Today’s Core Family Winery 2007 Ground Around California Red Wine was a late addition to our tasting roster, and boy, are we happy to have found this great wine!

Prior to release, this delicious blend of blend of 65% Tempranillo, 25% Grenache and 10% Syrah was aged for 2 years in barrel and one year in bottle. The wine also benefitted from 5% stem inclusion at crush, cold soak and fermentation, imparting a complex and tasty earthen character that subtly complements the wonderful Santa Barbara and Santa Lucia Highlands fruit.

This highly recommended wine delivers big, bold and concentrated flavors on the palate and a wonderfully aromatic nose. Enjoy now, and cellar for another 5 to 7 years.

~

Here’s what the wine press has to say:

90 points - Jeb Dunnuck, The Rhone Rreport - “With much more Tempranillo in the blend (64% Tempranillo and the rest an even split of Syrah and Grenache) and a slightly more high-toned profile, the 2007 Core Ground Around sports a deep purple color to go with youthful notes of blackberry and plum styled fruits … new leather, sage, and black pepper.

This gives way to a medium-bodied, supple red that has juicy acidity, a dry, savory character, and solid length on the finish. Fine tannin rounds out the finish nicely, and this well done, age-worthy blend needs 3-4 years of bottle age and has upwards of a 10-12 years of longevity.”