Rocks and Gravel by Edmunds St John

Winegrowers looking for the highest quality winegrapes insist on stressing the vines, which concentrates the flavors in the fruit. Thin, stony soils and sharp drainage are favored in the best vineyards—they give the vine enough nourishment for health without enabling them to push out large yields of mediocre grapes. And vines that send their roots deep in these settings can better withstand the rigors of the growing season without irrigation. "Rocks and Gravel" is made with fruit from rocky, gravelly places: the Sierra foothills, Sonoma and Mendocino counties in the northern Coast Range, and the Paso Robles area in central California.

Edmunds St. John is a respected Napa Valley winemaking house with a deft marketing touch. Visit its website and you'll find lots of lyrical prose about place and terroir; the back label of this bottle tells an episode involving an old French vigneron heaving ecstatic sighs over the product of a splendid vineyard. But this Rhône-style offering is a particularly sprawling blend from nine different growers and four grape varieties (that's four Grenaches, seven Syrahs, two Mourvèdres and a Counoise). No matter: it's delicious.

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