{"product_id":"jade-gross-time-is-on-my-side-2023","title":"Jade Gross Time is on my Side 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRioja's classification system measures barrel time, not place, which is exactly what a generation of younger growers has started ignoring. Time is on my Side comes from La Cantera, called Harrobia in Basque, a parcel in Labastida below the Sierra de Toloño in Rioja Alavesa. The vines are 39 years old, bush-trained, planted on clay-limestone and sandstone at 650 meters. The Graciano comes from Laguardia, a few kilometers east, also on clay-limestone. Both sites sit high enough on the Alavesa shelf that the growing season stretches long and the nights stay cold, which is why this wine carries 13.5 percent alcohol and a spine of acid rather than the plush weight most people expect from Rioja Tempranillo.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEighty-eight percent Tempranillo with 12 percent Graciano, the first time Gross has used the variety. The Graciano was fully destemmed; 30 percent of the Tempranillo went in as whole clusters, fermented in open vats. The wine then spent 17 months in a single new 1,000-liter French oak cask, followed by 15 months in bottle before release, far longer than anything else in her range and the reason for the name. The large format keeps the oak in the background. Black cherry and dried plum, iron and dried herbs, violets from the Graciano, and a long tannic finish that is firm without being drying. Structured enough to reward another five years in a cool closet. 1,380 bottles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJade Gross came to wine sideways. Born in Hong Kong to an American father and a Chinese mother, she studied political science in New York and took a master's in human rights in London, expecting to become a human rights lawyer. A James Beard Foundation scholarship sent her to cooking school in Paris instead. She worked at Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, El Celler de Can Roca and D.O.M. in São Paulo, then spent seven years at Mugaritz, rising from chef de partie to head chef and into Andoni Luis Aduriz's research kitchen. She left in 2019 for San Vicente de la Sonsierra, where her friends Abel Mendoza and Maite Fernández helped her find grapes and a cellar to borrow. She calls this her most serious wine to date. The long élevage is deliberate, and she intends to push the rest of the range the same way, convinced the wines gain complexity with time. Pairing Graciano with Tempranillo is a nod to Rioja's old field-blend vineyards, where the two grew in the same rows.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis wants a real meal. Lamb shoulder slow-roasted with garlic and thyme until it falls apart, where the tannin and the fat cancel each other out. Duck breast with a cherry and sherry vinegar pan sauce, echoing the wine's own dark fruit and acidity. Arroz con setas, a soupy rice with wild mushrooms, for the iron and dried-herb side. Or a plate of aged Manchego and Marcona almonds and nothing else. Open it for the dinner you actually planned.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wine Down Selections","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51247712403679,"sku":null,"price":84.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8220185.jpg?v=1787526008","url":"https:\/\/denverwinemerchant.com\/products\/jade-gross-time-is-on-my-side-2023","provider":"Denver Wine Merchant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}