Carnala

2022, Willow Creek District, Paso Robles AVA, USA

Table 42
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Carnala

Carignan

Thibido Winery

star-emptystar-full

JS

92

Red
Dry
Still
Barbecue
Velvety

Bottle

$65

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About the Wine

A vibrant Carignan blend bursting with notes of blueberry, black cherry and Strawberry Jolly Rancher. A velvety mouthfeel and nice tannins make this wine a charming addition to any gathering. Carnala 2022 is a labor of love thoughtfully blended together to enhance every aspect of each varietal in this bright and balanced wine. The grapes, carefully handpicked, undergo a slow, natural fermentation with native yeast, allowing the true essence of the terroir to shine through. “Prior to blending, we strive to discern each grape variety’s range of qualities to ensure that the finished wine showcases the greatest strengths in each sip.” To enhance col­or and fla­vor and improve tan­nin extrac­tion, the lots were gen­tly hand punched one to two times each day to keep the juice in con­stant con­tact with the grape skins. Once fer­men­ta­tion was com­plete, all the lots were gen­tly pressed, and the juice was trans­ferred to bar­rel for aging. The wines were blend­ed in the sum­mer of 2023 after a sin­gle rack­ing, then left to co-min­gle as one blend in bar­rel until bot­tling. Car­nala was aged in new and neu­tral French Oak 300-liter bar­rels for 18 months. Every sip of Car­nala show­cas­es the metic­u­lous care invest­ed in grow­ing and mak­ing this hand­craft­ed wine. Alco­hol 14.5% Har­vest 9−13−22 to 10−15−22 Brix 24.8 Ph 3.63 TA 7.4 Ori­gin Thibido Estate Vine­yard, Cer­ti­fied Organ­ic. Syrah from Home­stead Hill Vine­yard, Organ­i­cal­ly Farmed Blend 52% Carig­nan, 23% Syrah, 13% Mourvè­dre, and 12% Grenache

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Tasting Notes

Car­nala 2022 reveals deep red-pur­ple col­ors that fade into a wide mar­gin, sig­nal­ing depth and com­plex­i­ty. The aro­ma is mul­ti-faceted, from blue­ber­ries, black cher­ries and vio­lets, to cedar­wood, cloves, spices, assort­ed herbs, flinty stone, and leather. Seri­ous­ly, the nose of this wine is almost enough on its own with­out drink­ing! On the palate, this wine delights with dusty, earthy notes, light tan­nins, mild vis­cos­i­ty, and a beau­ti­ful bal­ance of black­ber­ry, straw­ber­ry, cher­ry fla­vors and men­thol, cul­mi­nat­ing in a lengthy and sat­is­fy­ing fin­ish. With 52% Carig­nan, 23% Syrah, 13% Mourvè­dre, and 12% Grenache, Car­nala 2022 is a union of fla­vors that exem­pli­fies the beau­ty of metic­u­lous farm­ing and a ded­i­ca­tion to quality.

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Pairing Notes

How to pair Car­nala? This wine is an exot­ic blend wor­thy of part­ner­ing with equal­ly entic­ing dish­es like rich Mole, Kore­an BBQ, or Indi­an but­ter chick­en to enhance the juicy berry notes of the wine. Oth­er options include sea­soned kabobs topped with tzatzi­ki or Miso Black Cod for the uma­mi fla­vors and salty coun­ter­part to the vel­vety, rich­ness of the wine.