Have you heard of the Graciano grape? I didn’t until we featured it on Winephabet Street in November. Graciano is mainly grown in the Rioja and Navarra regions of Spain. It is difficult to grow, is low-yielding, late harvesting and susceptible to mildew. It is used a lot as a blending grape for its deep color, strong aromas and ability to age.

Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm (but does change depending on our sechedules) and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us. It is sponsored by Dracaena Wines and Trio North Wildwood.

In this episode we were joined by Josh Harp, winemaker at Jada Vineyards and Winery. Jada is a small winery with a 3000 case production.

The wine we sampled during this webinar was Jada’s 2019 Hell’s Kitchen. It’s a blend of 55% Syrah, 17% Graciano, 15% Grenache and 12% Tannat from the Willow Creek District of Paso Robles. Aromas of cassis, plum and leather escaped the glass. The wine is serious but exciting. Nice expression of tannins, dark fruit, black currant with a plum pepperiness and a touch of earth on the finish. Very easy to drink!

I will add, I did have a bottle of Ser 2018 Graciano in my cellar that I drank recently. Ser is women-owned and located in Santa Cruz, Ca. The grapes for this wine that was 100% Graciano came from Bokish Vineyard in Lodi Ca. It had lots of cherry aromas with hits of violets. This led to a palate that was soft, not complex with silky tannins and full of black cherry. There was a wonderful black pepper spice that is soft and lingers on the finish. Very easy drinking.

Listen to the podcast and hear what Josh has to tell us about the Graciano grape and Jada Vineyards and Winery. If you find yourself drinking a glass or bottle of Graciano, please let me know what you think.