Includes four bottles each of the following wines:
2020 Before Anyone Else
100% Clairette. Clairette is happy here at the MAHA. It is planted on a lower portion of the hill with clay over limestone soils. It is a wine of texture and tension with aromatics that are out of this world. A honeyed straw color shimmers in the sunlight. Offering intoxicating aromas of pineapple, white peach, candied ginger and matchstick it emerges gracefully from the glass. An opulent and vivacious palate has you desiring more and more. AND just like that it’s time to open another bottle. While absolutely delicious out of the chute, this wine will evolve to a stratospheric level with 7-10 years of cellaring. Drink 2022-2035
2019 Backlit
46% Petite Sirah, 28% Mourvèdre, 26% Carignan. Beauty and Beast comes to mind when enjoying this wine. Loads of beautiful juicy ripe fruits are balanced by wonderful structure and complexity. Ethereal aromatics conjure notes of black fruits, cassis, rich humus, and cedar. Logan berry, smoked meats, and cocoa come together to create a generous and intense beast with just the right amount of restraint to keep it civilized. A wine not for the tentative or faint of heart, but those seeking the thrill of adventure. Drink 2022-2035
“The 2019 Backlit is a blend of 46% Petite Sirah, 28% Mourvèdre and 26% Carignan. Medium ruby-purple, it opens with tarry touches that give way to spicy blackberry fruit and notes of eucalyptus, earth, charcuterie and coffee beans, and the full-bodied palate has rounded tannins and a long, fragrant finish. It’s a touch more closed than the 2018 vintage at this stage, so put it away in the cellar for a while.” 95 pts - Wine Advocate
2019 Understory
46% Grenache, 31% Mourvèdre, 23% Carignan. Each year Understory gets a bit closer to equal parts Grenache, Mourvèdre and Carignan. These grapes work so well together here, as they do in other parts of the world like Priorat, Roussillon, and the Languedoc. Now at 7 and 8 years old, the vines have settled into their home allowing for co-fermentation and stem inclusion to find their way into MAHA fermentation protocols. A vibrant ruby red. Highly perfumed with notes of raspberries, steeped cherries, orange peel and toasted fennel. Pluot, cherry pit, smoked nori and north African spices transcend to an elegant and precise palate with amazing length. This wine is destined for greatness with several years of cellaring. Think grand cru Burgundy with more flavor and complexity! Drink 2022-2035
“The 2019 Understory is a Grenache-based blend matured for 19 months in barrel. Pale ruby-purple, it offers very pretty blueberry compote and wild berry preserves plus nuances of licorice, forest floor and blood orange. The palate is bright and delicate, with transparent fruits, a flourish of spicy accents and a long, mineral-tinged finish.” 96 pts - Wine Advocate
