2023 Grenache
Grenache is a most consistent award winner at Sculpterra Winery. This medium-bodied wine is coated with fruity goodness and finishes crisp and full. It’s lush, begins with appealing aromas of blueberry, black raspberry, and heaps of purple flowers, and contains an herbal spice note. The mouthfeel stays light on its feet and delivers ripe flavors, including a distinctive cream soda taste, tailed by lavender and hibiscus tea. There's even a small meaty reduction sauce note in the mid-palate. The fruit is the dominant force in this wine, focusing on blueberry and currant fruit. With 12% new American oak, this wine offers a slight smoke, vanilla, and caramel taste. Bottled with a twist top, this wine is ready to drink upon release, and YES, it will age for years to come, reaching its peak in 2028.
This wine combines three unique lots that were destemmed, fermented, and aged in separate barrel programs. Our Grenache winemaking protocol is centered around little actions that will let the grapes do the talking. The grapes are not crushed but destemmed only. We cold soak the must for 2 days before inoculation with yeast for the first part of fermentation. Yeast GRE was chosen for Sculpterra’s Estate Grenache, and yeast strain 3001 was used for Rafael’s Grenache. Each lot took around 12 days to complete primary fermentation, followed by draining the tanks of the “free run” wine and pressing the skins. The wine aged in primarily once used 500L puncheon barrel for its light oak impact. We elected to use just 12% new oak barrels, allowing the wine to be fruit-focused while still developing a minor note of toast and grilled flavors. We bottled the wine in May 2024 after just 8 months of barrel age. The wine shows exceptionally well at a young age!
| Download Wine Notes |
| Vintage | 2023 |
| Varietal | Grenache |
| Varietal Composition | 95% Grenache & 5% Petite Sirah |
| Appellation | Paso Robles |
| Vineyard | San Miguel Vineyards & Frankel Family Estate |
| Acid | 0.69 g/100ml |
| PH | 3.65 |
| Residual Sugar | 0.05 g/100ml |
| Alcohol | 15.60% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Bottling Date | 05/15/2024 |
| Cases Produced | 1428 |
Our 2023 Grenache is a vivid-tasting wine, combining flavors of ripe red fruit with herbal and spicy notes. 2023 produced the ripest Grenache grapes of recent memory, with our two vineyards coming in at well over 27.0 BRIX! High sugar led to this wine’s fuller mouthfeel, rich textures, and expressive dark fruit taste. The vintage was undoubtedly a historic year for all of Paso Robles. The season started with record-breaking rainfall and flooding, and then a cooler spring and summer shaped our path to a very late grape harvest. The vines loved all that water and produced the heaviest crop load we’ve ever seen. The grapes were very well balanced in sugar, acidity, phenolics, tannins, and juice color. Sculpterra’s El Libro Grenache block is just 1.5 acres, planted in short 10 by 5 feet rows on a steep hillside slope with well-drained soils. Rafael Jimenez Grenache is also planted up a ridge with more sandy soils, and our county typically has a colder climate. I love the blend of these two vineyards; the flavors are different enough to enhance the final blend. Also, we used a small amount of Petite Sirah from Rafael’s vineyard to help the wine’s color, texture, and finish.
Paul Frankel's Background
Winemaking and grape growing is Paul’s passion! From an early age, Paul showed interest and excelled in science, botany, and chemistry. Most of all Paul loved the outdoors and working with his hands. His love for farming shows through in the quality of his wines. He has conducted numerous vineyard and winemaking experiments that have resulted in award-winning wines. Paul has studied the Frankel Ranch property during his lifetime and he is very well versed in soil types and meso climates on the estate. Paul grew up on the property and was mentored by winemakers Shannon O’Neil and Jason Bushong. Paul’s father and Dr. Warren Frankel planted the 125-acre vineyard and built the winery, opening the tasting room in October 2007. Paul graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor’s Degree in Viticulture and Enology. While in college he interned at the Cal Poly Pilot Winery and worked 2 seasons at Maloy O’Neill Winery. In fact, Paul took two fall quarters off to make Sculpterra’s wines. His first vintage as a head winemaker was 2008 making 19 total tons. During harvest Paul puts in 14-hour days, conducting the pick, crush, and press.
