2008 Keplinger Lithic

The 2008 Lithic is dark, powerful and inward. With time in the glass, the wine opens up to reveal enticing scents of dark fruit, earthiness, tobacco and spices. A long, intense finish rounds things out nicely. The 2008 Lithic is 40% Grenache, 46% Mourvèdre and 14% Syrah.

The 2008 Lithic is dark, powerful and inward. With time in the glass, the wine opens up to reveal enticing scents of dark fruit, earthiness, tobacco and spices. A long, intense finish rounds things out nicely. The 2008 Lithic is 40% Grenache, 46% Mourvedre and 14% Syrah. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2020. Helen Keplinger is the winemaker at Bryant, where she now also makes her own wines with her husband, Douglas. Keplinger credits the years she spent working in Priorat as shaping her philosophy on wine and life. These Rhone blends are made from hillside vineyards in Amador County, El Dorado County and Knights Valley. The wines are aged in French oak, 20-65% new, depending on the wine. Racking is kept to a bare minimum and the wines are neither fined nor filtered. Readers owe it to themselves to check out these pure, handcrafted wines. Tel. (707) 252-7417

(46% mourvedre, 40% grenache and 14% syrah, with some of the grenache vinified with whole clusters; from uplifted volcanic soil rich in quart, basalt, shale and soapstone at an altitude of 1,700 feet; done in neutral oak): Good full red. Aromas of roasted strawberry, tree bark and minerals. Sweet and plush on entry, then quite firm in the middle, thanks to strong flinty minerality and gunmetal notes that give cut to the wine's broad, dry finish. This very complex, mourvedre-dominated wine displays a compelling weightless quality. Finishes with excellent energy and substantial suave tannins.