Graziano

Greg Graziano is one of Mendocino’s busiest winemakers, and, like a bee that gets into many flowers, he has pollinated the Coro program with a lot of good ideas and effective barrel-trading aimed at getting everyone the materials they need to make good wine under a tough set of rules. Like fellow Coro founder Sally Ottoson, he’s also a master blender; his recipe for 2003 includes five grapes. Along with the required Zinfandel and Petite Sirah he used three of his beloved Cal-Ital grapes for nearly a quarter of the blend: Sangiovese, Barbera and Dolcetto. These soft, round grapes plump up the Zin wonderfully, letting the red and black berry flavors shine with bright acidity that’s never astringent.

Graziano says he now grows and vinifies his Coro lots specifically for Coro rather than selecting lots of fermented wine to create a Coro blend, and that this enables him to maximize extraction, color, and tannin (not to mention the effects of 18 months in 100% new French oak). Graziano claims the whole point of the Coro program is to make a wine that will age, so he’s not really going for near-term drinking pleasure. On the other hand, the wine’s already nearly three years old upon release, so Graziano allows that we can drink his 2003 Coro with hearty food if we are so moved. (Count me in.)

Reviewed July 4, 2006 by Thom Elkjer.