{"product_id":"two-shepherds-bechtold-cinsault-2022","title":"Two Shepherds Bechthold Vineyard Cinsault 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLodi has a reputation for big, warm-climate Zinfandel, which makes the most historically important vineyard in the appellation a strange fit. Bechthold Vineyard was planted in 1886 and is the oldest surviving Cinsault planting anywhere in the world. The vines are head-trained, dry-farmed, and still on their own roots after nearly 140 years, sitting on deep sandy soils in the Mokelumne River sub-appellation. Sand is the reason they survived: phylloxera cannot move through it. The other reason Lodi works better than its reputation suggests is the Delta breeze, cold air pulled inland from San Francisco Bay every afternoon, which drops night temperatures sharply and preserves acidity in a place that reads hot on a map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e100% Cinsault from Bechthold. The fruit comes in whole cluster, gets a light foot tread, and ferments semi-carbonic in small three-quarter-ton picking bins, then goes straight to neutral French oak puncheons without settling for around seven months of elevage. No new oak, no fining, minimal handling. That method is built to protect a grape with naturally low color and low tannin rather than to compensate for it. The wine is pale, almost translucent, with wild strawberry, red plum, dried rose, orange peel, and a peppery, dusty finish. Body is light, acidity is high, tannin is fine and barely there. 2022 brought an extreme Labor Day heat event across interior California, and the year rewarded producers who picked ahead of it and kept extraction light.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWilliam Allen started Two Shepherds in 2010 as a micro-winery focused on Rhone varieties that nobody else in California was taking seriously; Karen Daenen joined as a partner in 2015. They work out of Windsor in Sonoma County, where they hand-farm a small organic Grenache and Grenache Gris vineyard of their own, with a donkey turning the soil in winter and a cat handling the gophers. For everything else they lease specific rows from small family-owned growers on long-term contracts, farming those blocks to their own specifications. Bechthold is farmed sustainably and dry-farmed, and Two Shepherds is one of a handful of producers trusted with fruit from it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLight, high-acid, and peppery, so it belongs with food rather than in front of it. Grilled pork chops with peaches and thyme, salmon with herb butter, mushroom and gruyere tart, or a plate of soft cheeses and charcuterie all work. The acidity handles fat and the low tannin means it will not clash with fish or spice. Serve it at 55 to 60 degrees; this is a red that gets meaningfully better with 20 minutes in the fridge and meaningfully worse at room temperature.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"LeDuc Wine Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51195291893983,"sku":null,"price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P8150118_ef9a3f58-de3d-4057-a407-5bb158035ffd.jpg?v=1786842645","url":"https:\/\/denverwinemerchant.com\/products\/two-shepherds-bechtold-cinsault-2022","provider":"Denver Wine Merchant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}