Staysail Grenache Wines

I discovered super small Sonoma County Staysail at the silent auction for the Garagiste Festival in Sonoma…or Glendale! I bid on the lot of six wines– two Grenache Blanc plus two of two vintages of Grenache Noir thinking even then that it would make a great Grenache Day post if I won the lot– which I did! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to stop at his table to meet winemaker Matt McDermaid — or taste his wines– until I got home, and Sue and I tasted the wines for Grenache Day paired with oysters, a grilled Peach Burrata Salad, and Butter Lamb Curry with turban squash chickpeas. yum! Scroll down for all the details! And happy Grenache Day! 

While Grenache is one of the top wine grapes grown around the world, there’s less than 4,500 acres of it grown in California– down from 20,000 acres in the 1970s when it was grown in the Central Valley and used for bulk wine. Compare that number to Cabernet Sauvignon in California which has 95,000 acres right now in the Golden State according to 2021 USDA data and which made up 15% of the 2022 crush. Continue reading →