2018 Horse & Plow Grenache, Blockhouse Vineyard, Napa Valley
94 Points, Wine Enthusiast
Tasting Notes
A potpourri of dried flowers, red cherries, raspberries, and cinnamon lights up the aroma of this full-bodied but lithe wine before fresh blackberries and more raspberries fill out the palate. With lively acidity and moderate tannins, the wine will be easy to pair with cheeses, meats, and pastas. Organically grown. —Editor’s Choice: J.G., Wine Enthusiast
This Grenache comes from Blockhouse Vineyard, located next to the Napa River in Yountville. The grapes were picked by hand, fermented 25% whole cluster & 75% destemmed without crushing, and cold soaked for 7 days. We fermented each lot in small open-top tanks, punch-down by hand, and aged in French Oak barrels. This wine is not fined or filtered.
This Syrah comes from Canihan Vineyard, located in the cool climate AVA of the Sonoma Coast. The Syrah was picked by hand, fermented with 5% Viognier and cold soaked for 7 days. We fermented each lot in small open-top tanks, punch-down by hand, and aged in French Oak barrels. This wine is not fined or filtered.
Specs
Varietal Composition: 95% Syrah, 5% Viognier
Vineyard: Canihan
Appellation: Sonoma Coast
Farming: Certified Organic-CCOF
Harvest Date: 10/17
Harvest Brix: 24.1 Brix
Winemaker: Chris Condos & Suzanne Hagins
Barrels: French Oak Barrels (33% new)
Alcohol: 14.6%
TA : 6.0 g/L
pH: 3.71
Production: 100 cases
What’s Included
3-bottles:
2x 2018 Horse & Plow Grenache, Blockhouse Vineyard, Napa Valley
Horse & Plow Winery merges the best of old and new-world techniques to produce authentic, hand-crafted wines from Northern California.
We started Horse & Plow in 2008 to merge the best of old and new-world techniques and produce authentic, hand-crafted wines. Together, we draw on our different backgrounds and talents to craft original wines from organic grapes. We utilize organic farming, small lot fermentations, and traditional techniques to make balanced, food-friendly, and site-specific wines.
Our organic vineyards dot the North Coast of California; including Sonoma, Napa & Mendocino Counties. We work exclusively with growers who are committed to superior quality by using certified organic and/ or biodynamic techniques. These sustainable practices allow us to craft wines with greater complexity and sense of place while caring for worker health and the environment.
Organic doesn’t stop when the grapes get to the winery- our wines are made naturally with no synthetic nutrients or additives, no GMO’s, are vegan, and contain low sulfites. Most importantly, we make great wine! From crisp whites to rich reds, we have a wine to please every palate!
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MT, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY
That WE review on the Grenache:
94 points. Editors’ Choice. A potpourri of dried flowers, red cherries, raspberries and cinnamon lights up the aroma of this full-bodied but lithe wine before fresh blackberries and more raspberries fill out the palate. With lively acidity and moderate tannins, the wine will be easy to pair with cheeses, meats and pastas. Organically grown. — Jim Gordon 12/31/23
Reverse Wine Snob offered up the Grenache 4/22/24:
The 2018 Horse & Plow Napa Valley Grenache begins with a beautiful bounty of strawberry, licorice, cinnamon and other baking spice plus plenty of floral notes. I absolutely love it! The wine explodes with juicy fruit when tasting but also features all those same touches from the nose. This is just a beautiful Grenache with a smooth, mouth-filling texture, wonderfully well integrated spice and fantastic secondary touches throughout. And as good as it is on its own, it is also extremely food friendly.
It ends dry, very long and very satisfying and was just as good on day 2! Did I mention I love it?
@kaolis Ah, I see the WE review was included in the offer, another pre-bean blunder
Hey @Winedavid49 do you have a feel for ship date? Might send an offer north. Also. should it be in styro? Speaking of blunders, daughter (in IL) wanted the DAOU rose…so I ordered it for her and of course I forgot to change the shipping address. So it shows up here in SC the other day, 2 day ship as it should have been, but was surprised to see it in pulp and not styro.
Got the magic email on Wednesday and had a flight Thursday morning. Luckily the delivery went smoothly and we elected to pop the bottle in the checked bag so we could sample with friends on the trip. This is a well traveled bottle!
Since this is being typed from my phone and is a solid wine, we’ll keep it relatively quick.
We received the 2018 Syrah and were pleased with the wine.
Dark ruby in the glass. Nice legs on the glass.
The wine has a very fruity bouquet on the nose. Super pleasing smell.
One of our friends is not a big red drinker and gave the most straight forward review - “it tastes good!”
Her husband noted good body. High tennis. Berry flavor. Slightly tight on the finish. Would benefit from a good decant or a couple years rest.
I think his review was chiefly spot on. The wine has great berry flavor, you can tell the grapes were well cared for. I got the oak notes as a fast follow and was not surprised to see new oak was involved when the listing went live this morning. From first sip to oak note the wine is velvety. Has a bit of an abbreviated finish which I think would go away with decanting or time. It’s a quality wine and one I would be happy to drink now or hold.
Case price is a good QPR, assuming the Grenache rats enjoyed themselves.
@albish7 I’ve gotten close to garden hose in some South African Pinotage (I call it burnt rubber, former wine guy at Trader Joe’s called it “Curad bandaid” flavor).
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
Horse & Plow Rhône Reds - $60 = 27.64%
Think I have to pull the trigger on this one. We purchased the previous offer of their blend Draft Horse Red and it is VERY tasty and very well made. Great wine for the price!
For some reason I read “from Canihan Vineyard”
as a Canadian Vineyard. Which wouldn’t make sense for this wine (though there are some Canadian vineyards I would love to visit someday – different type of wines generally, though, but a good excuse to visit).
EDIT congratulations added something to the bucket list.
2018 Horse & Plow Grenache, Blockhouse Vineyard, Napa Valley
94 Points, Wine Enthusiast
Tasting Notes
Specs
2018 Horse & Plow Syrah, Canihan Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not all wines for sale on winery website, $464/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MT, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Aug 19 - Wednesday, Aug 21
Horse & Plow Rhône Reds
3 bottles for $54.99 $18.33/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $159.99 $13.33/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2018 Horse & Plow Grenache, Blockhouse Vineyard
2018 Horse & Plow Syrah, Canihan Vineyard
Waiting for rats. Exciting Rhône wines, and heavy on the Grenache. Just give us the word and a case it is
For those not paying close attention it’s 2 Grenache per Syrah!
Where are the rats? That Grenache sounds delicious but what about the Syrah?
That WE review on the Grenache:
94 points. Editors’ Choice. A potpourri of dried flowers, red cherries, raspberries and cinnamon lights up the aroma of this full-bodied but lithe wine before fresh blackberries and more raspberries fill out the palate. With lively acidity and moderate tannins, the wine will be easy to pair with cheeses, meats and pastas. Organically grown. — Jim Gordon 12/31/23
Reverse Wine Snob offered up the Grenache 4/22/24:
The 2018 Horse & Plow Napa Valley Grenache begins with a beautiful bounty of strawberry, licorice, cinnamon and other baking spice plus plenty of floral notes. I absolutely love it! The wine explodes with juicy fruit when tasting but also features all those same touches from the nose. This is just a beautiful Grenache with a smooth, mouth-filling texture, wonderfully well integrated spice and fantastic secondary touches throughout. And as good as it is on its own, it is also extremely food friendly.
It ends dry, very long and very satisfying and was just as good on day 2! Did I mention I love it?
That’s all Folks!
fwiw
@kaolis Ah, I see the WE review was included in the offer, another pre-bean blunder
Hey @Winedavid49 do you have a feel for ship date? Might send an offer north. Also. should it be in styro? Speaking of blunders, daughter (in IL) wanted the DAOU rose…so I ordered it for her and of course I forgot to change the shipping address. So it shows up here in SC the other day, 2 day ship as it should have been, but was surprised to see it in pulp and not styro.
@Winedavid49 apparently not
@kaolis @Winedavid49 I also received Daou with no styro and was annoyed. I guess two day transit instead of styro. Lesson learned
@kaolis @losthighwayz @Winedavid49 Daou has weird bottles. All my deliveries have styrofoam. My guess is that the bottles do not fit in styrofoam.
@danandlisa @kaolis @losthighwayz @Winedavid49 mine was in styro
No Missouri? Now I know how it feels.
@normanl0 The other offering from this producer (Draft Horse Red blend, 4/17/24) didn’t ship to MO, either.
2018 Horse & Plow Syrah, Canihan Vineyard
Oh the places you’ll go…
Got the magic email on Wednesday and had a flight Thursday morning. Luckily the delivery went smoothly and we elected to pop the bottle in the checked bag so we could sample with friends on the trip. This is a well traveled bottle!
Since this is being typed from my phone and is a solid wine, we’ll keep it relatively quick.
We received the 2018 Syrah and were pleased with the wine.
Dark ruby in the glass. Nice legs on the glass.
The wine has a very fruity bouquet on the nose. Super pleasing smell.
One of our friends is not a big red drinker and gave the most straight forward review - “it tastes good!”
Her husband noted good body. High tennis. Berry flavor. Slightly tight on the finish. Would benefit from a good decant or a couple years rest.
I think his review was chiefly spot on. The wine has great berry flavor, you can tell the grapes were well cared for. I got the oak notes as a fast follow and was not surprised to see new oak was involved when the listing went live this morning. From first sip to oak note the wine is velvety. Has a bit of an abbreviated finish which I think would go away with decanting or time. It’s a quality wine and one I would be happy to drink now or hold.
Case price is a good QPR, assuming the Grenache rats enjoyed themselves.
@albish7
High tennis. Now there’s a term I have never seen being associated with wine!
(I assume the tannins were an autocorrect victim.)
@Mark_L
DYAC!! Yes good catch. I haven’t gotten to the level of fresh cut garden hose tasting notes quite yet.
@albish7 I’ve gotten close to garden hose in some South African Pinotage (I call it burnt rubber, former wine guy at Trader Joe’s called it “Curad bandaid” flavor).
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
Horse & Plow Rhône Reds - $60 = 27.64%
Think I have to pull the trigger on this one. We purchased the previous offer of their blend Draft Horse Red and it is VERY tasty and very well made. Great wine for the price!
For some reason I read “from Canihan Vineyard”
as a Canadian Vineyard. Which wouldn’t make sense for this wine (though there are some Canadian vineyards I would love to visit someday – different type of wines generally, though, but a good excuse to visit).
EDIT congratulations added something to the bucket list.
Three things:
These sound like fun wines
Where is the winery participation?
Why isn’t the winery a member of the Rhone Rangers?
Cheers.
Had me until I saw new oak