The 2020 Hollyhock Vineyard is a textbook example of the lighter and much more nuanced side of Grenache than your traditional offerings from the Templeton Gap District of Paso Robles. After initially smelling this wine you are greeted with a quartet fruit aromas ranging from candied alpine strawberries, red currants, blackberries, and the slightest hint of raspberries. Once the initial quartet of fruits starts to tamper down, you are next introduced to notes of baking spices, dried violets, and the slightest hint of bacon fat on the back end of the pallet. The tannins are subtle, but provide enough balance and structure to the wine that allows it to accompany almost any protein in a meal. Lastly, the wine’s acidity provides a refreshing throughline that leads you to a long lingering finish that leaves you wanting another sip. This wine has potential to age another 7-10 years, but it is singing now and would be best drank between now and the next 4 years or so.
Vineyard Notes:
The Hollyhock Vineyard resides on the eastern edge of the Templeton Gap District of Paso Robles and is planted to a mix of Mourvedere and Grenache. The Grenache is planted on a small (roughly 14% gradient) western-facing hillside and contains a mixture of clones 513 and 362 on 8x3 spacing. The location of this block allows the fruit to receive a healthy dosage of afternoon sun and coastal breezes that allow this fruit to ripen at an idyllic pace and develop complex and concentrated flavors.
Winemaker’s Note:
This 2020 Grenache was destemmed into three separate ¾ ton bins and fermented with ~30% whole clusters. Prior to fermentation, the grapes were subjected to a 4-day cold soak and then subsequently inoculated with three separate yeasts in order to develop layers of complexity. After being punched down 2-3 times a day for 13 days and with an extended two weeks of skin contact, the wine was pressed into 100% neutral French barrels. After roughly 24 months of elevage and minimal rackings to avoid oxidation, this wine was bottled completely unfined and unfiltered.
We are a winery focused on the principles of quality, upholding tradition, and embracing experimentation.
The story of how I moved myself from the boatyard to the vineyard and cellar is interesting. I was born and raised in Huntington Beach, CA, in July 1995. Some of my most vivid early memories include vineyards, boats, and the ocean. Since the age of eight, I have been sailing and racing on my own and I immediately fell in love with every aspect from it. That love helped carry my competitive spirit through college and to this day. I was recruited to sail competitively for, and attend, Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. I graduated in May 2017, with a BA in Business Management. I enjoyed my time on the east coast dearly, but after four years, I knew that I needed to go back home to California.
After college, I was initially lost and had no clue what I wanted to do. I was luckily saved by my aunt and uncle, owners of GlenLyon Vineyards & Winery in Glen Ellen, CA, and offered a one-year internship. The point behind this was, just in case I realized I did not want to continue to work in the wine industry, I would at least appreciate a desk job a lot more after doing hard manual labor for an entire year. However, after a year of learning everything from planting grape vines, to repairing irrigation lines, and how to rack a barrel of wine I was hooked.
While working at GlenLyon (with the gentle pushing from my family) I applied to Sonoma State Universities’ Wine Business MBA Program and was accepted with a start date of August 2018. While I was starting my MBA program, I also began working full-time at the Meeker Vineyard in Healdsburg, CA in both their cellar and in their tasting room. During my first harvest at Meeker, I was inspired to start making my own wine and start my own label. Since then, I have completed my MBA at Sonoma State, been admitted to the Graduate Winemaking Program at UC Davis, and continue to work at Meeker where I also supervise Staysail’s production on the side.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2020 Staysail Cellars Grenache - $40 = 16.66%
Kidding. Matt’s a good dude with a bright future. And he listened most of the time. FWIW, even though we also made a Hollyhock Grenache in 2020, they were distinct lots and Matt took some hard tacks away from what we did (pun intended). The wines are distinct, but the grapes carpooled.
@lucasmeeker As someone without a graphic art degree, but a penchant for IP. The logo itself? I don’t get it, personally. If someone saw that logo on its own, I would guess: sailboat (duh), boat, nautical, swimwear, kayak, basically anything but wine. Then again, that is what makes a strong trademark.
I do like the typography with the symmetrical slanted As. That is “chef’s kiss.” But, I am just a dork who reads EULAs and crap like that.
@lucasmeeker I had no idea what the pun was until I read something about tack on the back label of the bottle. I also know almost nothing about sailing, other than the flying jib is the frontmost sail (according to The Office). I will say that as a logo, it does seem to convey that the highlighted shape is the name sake (the shapes do read abstractly as sails) so I’d say it works well. Also interesting that the orange color is different in the posted photos, and the CM featured image grades to a reddish, which I assume is a default feature shading of all bottle images they display.
@KNmeh7 The logo is the silhouette of the sailboat. The staysail is a specific sail shape/position, and the highlighted one is the staysail.
I do the graphic design for Meeker among my many other jobs and did the concept and logo/font work for this as well. I really like how it came out, and I think both Matt and I were happy for it to be moderately oblique.
Paso is misunderstood as supposedly always low acid/high pH. I consult on a project down there and all the fruit we’ve picked from mature vines that are largely dry farmed carries acid well. The biggest factor is when you pick, and the overripe old-new school style that typified Paso for a decade or so was very much high pH. But the better wines from the traditionalists and the new-new school down there, like all of California, are more interested in wines that are balanced or even pronounced in acidity.
I’m never afraid to acidulate, in general, but we’re looking to bring fruit in around 3.4-3.55, 3.65 at highest. This was an atypical vintage for the vineyard, as it was particularly late. We saw the fruit come in around 3.7 for our lot, and with some acidulation it came down into a zone that worked for the style of this fruit, which is decidedly lighter than we typically execute from our Mendo/Sonoma Grenache vineyards. But that’s this vineyard’s identity and we leaned in, as is the job, in my view.
@lucasmeeker Looking back on that vintage, it was an incredible learning opportunity for me to make and compare our two lots side-by-side throughout fermentation and elevage. One of the most important lessons you ever taught me about making Grenache (and wine) in general is the importance of taking risks- but smart risks- and finding your own lane and winemaking style but be willing to adjust it on the fly based on what the vintage or vintage gives you.
@lucasmeeker IP attorney, chiming in, AGAIN. I like that your logo has nothing to do with wine, again, that is a strong mark. It is not orange. It is a specific shade that I can refer to on the pantone color scale. How on earth did a winemaker mention “sweet logo” and I offered opinion to be buried by, now, talk about the wine? The logo has nothing to do with wine, at all. Who gives a shit about a sailboat? Great logo, I suppose? Sigh. Once the labrat heading disappears, so does my thought.
I think you might be mistaking my tone–I was jokingly asking about the logo because I did the design work and was curious about people’s take.
I said “never heard of it” because Matt/Staysail made started his brand and made all of his wines thus far in my cellar. I was joking–Matt house sits for my family and worked for us for 5 years. Even now that he’s moved on, we’re still sharing some fruit. Matt’s a good dude and I’m here to support him and throw a few joking elbows.
@lucasmeeker Yeah, I’ve steadily found the places in Paso where my preference for balanced to high acidity can be found. Love Tablas Creek, of course, and have found some good wines at Tobin James (it seems they make enough variety to find at least one bottle for every palate) and a few others. Some of the whites are brilliant.
Glad to hear you can manage it while still getting plenty of ripeness. I thought that was the main issue - so much sun that the acids dropped before the flavours were there. Glad that’s not the case.
@klezman Check out Paix Sur Terre, Copia, Booker, and my client Midpoint. Not all firmly acidic but all well made and certainly acidic enough that I enjoy them plenty.
So the MSRP above is a little convoluted right? First it says $480 for case 3 bottles, then it states MSRP is $240 case 12 but not available online. It is available online, it is $40 a bottle, so 12 for $480. You were just waiting for me to clear that up weren’t you? Or maybe I was the only one confused?
Thanks for selecting us to try the wine!
My wife and I had it over two days.
Upon opening it actually seemed quite ready to drink right away - I found it had scents of Strawberry/rhubarb, cranberry, and sour cherry while my wife got darker plum/cherry and a lethery smell.
Taste on opening - I found this to be a very drinkable and very light wine (actually found it be lighter then a pinot noir). I found it fruit forward, a little acidic/tart in a good way, and got strawberry/cherry with a slight bit of orange zest and leather. My wife found it on the darker side, jammy tannic prune. To be fair, i’ve been drinking much heavier reds lately so maybe i found it to be lighter by comparison to say a cab.
1 Hour in - more leather/smoke flavors complemented the same fruit flavors. We had it with spaghetti sauce with italian sausage and while the wine held up, it was actually paired better with mayo/ritz cracker breaded pork loin on day 2. Day 2 - the wine was still good but we could tell it was fading a bit and it mellowed out (less acidic and got lighter on day 2). Again it did go well with the pork loin. I guessed $20 case mates price and see its even less for the case.
@kray05
Our impressions were similar, although I found the acidic note more pronounced on day two and then faded on day three. Perhaps it was the steak that brought out that flavor profile
@kray05 oh, also I am glad that I read the lab rats for the Spaniard because didn’t realize there was a wine glass in their and was wondering why they used a two bottle pack for a single bottle! Just went and fished it out! Thanks for the glass!
@kray05 Please your dog a boop on the nose for me! I appreciate you posting your tasting notes and thoughts on the wine and its interesting how you thought the wine paired well with the pork on the second day. The wine is definitely on the lighter side of Grenache compared to others, but it has an ability to complement a lot of different dishes that I had no idea it could- like Italian sausage and Spaghetti Sauce being one of them!
This was a new producer. Exciting. Small round orange wax above the cork. Interesting. As I removed the cork, aromas of strawberry and cherry started wafting from the bottle. Poured into a glass and after a long swirl, still cherry and strawberry, but also a darker fruit, blackberry(?), and a hint of herbal notes. Very light color. Upon tasting, same fruits on the palate. What struck me was for a 2020, the tannins are almost undetectable. Let this sit for a few hours while I poured another glass for day two and passed the bottle to @james. Interestingly, he had ratted yesterday’s TO Torcido, another Grenache, so we exchanged bottles and decided to try them side by side. As I returned to the glass a few hours later, same impressions. Very light. Went well with cheese and crackers. This was an easy drinker on day one. TO was much heftier, less fruit forward and filled the mouth. On day two, the fruits had mellowed, but an acidic note appeared. Did not bode well with a Flannery NY strip. The dry-aged steak overpowered the wine. Left a small amount for day three. This morning, the wine had lost the acidic note and was less fruity. Still very light, a little more herbal than day one.
In comparison to yesterday’s offer of Twisted Oak, this was much lighter, fruitier, and tannins were much less available. Almost undetectable. My palate leans towards more savory, a little fuller, and less fruit-forward reds. For me, this would be a summer wine, a daily drinker for my cellar, something that non-red drinkers would very much enjoy, and drink now, possibly over the next 2-3 years. Thank you to Alice, WCC, and Staysail. Cheers.
I’m glad you liked the wine! This was my first Grenache that I had to make from the region and due to the nature of the 2020 vintage I wanted to stay on the lighter side of things and I actually fermented this with around 30% whole clusters in order to get a semi-carbonic much easier drinking wine. I generally like to have this wine with lighter meats and fishes, but this might be the Souther-Californian in me but I swear it pairs incredibly well with Carne Asada Mexican Street Tacos and my parents swear it goes with Salmon. Recently, my mom has been swearing by putting this wine in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes before drinking it to give it a slight chill and it makes it the perfect summer red.
Quite surprising to get back-to-back rat bottles between the two of us, definitely a first. We wondered if the selection process has been refactored by locality. @chefjess is for sure more familiar than I but Staysail Cellars seems new here as far as I can tell, fun! Always willing to special guest crash a labrat party.
Just finishing the Twisted Oak friend El Torcido—another fun coincidence that this is the same grape variety as Garnacha (which I also didn’t put together until this week)—there’s an interesting comparison to be sure. I found the cherry and light strawberry in both, and also similar to noted above the Staysail was quite lighter in body vs the Spanish counterpart. There was also a few years difference in age as this did drink younger and I’d agree has some years left in it.
I enjoyed this on its own, and with its light subtlety of body would pair it with lighter meats or cheeses as well. The fruit is there but not overly so, and nicely dry. Indecision in the evening left this unpaired with a meal but that didn’t bother me. Overall I would call this an approachable, quality easy drinker for nearly any taste and especially in warm seasons like these. Thanks also to Alice and everyone at WCC, and Staysail Cellars for the double play opportunity!
@james That side-by-side comparison sounds amazing and the kind of thing I try to do as often as I can! Out of curiosity, what vintage was the twisted oak? I’ve found myself gravitating towards more of a preference for French Grenache-heavy blends from either CdP or Gigondas. If you have a chance to have my wine again- i’d definitely recommend pairing it with a pork dish or some street-tacos from your closest food truck and your wont be disappointed
2020 Staysail Grenache, Hollyhock Vineyard, Paso Robles
Tasting Notes
Vineyard Notes:
Winemaker’s Note:
Specs
What’s Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$480.00/Case for 3x 2020 Staysail Grenache, Hollyhock Vineyard, Paso Robles at Staysail Wines
Not for sale online, $240/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Friday, Sep 15 - Monday, Sep 18
2020 Staysail Cellars Grenache
3 bottles for $59.99 $20/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2020 Staysail Cellars Grenache - $40 = 16.66%
Staysail? Never heard of it.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Kidding. Matt’s a good dude with a bright future. And he listened most of the time. FWIW, even though we also made a Hollyhock Grenache in 2020, they were distinct lots and Matt took some hard tacks away from what we did (pun intended). The wines are distinct, but the grapes carpooled.
Sweet logo right?
@lucasmeeker As someone without a graphic art degree, but a penchant for IP. The logo itself? I don’t get it, personally. If someone saw that logo on its own, I would guess: sailboat (duh), boat, nautical, swimwear, kayak, basically anything but wine. Then again, that is what makes a strong trademark.
I do like the typography with the symmetrical slanted As. That is “chef’s kiss.” But, I am just a dork who reads EULAs and crap like that.
@lucasmeeker I had no idea what the pun was until I read something about tack on the back label of the bottle. I also know almost nothing about sailing, other than the flying jib is the frontmost sail (according to The Office). I will say that as a logo, it does seem to convey that the highlighted shape is the name sake (the shapes do read abstractly as sails) so I’d say it works well. Also interesting that the orange color is different in the posted photos, and the CM featured image grades to a reddish, which I assume is a default feature shading of all bottle images they display.
@lucasmeeker with your high acid style how do you deal with grapes from Paso Robles?
@KNmeh7 The logo is the silhouette of the sailboat. The staysail is a specific sail shape/position, and the highlighted one is the staysail.
I do the graphic design for Meeker among my many other jobs and did the concept and logo/font work for this as well. I really like how it came out, and I think both Matt and I were happy for it to be moderately oblique.
@klezman
Paso is misunderstood as supposedly always low acid/high pH. I consult on a project down there and all the fruit we’ve picked from mature vines that are largely dry farmed carries acid well. The biggest factor is when you pick, and the overripe old-new school style that typified Paso for a decade or so was very much high pH. But the better wines from the traditionalists and the new-new school down there, like all of California, are more interested in wines that are balanced or even pronounced in acidity.
I’m never afraid to acidulate, in general, but we’re looking to bring fruit in around 3.4-3.55, 3.65 at highest. This was an atypical vintage for the vineyard, as it was particularly late. We saw the fruit come in around 3.7 for our lot, and with some acidulation it came down into a zone that worked for the style of this fruit, which is decidedly lighter than we typically execute from our Mendo/Sonoma Grenache vineyards. But that’s this vineyard’s identity and we leaned in, as is the job, in my view.
@james You got it, and also it’s definitely orange.
@lucasmeeker Looking back on that vintage, it was an incredible learning opportunity for me to make and compare our two lots side-by-side throughout fermentation and elevage. One of the most important lessons you ever taught me about making Grenache (and wine) in general is the importance of taking risks- but smart risks- and finding your own lane and winemaking style but be willing to adjust it on the fly based on what the vintage or vintage gives you.
@lucasmeeker IP attorney, chiming in, AGAIN. I like that your logo has nothing to do with wine, again, that is a strong mark. It is not orange. It is a specific shade that I can refer to on the pantone color scale. How on earth did a winemaker mention “sweet logo” and I offered opinion to be buried by, now, talk about the wine? The logo has nothing to do with wine, at all. Who gives a shit about a sailboat? Great logo, I suppose? Sigh. Once the labrat heading disappears, so does my thought.
*vineyard or vintage
@KNmeh7 I’m having trouble following.
I think you might be mistaking my tone–I was jokingly asking about the logo because I did the design work and was curious about people’s take.
I said “never heard of it” because Matt/Staysail made started his brand and made all of his wines thus far in my cellar. I was joking–Matt house sits for my family and worked for us for 5 years. Even now that he’s moved on, we’re still sharing some fruit. Matt’s a good dude and I’m here to support him and throw a few joking elbows.
@lucasmeeker Yeah, I’ve steadily found the places in Paso where my preference for balanced to high acidity can be found. Love Tablas Creek, of course, and have found some good wines at Tobin James (it seems they make enough variety to find at least one bottle for every palate) and a few others. Some of the whites are brilliant.
Glad to hear you can manage it while still getting plenty of ripeness. I thought that was the main issue - so much sun that the acids dropped before the flavours were there. Glad that’s not the case.
@klezman Check out Paix Sur Terre, Copia, Booker, and my client Midpoint. Not all firmly acidic but all well made and certainly acidic enough that I enjoy them plenty.
@lucasmeeker Next time we’re up there we will!
So the MSRP above is a little convoluted right? First it says $480 for case 3 bottles, then it states MSRP is $240 case 12 but not available online. It is available online, it is $40 a bottle, so 12 for $480. You were just waiting for me to clear that up weren’t you? Or maybe I was the only one confused?
Thanks for selecting us to try the wine!
My wife and I had it over two days.
Upon opening it actually seemed quite ready to drink right away - I found it had scents of Strawberry/rhubarb, cranberry, and sour cherry while my wife got darker plum/cherry and a lethery smell.
Taste on opening - I found this to be a very drinkable and very light wine (actually found it be lighter then a pinot noir). I found it fruit forward, a little acidic/tart in a good way, and got strawberry/cherry with a slight bit of orange zest and leather. My wife found it on the darker side, jammy tannic prune. To be fair, i’ve been drinking much heavier reds lately so maybe i found it to be lighter by comparison to say a cab.
1 Hour in - more leather/smoke flavors complemented the same fruit flavors. We had it with spaghetti sauce with italian sausage and while the wine held up, it was actually paired better with mayo/ritz cracker breaded pork loin on day 2. Day 2 - the wine was still good but we could tell it was fading a bit and it mellowed out (less acidic and got lighter on day 2). Again it did go well with the pork loin. I guessed $20 case mates price and see its even less for the case.
@kray05
@kray05
Our impressions were similar, although I found the acidic note more pronounced on day two and then faded on day three. Perhaps it was the steak that brought out that flavor profile
@kray05 oh, also I am glad that I read the lab rats for the Spaniard because didn’t realize there was a wine glass in their and was wondering why they used a two bottle pack for a single bottle! Just went and fished it out! Thanks for the glass!
@kray05
Yikes, my recent lab rat bottle was also in a 2 bottle box. I don’t know how I could miss a wine glass in the package but maybe I did? Bummer…
@kray05 Please your dog a boop on the nose for me! I appreciate you posting your tasting notes and thoughts on the wine and its interesting how you thought the wine paired well with the pork on the second day. The wine is definitely on the lighter side of Grenache compared to others, but it has an ability to complement a lot of different dishes that I had no idea it could- like Italian sausage and Spaghetti Sauce being one of them!
This was a new producer. Exciting. Small round orange wax above the cork. Interesting. As I removed the cork, aromas of strawberry and cherry started wafting from the bottle. Poured into a glass and after a long swirl, still cherry and strawberry, but also a darker fruit, blackberry(?), and a hint of herbal notes. Very light color. Upon tasting, same fruits on the palate. What struck me was for a 2020, the tannins are almost undetectable. Let this sit for a few hours while I poured another glass for day two and passed the bottle to @james. Interestingly, he had ratted yesterday’s TO Torcido, another Grenache, so we exchanged bottles and decided to try them side by side. As I returned to the glass a few hours later, same impressions. Very light. Went well with cheese and crackers. This was an easy drinker on day one. TO was much heftier, less fruit forward and filled the mouth. On day two, the fruits had mellowed, but an acidic note appeared. Did not bode well with a Flannery NY strip. The dry-aged steak overpowered the wine. Left a small amount for day three. This morning, the wine had lost the acidic note and was less fruity. Still very light, a little more herbal than day one.
In comparison to yesterday’s offer of Twisted Oak, this was much lighter, fruitier, and tannins were much less available. Almost undetectable. My palate leans towards more savory, a little fuller, and less fruit-forward reds. For me, this would be a summer wine, a daily drinker for my cellar, something that non-red drinkers would very much enjoy, and drink now, possibly over the next 2-3 years. Thank you to Alice, WCC, and Staysail. Cheers.
@chefjess
I’m glad you liked the wine! This was my first Grenache that I had to make from the region and due to the nature of the 2020 vintage I wanted to stay on the lighter side of things and I actually fermented this with around 30% whole clusters in order to get a semi-carbonic much easier drinking wine. I generally like to have this wine with lighter meats and fishes, but this might be the Souther-Californian in me but I swear it pairs incredibly well with Carne Asada Mexican Street Tacos and my parents swear it goes with Salmon. Recently, my mom has been swearing by putting this wine in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes before drinking it to give it a slight chill and it makes it the perfect summer red.
Quite surprising to get back-to-back rat bottles between the two of us, definitely a first. We wondered if the selection process has been refactored by locality. @chefjess is for sure more familiar than I but Staysail Cellars seems new here as far as I can tell, fun! Always willing to special guest crash a labrat party.
Just finishing the Twisted Oak friend El Torcido—another fun coincidence that this is the same grape variety as Garnacha (which I also didn’t put together until this week)—there’s an interesting comparison to be sure. I found the cherry and light strawberry in both, and also similar to noted above the Staysail was quite lighter in body vs the Spanish counterpart. There was also a few years difference in age as this did drink younger and I’d agree has some years left in it.
I enjoyed this on its own, and with its light subtlety of body would pair it with lighter meats or cheeses as well. The fruit is there but not overly so, and nicely dry. Indecision in the evening left this unpaired with a meal but that didn’t bother me. Overall I would call this an approachable, quality easy drinker for nearly any taste and especially in warm seasons like these. Thanks also to Alice and everyone at WCC, and Staysail Cellars for the double play opportunity!
@james That side-by-side comparison sounds amazing and the kind of thing I try to do as often as I can! Out of curiosity, what vintage was the twisted oak? I’ve found myself gravitating towards more of a preference for French Grenache-heavy blends from either CdP or Gigondas. If you have a chance to have my wine again- i’d definitely recommend pairing it with a pork dish or some street-tacos from your closest food truck and your wont be disappointed
@StaysailCellars It was 2017, so a few years difference. Pork, street tacos (or both!) sound like great recommendations! I do like some al pastor…