Red Table Wine 2022, Erggelet Brothers

This blend is so fascinating! Made up of 55% Zinfandel, 17% Grenache, 17% Mataro, and 11% Carignane, it combines grapes that are found in France, Spain and the New World, but that all have similar origins in Spain. Carignane is naturally high in acidity, tannins, and astringency, which makes it a perfect blending grape. Mataro (the same grape as last month’s club wine Monastrell), adds aromas of black fruit, aromatic herbs, and some spicy notes. The Grenache adds a floral lift, and the Zinfandel creates a well rounded, juicy mouthfeel. For a “table wine,” this wine punches far beyond its price point!

Pairing Ideas
This wine pairs beautifully with a steak or lamb, but is also comfortable alongside a delicious pepperoni pizza.

Terroir
Farmed by the Del Barba family since the early 1900’s, these vines are grown in pure Delhi sand.

Vine age
Carignane & Mataro: 130 year old vines, head-trained and own-rooted. Zinfandel: 40 year old multiclonal grafts on freedom rootstock. Grenache: 5 year old grafts on 40 year old freedom rootstock.

Vinification

• Harvested by hand
• Wines fermented by varietal 12-21 days, pressed into neutral barrique, and aged for 12 months in a reductive environment
• Racked and blended to stainless steel in September 2023.
• Bottled in December 2023, unfined and unfiltered
• Minimal sulfur added at bottling

About the Winery

Julian and Sebastian make up the Erggelet Brothers. Their interest in wine was sparked while sipping leftover Riesling out of Grandfather Erggelet’s goblet as kids. After growing up in southern Germany and coming of age as oenophile dilettantes, they pursued degrees in Philosophy & Economics (Sebastian) and Medicine (Julian). As they moved along these career paths, the focus of their lives gradually shifted from sitting under fluorescent office lights to walking through the vineyards of the Rhine valley with Bertrand Russell in their back pockets—exploring the joys of farming, eating good food, and drinking great wines.

While Sebastian went back to school for viticulture & enology, Julian completed his medical degree. After that, they embarked on a journey around the globe to taste, experience, and assemble the taste buds necessary to make intriguing wine. The learning years saw them working their way through harvests, cellars, kitchens, and many bottles of wine in France, Switzerland, Australia, and Spain.

They came to California in 2014 with just enough savings to cover two months’ rent and buy a ‘well used’ Subaru. In 2015, after gaining invaluable experience at OVID and Seven Stones Winery in the Napa Valley, then Martin Estate in Rutherford and Hannah Nicole Winery in Brentwood, they started making their own wine. Sebastian is also the Associate Winemaker for Grgich Hills Estate in Rutherford, and Julian spends his days fixing tractors and farming his vineyard and orchard in Contra Costa County.