2016 A Tribute to Grace Wine Company Besson Vineyard Grenache

A Tribute to Grace is a mouthful for the name of a winery. But for Angela Osborne, the young New Zealand-born founder and winemaker, the name makes perfect sense. She chose the name to honor her grandmother Grace and the quality of grace, both of which have been important in her life. Osborne’s own story is graceful. She worked in the wine business in London before becoming enamored with Grenache and dedicating herself to its perfect expression. She was working as an assistant winemaker in Santa Barbara in 2007 when she launched her own label, making Grenache from a single vineyard, the Santa Barbara Highlands. Today she continues to make Grenache only, sourcing grapes from throughout California’s hotter grape growing regions. She also makes a Grenache rosé. In 2015 The San Francisco Chronicle named Osborne one of 10 Rising Stars in West Coast winemaking. Vinous has noted that “Angela Osborne is making some of the most distinctive Rhône-varietal wines on the West Coast.”

Central Coast AVA is a huge wine producing area that extends from Santa Barbara County in the south to San Francisco in the north. With more than 100,000 vineyard acres, it includes parts of six counties near the Pacific Ocean. Nearly 20 smaller AVAs lie within the Central Coast AVA. Central Coast earned appellation status in 1985. Included in the appellation are parts of the counties of Contra Costa, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. Nearly every grape varietal grown in California is grown somewhere in the Central Coast AVA, though Chardonnay accounts for nearly 50% of the entire wine grape crop.

One of the most popular red varieties planted, it ripens late and prefers hot dry climates. It probably originated in Spain, where it is still widely grown. Grenache is best known for its use in Southern Rhone wines, including those of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.