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Santa Cruz Mountain Estate Clos du Z

Santa Cruz Mountain Estate Clos du Z Wine Details
Price: $16.00 per bottle

Description: 50% Grenache, 30% Petite Sirah, 20% Syrah. The wine has aromas of boysenberries with hints of white pepper that fill the nose. The ripe berry and grape flavors dominate the palate. This is a wine of impeccable structure and balance. A long lingering finish simply invites another taste. 14.3% alcohol by volume.

Varietal Definition
Grenache:
Grenache Noir is the world’s most widely planted grape used to make red wine, sometimes made into a stand-alone varietal, frequently as a Rosé, but most often as a backbone of red blends. Its strength is its ability to grow in arid and windy conditions. It’s particularly suited to warm coastal regions of California, Spain and France. Grenache-based wines tend to be high in alcohol, with attractive fruit qualities in youth and a sweet berry character.Used as a component in some Northern Rhône reds, nearly exclusively for Rhône Rosés and as the primary component in nearly all Southern Rhône red blends, Grenache is probably most notable as the base varietal for Chateauneuf du Pape, Cotes du Rhône and Gigondas. In spite of its fame coming from French wines, Spain is most likely this grape’s origin.
Petite Sirah:
Petite Sirah is the same as the French variety known as Durif, a cross of Peloursin, with the true Syrah. A French nurseryman, Dr. François Durif, propagated the grape trying for resistance to powdery mildew and named it after himself, in the 1870s. Petite Sirah has long been an important blending grape, prized primarily for its deep color and fairly intense tannin. It is the variety most often chosen to blend into Zinfandel for added color, complexity, body, and to tone down the tendency of Zins toward "jammy" fruit.
Syrah:
Syrah is the eight hundred pound gorilla of Rhone grapes! In the vineyard and the winery, Syrah is typically an easy grape to work with - healthy, early ripening, resistant to mildew and rot; suitable for winemaking in a variety of styles. The wines from Syrah are tannic without being harsh. The wines will have a taste and smell of dark blue fruit like blackberries and blackcurrant, with a strong spicy side where one can find freshly ground pepper and other spices. Syrah is famous for its part in the French blends, such as Côtes du Rhone and Châteauneuf du Pape.


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