Artesa Red Blend Pinnacle Sonoma Valley 2019

Loud and clear – you love Artesa! So we found another dark beauty made in that spectacular origami cellar portaled directly into a Napa hillside by one of Spain's oldest wine families. Their classic Pinnacle red blend is over HALF OFF when you order two or more!

The modernist geometry of their estate… the old-school symmetry of this six-grape blend – Artesa does not mess around! The 2019 Pinnacle is a broodingly pretty Cabernet-led concoction completed by Tempranillo (Spain’s most important native grape), Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and a dash of Petit Verdot. We love that it’s a near-equal split of Napa and Sonoma fruit pulled from both mountain and valley vineyards, which the Artesa team has worked with for years. Strength upon strength! The $75 retail price is justifiable, but our $35 is much more doable, right?

The scent here is gorgeous: intense black cherry, blueberry, and some oak spice. Then the palate gives us plum up front, deepening into ripe, tangy dark fruits and earthy mocha. Crushed rock and a little cooling pyrazine further amp up the fruit’s linear feel. We’re rewarded with delicious oomph and expansion on the finish. Twenty months in French oak (30% new) ensures structure, yet the tannins stay silky throughout. Balanced acidity speaks to the beautiful mild temps of the 2019 growing season – “perfect weather patterns for grape growing,” according to winemaker Ana Diogo-Draper, who made this bottle.

It’s a fantastic food wine that will have you leaning back in your chair between bites, twirling your glass. We’re thinking about steak tacos from the Delicias Elenita truck on Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa. Only two bottles to trigger the 53% price drop, but get enough to hide a few away – you’ll give yourself a thrill a couple years from now when you pull out some ARTESA you got for half off!