The 2016 Lulu follows closely on the footsteps of the 2015: The vineyard and blend composition is similar and it is, as always, from old and low yielding vineyards. The Mataro element comes from two lovely but quite different vineyards. Live Oak Vineyard, planted sometime around the inauguration of William McKinley, is own-rooted in sand in Oakley. Pagani Ranch, which needs little introduction, was planted close to the onset of Prohibition in Kenwood. To compliment these two we blended in Grenache from the 1880s planting at Gibson Ranch in McDowell Valley (Mendocino). All lots were picked at low potential alcohol and whole-cluster pressed. This year’s iteration is more aromatically explosive than I remember last year’s being—the often times stentorian Mataro showing off a bit more playfulness and the Grenache providing oodles of crunchy bright fruit.

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