Kale Wines 2016 McGah Vineyard Heritage Red

If you're unfamiliar with Kale, he's a Sonoma native that quit med-school to study enology and viticulture at UC Davis. After graduating he has worked and made wines at notable wineries such as Colgin, Terra Valentine and Cliff Lede before being named head winemaker at Pahlmeyer, where he crafted the epic 2013 Pahlmeyer Piece de Resistance Cabernet Sauvignon. Pahlmeyer's first 100 point wine from Parker's Wine Advocate and the youngest winemaker to get at perfect 100 from Parker!

Today he and his wife Ranko have a winemaking consulting company and craft a tiny amount of wine under their own label, Kale Wines. Dedicated to Rhone varietals, they only make around 1000 total cases each vintage and a miniscule 101 cases (4 barrels) of the McGah Vineyard Heritage Red were made in 2016. Everything we tasted with him the other day was spectacular, but the standout was the McGah Vineyard Heritage Red, which we thought was showing even better than the 94pt Hyde Vineyard Syrah!

"Winemaker Kale Anderson combines 84% Grenache with 16% Mourvèdre in this brooding, velvety thick red. Firm tannins provide a foundation for dark-cherry, plum and smoked meat flavors to glide across the palate, with bright undertones of acidity contributing elusive freshness. - 93pts Wine Enthusiast"