Spiced red plum, chili powder, brambly boysenberry. Dusty cherry, fresh thyme, whole pomegranate. Wild huckleberry, crushed cranberry, and tart blackberry collide with tamarind, briar, and peppercorn in a rugged and impressively spicy attack. Rosemary, dill, anise, and basil quickly emerge and leave a lasting herbal impression while driftwood and old chaparral impart pleasantly untamed and rustic flair. Mulling spices and dried orange peel provide an additional dousing of complexity as notes of hot stones and sand dunes form a backbone of unmanipulated terroir. Feral, fresh, and lively; spewing a constantly evolving cornucopia of beautifully unconventional flavors in a tremendously layered presentation. Medium plus in body with moderate tannin and bright acidity. This 2016 Evangelho Vineyard Carignane by T-Vine Winery is a delicious and intriguing red from Contra Costa County.

The ancient and legendary Evangelho Vineyard is in many ways a relic of the past. Located in now-urban Contra Costa County just east of the San Francisco bay, this site was planted in the 1890s to varieties like Zinfandel, Mourvedre, & Carignane. This bottling, crafted by T-Vine Winery using Carignane grown in the Evangelho Vineyard, proves that this site's remarkable past still has its story to tell. This wine is packed with a spectacular array of unique flavors including foraged berries, bramble, and complex spice. Terroir shines brightly throughout the classic and rugged profile that is actually quite difficult to compare to anything else coming out of California today. A moving expression of a true heritage vineyard.