Reviews & Ratings

2010 Navarro Vineyards Red Blends or Varietals "Navarrouge"

Winery: Navarro Vineyards

Vintage: 2010

Wine Name/Vineyard: "Navarrouge"

Wine Category: Red Blends or Varietals

Grape blend: 33% Zinfandel, 29% Syrah, 26% Pinot Noir & Carignan, Grenache & Cabernet Sauvignon

Bottle size: 750 ml

Region: Mendocino

State or country: CA

Price: $14

Cases produced: 2,298

KWG Score: 86 (based on 1 review)

Ken's Wine Rating: Good (86)

Review date: June 15, 2012

Wine Review: This slightly opaque ruby colored wine opens with a black cherry bouquet with a hint of strawberry. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced, a little juicy and easy to drink. The flavor profile is a mild strawberry with a hint of gentle cherry and light oak. The finish is dry and its very mild tannins are friendly. This is a good everyday food wine. I would pair it with pizza or lasagna. Enjoy - Ken

Winemaker Notes: We've produced Navarrouge for over twenty years but it was in 2009 that we discovered a combination of red grapes whose fruit flavors seemed particularly seamless. One-third of this bottling is Zinfandel, from fifty to seventy year old goblet-trained Mendocino vines, which yield a deeply colored and flavored wine tasting of blackberry, with a briary element that creates a wild vibration, what the French call "sauvage." The next wine we blended in was Syrah, with a black cherry core and a crush of springtime herbs. Syrah has a firm tannin structure which provides a solid backbone; it is 29% of the blend. 2009 was the first time we tried this Zin-Syrah combination and we liked it so much we retained the same ratio in 2010. Historically, the next most important grape has been Valdiguié, which sports red cherry flavors, but the vines failed to ripen their crop in 2010. Instead, to achieve a smack of Bing fruit, we splashed 26% Pinot Noir into this Navarrouge. The balance comes from some of Mendocino's oldest goblet vines: Carignan, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon. Like a hand-stitched quilt, comfy and beautiful, Navarrouge is homey enough for pasta and classy enough for a roast.

Buy it: Use 1000 Corks to find stores that sell Navarro 2010 Navarrouge.