Country: U.S.A.

Region: Contra Costa County

Vintage: 2021

Cépage: Mourvedre & Cinsault

Size: 750 ml

Rating(s): 92 (WE)

We have tried for many years to conjure a fancy, congruent, ageworthy old vine blend of Besson Grenache, Bechthold Cinsault and Contra Costa Mourvèdre which eclipses the sum of its parts, and until 2019, we had done so with an unbroken record of abject failure. Whether it is the individual wines or the individual winemakers who should engage in sober self-reflection is not obvious, though we are taking complete credit for Rokurokubi & Inugami. We can again thank three principal factors for the success of the 2023 iteration: First, an even crop of old vine Cinsault form the world's oldest Cinsault vineyard harvested in early Fall. Second, the exoticism of the Mourvèdre from our new source in Contra Costa County. Third, a small addition of Grenache planted in 1910 at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Rather than each playing a distinct and separate character in the blend, they each contribute particularly aromatic and yet firmly grounded aspects to the 2023 vintage, both the untethered mountain herbs and spices of Rokurokubi from the ever-amaro and winter-spiced aroma of Becthold Cinsault, to the basso profondo of Contra Costa Mourvedre and Besson's tannic structure - the essence of the Wolf/Dog Spirit rooted in the earth, or Inugami spirit. We anticipate this will evolve and improve over several years. Arigato, Bakemono Zukushi.

- Winemaker's notes