2020 French Creek Vineyard

100% Grenache:  

100% French Creek Vineyard

For the 2020 French Creek Vineyard bottling we blended the two blocks we sourced from, which gives us complexity by blending the two clones of Grenache together.

Tasting Notes:  Perfumy, dark fruit aromas on the nose. The palate has ample weight that becomes an explosion of flavors. Brambly blackberry and plum flavors dominate with a touch of molasses and dark chocolate on the finish.

100 cases produced.

$38

Wine Enthusiast: 91 pts, Editor’s Choice

This wine sees 50% whole cluster fermentation, with 18 months in neutral French oak. The tannins are integrated and everything about this wine invoke the word "nimble." Aromas of dark plum, orange peel and saline are a nice set-up for bright apricot, blackberry and thyme flavors. — Michael Alberty

Northwest Wine Report: 90 pts

Half of the fruit for this wine was whole cluster fermented. It was subsequently aged 20 months in neutral oak. The aromas are effusive, with notes of potpourri in the lead, followed by strawberry, dried tangerine rind, and barrel spice. The palate is lighter-styled and graceful, almost delicate, mixing fruit and barrel. It’s a pretty offering of the variety. — Sean Sullivan

Paul Gregutt’s Northwest Wine Guide: 90 pts

Among the three wines tasted this is the most concentrated, with focused cherry fruit and a whiff of pastry. Done in a clean, drink now style, it spent 20 months in neutral French oak prior to bottling, and was released last October. — Paul Gregutt

Owen Bargreen: 90 pts

The juicy 2020 Ocelli Cellars ‘French Creek Vineyard’ Grenache offers bright strawberry starburst candy flavors alongside good tension and orange peel notes. Drink 2024-2029 — Owen Bargreen