards. 100% whole clusters. Aged in 10-12 year old barrels. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulphur. 13.2% alcohol. 180 cases made.

You can tell this is tightly wound up right from the first go. Give it a little air and the nose will start to show off a lovely mix of fruit (candied raspberries, bright strawberry) and non fruit (cinnamon, clove, pine needles, herbs and dark earth). The wine starts off all bright, but seems to change in the mouth to an overall darker tone, with plummy fruit, black cherry, and violet-like floral notes. Medium bodied but mouth-coating, with crunchy tannins that feel like they want to plush out over time, and high, bright, energetic acidity.

Evangelho is one of the oldest vineyards in California. Located in Antioch near an electrical power substation, these old vines are planted on an ancient alluvial sandbar where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers merge with the cooling waters and breezes of the San Francisco Bay. These gnarly vines are 130 years-old (planted in the 1890s) and are head-pruned, non- irrigated, and on their original root stock. A field-blend of Zinfandel, Carignane, Mourvedre, and others, the wines are fresh, bright, and typically have extremely low pH. Other producers that make wine from this vineyard include Bedrock, Turley, Ridge and Neyers.

Del Barba is a less well known site located at 4351 Rose Ave in Oakley, CA and encompasses about 50 acres of vines. The heart of the Ranch is the ancient 12-acre block planted to Carignan, Mataro (Mourvèdre) and Zinfandel (4 acres of each). The old section of vines were established when the Barba family moved on to the property in the early 1920s. The conservative factual answer on planting date would be established pre-1920 but in context with other plantings 1900-1910 would make sense in this location. Like other growers in Oakley the Del Barba's are located along the railroad line services by BNSF and had a packing shed on the rail line to pack out wood boxes for shipping out east under their brand during Prohibition. The vineyard was surrounded by an almond orchard and is essentially one large sand dune with minimal to no topsoil. The almonds were removed in the 80s and additional Zinfandel was planted which ultimately was the backbone for the Bonny Doon Cardinal Zin program for more than 20 years until the brand was sold to the wine group. The 4th and 5th generation of the Del Barbas today produce some of the finest old vine grapes in Contra Costa with a long list of esteemed wineries making wine from their vineyard(s) - Turley, Biale, Dave Phinney (90s), Neyers (90s), J. Gott, Erggelet Brothers, Martha Stoumen, August Briggs, Bedrock, Matt Parish/Naked, Enfield Wine, Macario Montoya etc. In 2020 more Mataro was grafted onto on existing rootstock and some first acres were grafted to Grenache.