Favia Rompecabezas Red 2016
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Spanish for "jig-saw puzzle," Rompecabezas is inspired by the wines of the Southern Rhone, but of course is decidedly Californian in nature. With each successive vintage, the wine has gained indensity and complexity, as the vines gain footing, and Ann’s vineyard team gains perspective and foresight.
Blend: 51% Grenache, 33% Mourvedre, 16% Syrah
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
More Bing cherry, pepper, decaying flowers, and ample meatiness emerge from the 2016 Rompecabezas, which is in the same realm as the 2015. Medium to full-bodied, rounded, and beautifully textured, it’s certainly proof positive that incredible wines can come from the terroir in Amador county and the Sierra Foothills. Drink it over the coming decade.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Rompecabezas means "jigsaw puzzle" in Spanish—this GSM blend is made up of 51% Grenache, 33% Mourvèdre and 16% Syrah. The Grenache is whole cluster and co-fermented with the Mourvèdre, with the final blend aged for 20 months in neutral French oak and 600-liter concrete eggs. Pale to medium garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Rompecabezas Red Wine features redcurrant jelly, kirsch and mulberries scents with hints of garrigue, menthol, tilled soil and rose hip tea scents plus a hint of dried lavender and salami. Medium to full-bodied, it has a firm frame of grainy tannins and bags of red fruit, savory and earthy layers, finishing long and perfumed.
-
Wine Spectator
Enticing aromas of spice box, dark berry and cured meat open to tightly structured yet polished raspberry, sweet anise and pepper flavors that build toward refined tannins. Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah. Drink now through 2026.
Favia Erickson Winegrowers is a collaboration between Annie Favia and Andy Erickson. Their philosophy is simple: create soulful wines that express the true nature of the vineyards from which they come. Annie and Andy focus on finding unique vineyard sites with soils, climate and aspects ideal for growing exquisite wine grapes, and develop strong relationships with their winegrowers to perfect viticultural practices. In the winery, they carefully coax the grapes into wine. Gentle handling, minimal intervention, and strict monitoring of the wine allow our grapes to speak for themselves.
Ultimately, Favia Erickson Winegrowers unites science, art and nature to produce unparalleled wines, each with its own distinct character.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
As the lower part of the greater Sierra Foothills appellation, Amador is roughly a plateau whose vineyards grow at 1,200 to 2,000 feet in elevation. It is 100 miles east of both San Francisco and Napa Valley. Most of its wineries are in the oak-studded rolling hillsides of Shenandoah Valley or east in Fiddletown, where elevations are slightly higher.
The Sierra Foothills growing area was among the largest wine producers in the state during the gold rush of the late 1800s. The local wine industry enjoyed great success until just after the turn of the century when fortune-seekers moved elsewhere and its population diminished. With Prohibition, winemaking was totally abandoned, along with its vineyards. But some of these, especially Zinfandel, still remain and are the treasure chest of the Sierra Foothills as we know them.
Most Amador vines are planted in volcanic soils derived primarily from sandy clay loam and decomposed granite. Summer days are hot but nighttime temperatures typically drop 30 degrees and the humidity is low, making this an ideal environment for grape growing. Because there is adequate rain throughout the year and even snow in the winter, dry farming is possible.