Keplinger Lithic 2016

  • 95 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 95 James
    Suckling
  • 94 Wine
    Spectator
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Keplinger Lithic 2016  Front Bottle Shot
Keplinger Lithic 2016  Front Bottle Shot Keplinger Lithic 2016  Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2016

Size
750ML

Features
Boutique

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

The aromatics are incredibly vibrant, with layers of candied red fruit, lavender, gunmetal, garrigue, French violet candy, blackberry, and dried thyme. Broad, plush tannins frame the palate; savory notes laced with brambly blue and red fruit, dried herbs and heady floral notes carry the finish.

Blend: 41% Grenache, 32% Mourvèdre, 27% Syrah

Professional Ratings

  • 95
    Another release from the Sierra Foothills, the 2016 Lithic comes from vines planted in 2002 and 2006 and is a blend of 41% Grenache, 32% Mourvèdre, and the rest Syrah that saw some stems in the ferments and 16 months in 15% new, larger barrels. This medium to full-bodied effort has beautiful elegance and purity as well as a great nose of blueberries, ground pepper, wild strawberries, and violets. It’s another Châteauneuf du Pape look-alike that does everything right and is up with some of the top GSM blends coming out of California today.
  • 95
    This is very tight and layered with beautiful plum and blackberry character and hints of dried herbs. Full-bodied, dense and focused. Chewy and tightly wound, but shows polish and focus. Solid. Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah.
  • 94
    Distinctive and expressive, with floral orange zest, dried cherry, cured meat and cracked pepper flavors that take on structure toward big but polished tannins. Hands off for now. Mourvèdre, Grenache and Syrah.

Other Vintages

2019
  • 96 James
    Suckling
  • 95 Jeb
    Dunnuck
2015
  • 95 James
    Suckling
  • 94 Wine
    Spectator
  • 93 Jeb
    Dunnuck
2014
  • 93 Wine
    Spectator
2013
  • 93 Wine
    Spectator
Keplinger

Keplinger

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Keplinger, California
Helen Keplinger attended the MS program in Enology at UC Davis. Since UC Davis, she has worked with Heidi Barrett at Paradigm in Napa Valley,Kathy Joseph at Fiddlehead in Santa Barbara, Michel Rolland, and DavidAbreu in Napa Valley. She has made wine for some exciting projects, including Cellers Melis (Priorat, Spain), Kenzo Estate, Arrow & Branch,Bryant Family Vineyards, and is currently crafting Kerr Cellars, Carte Blanche and Grace Family Vineyard. Helen’s time in Priorat, Spain working with Grenache as Winemaker for Melis was the inspiration for Keplinger wines. Auspiciously, Helen met her now husband and business partner DJ Warner in a Spanish focused wine shop in Los Angeles towards the end of 2003. DJ, having worked in sales and marketing within the technology sector, moved to Los Angeles to launch an organic line of foods. Managing a Spanish wine shop part time in the evenings led the two to meet over a bottle of 1995 Pago de los Capellanes, Riserva from Ribera del Duero. In 2006, Helen founded Keplinger and the couple launched their first vintage in 2008 with a focus on small production, single vineyard Rhone varietal wines. Keplinger strives to create seamlessly-crafted, terroir-driven, Rhone varietal wines from diverse sites in Napa, Sonoma & Sierra Foothills. All the vineyards are hillside or mountain sites, carefully farmed for small berries and concentrated flavors, in close collaboration with Helen. The wines are made in small lots, with careful attention paid to every detail. Keplinger constantly strives to make unique wines that are expressions of their vineyards and vintages. Today, production of nine boutique cuvees totals 1,600 cases, and a single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville Ranch Vineyard, Oakville AVA has been added to the line up.
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With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.

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Amador Wine

Sierra Foothills, California

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As the lower part of the greater Sierra Foothills appellation, Amador is roughly a plateau whose vineyards grow at 1,200 to 2,000 feet in elevation. It is 100 miles east of both San Francisco and Napa Valley. Most of its wineries are in the oak-studded rolling hillsides of Shenandoah Valley or east in Fiddletown, where elevations are slightly higher.

The Sierra Foothills growing area was among the largest wine producers in the state during the gold rush of the late 1800s. The local wine industry enjoyed great success until just after the turn of the century when fortune-seekers moved elsewhere and its population diminished. With Prohibition, winemaking was totally abandoned, along with its vineyards. But some of these, especially Zinfandel, still remain and are the treasure chest of the Sierra Foothills as we know them.

Most Amador vines are planted in volcanic soils derived primarily from sandy clay loam and decomposed granite. Summer days are hot but nighttime temperatures typically drop 30 degrees and the humidity is low, making this an ideal environment for grape growing. Because there is adequate rain throughout the year and even snow in the winter, dry farming is possible.

ASWKEPLIT16_2016 Item# 878006

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