Grape Varieties At Keenan Winery

This wine, to say the least, has been quite a journey for me. It started as an attempt to make a special wine for a Country Club in Los Angeles. The F & B director and 5 members of the wine committee came up to the winery to ‘blend’ their special wine. This is often a recipe for disaster, but in this case, I managed to give everyone a tour of the vineyards, a blending trial, and lunch, all in 3 hours. Unfortunately, we couldn’t agree on a price. They wanted a wine they could sell to their members for $90, and I disagreed; it was worth way more.

We parted ways, but I was enamored by the blend we had created. I made a few changes to it over the next week or so and ended up with a blend of equal parts Cabernet Franc, the Father (and actually, it is the genetic father of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot), Cabernet Sauvignon, the Son, and Merlot, the Holy Ghost. A return to my Catholic roots, perhaps, sure made me think about it. Oddly enough, when I was a young church-going lad, the Holy Ghost was always my favorite part of the Holy Trinity, and now, as a winemaker, my favorite varietal is Merlot.

In this equal blend of the three, the Cabernet Franc provides a wonderful lift in the nose and beautifully complex aromas of fruit with an herbaceous tinge and spice. Cabernet Sauvignon provides the baseline power and great varietal complexity, and then the Merlot laces of an almost magical richness through the blend, giving it an unmistakable sense of deliciousness.

I used the Holy Trinity for our PNV Auction wine in 2020, and it sold for over $250 a bottle. Keep in mind that this is a wholesale price; the retail price would likely be over $300, so I guess I was right about the value of this wine.

Side by Side is an equal blend of estate Cabernet Franc and Merlot that literally comes from vine rows that are growing side by side. This is the only vineyard block on the estate where there is no dividing road between two varietals. One can imagine the root tips almost touching beneath the surface of this high elevation steeply sloped rocky vineyard. Maybe that is why they have blended so seamlessly to create this unique Spring Mountain blend that exhibits not only the power of the mountain but the elegance as well.

PS: The Food and Beverage Manager of the Oakmount Country Club*, Brad Ladik, enjoyed this wine so much he wrote a song called Side By Side. Listen now!

The Original. This single vineyard Merlot comes from the bottom of the Big K vineyard, where the original (we thought at the time one and only) 1997 Mailbox Merlot came from. This block abuts the mouth of the driveway where the “real” mailboxes are. That Merlot, as well as the entire 20-acre block, was pulled after the ’97 harvest (due to phylloxera) and replanted to 5 new clones of Cabernet Sauvignon. After ten years of feedback from the new Cabernet clones we decided to graft the See clone, which was planted where the original Mailbox Merlot was, back to Merlot in the spring of 2011. This grafted block shows me the same deliciousness that caught my attention in ’97 so we made 50 cases of it, called it the “Original” and kept it a secret! Each vintage we make is truly an original, spectacular in its own right.

Once you’ve read about Tribute, you’ll know half of Encore’s story. Encore is equally as marvelous and yet entirely unique. It is made from the exact same terroir, vineyard and clones. However, seasonal differences (i.e.: 2006 was the hottest year on record at that time and 2007 might have been the mildest) revealed how different wine–made from the same grape vines–can be. After ten years of aging, the unifying factor of terroir clearly show. Encore and Tribute wines now present quite similarly. Comparing the two is an excellent way to see how vintage is a strong marker in young wines, but terroir is the strong personality driver in older wines. Typically Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with a little Cabernet Franc or Merlot to round it out. After 2006, we were delighted to find this 50/50 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon from two of our Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon clones, tasted exquisite. Encore (and Tribute) are 100% estate Cabernet Sauvignon and each vintage is truly unique and remarkable.
Encore is rare!
Only 4 bottles/customer.

Nod to History, is a reference to the Conradi Family that built our winery in 1904 and who primarily grew Zinfandel. The blend literally came to Michael in a dream and is my version of a bridge from our past to our present and future. This is our second bottling of a reserve Zinfandel. It is comprised of a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc with a splash of Carignane and Alicante Bouschet. The resulting win is a Zinfandel with a super structure, added weight to the palette, more layered aromatics and a very long finish while clearly retaining its identity as Zinfandel. Enjoy now or decades from now.

Tribute and Encore are the same but different. Tribute was made in honor of Michael’s father and Keenan Winery founder, Robert Keenan, who passed away in 2006, just before the first vintage of Tribute was created. Tribute celebrates Robert Keenan’s vision of shaping a Left Bank style winery with first growth (the best) quality wines. 2006 was the ninth leaf of the big vineyards used for this wine. Tribute is a 50/50 blend of the two Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon clones grown in that vineyard. Prior to 2006 this wine could not have come out so delicious, because the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the big vineyard were too rustic and tannic to be used on their own. In the year of the first Tribute vintage, the 337 Clone had a dramatic personality change, into something really pretty, with a deep cherry profile and smooth tannins. Each vintage since has been spectacular in its own right. This wine is a great way to make a tribute to Robert Keenan.