Uncorked: Big red wines counter winter’s icy chill

Dinner table conversations can be fun at the Eck house.

When Tyler and Rachel Eck get home from their full-time jobs in the wine industry, it’s time to talk about their side project, Dunites Wine Company. For a side gig, the duo has produced some impressive wines from California’s cool-climate sites, whose potential a new generation of winemakers has discovered.

“We do our own thing through the day, and at the kitchen table, it’s fun to have that collaboration,” Eck said. “Whether it’s how to design a label, when to rack a wine, or when and if it needs sulfur, it’s fun to collaborate and important for me to get out of my daily bubble and have her input. Rachel has worked as an enologist and held cellar jobs. Throughout the growing season, she’s on ground zero when it comes to vineyards.”

With the Dunites Spanish Springs Syrah 2018 ($37.99), Eck crafted a wine with wild, meaty game on the nose that had flavors of dried violets, a deep, dark fruit extraction and gravelly tannins. It’s the first wine that kicks off a winter red feature.

With a fresh blanket of snow covering our area for the first time this winter, the following red wines are perfect for cold nights. Whether you sit next to the fireplace, or cuddle up under a blanket on the couch with a loved one as the snow falls, the following report features a bevvy of red wines – Rhone varietals or blends, Bordeaux varietals or blends, Zinfandel and a wine with a little bit of everything. All are sure to beat the cold.

“It’s such a complete wine,” Eck said. “When you pour a cool-climate syrah, it’s as dark as can be in the glass. But, that darkness also holds a smell that is wild, feral and also fruity. It can be floral, pretty and elegant even with a dark, tannic structure, syrah can be a really pretty wine. In weight, our syrah is lower in alcohol than our pinot noir, but it tastes so much richer and bigger. I like that duality in cool-climate syrah, there’s an elegance with a seriously brooding, dark nature.”

A wine with the enigmatic temperament he described, it’s both robust and bold while clinging to a floral, delicate side. He’s done it from a vineyard in San Luis Obispo that has two AVAs in Edna Valley and the Arroyo Grande, but doesn’t yet have its own designation.

While he anticipated an AVA for the San Luis Obispo Coast “should be approved pretty soon” to cover all their vineyards, they currently fall under the generic, wide-ranging banner of California’s Central Coast.

Even if it doesn’t have an individualized AVA, Spanish Springs Vineyard has attained an impressive cache of winemakers from Santa Barbara and Paso Robles that are “dropping in.”

“The history is very strong in this region even though we are in our infant stages,” Eck said. “Looking back, John Alban, Bob Lindquist, Stephen Ross and a number of people have been highlighting it for the last 20 to 30 years. But now, it feels like momentum from a younger group of producers has come in and reached out to the cooler coastal sites.”

As we dig in for the cold, dreary days of January, there will be a car that needs to be dug out of the snow or a driveway that must be shoveled. It’s time to warm up with a red wine waiting to be uncorked.

• James Nokes has been tasting, touring and collecting in the wine world for several years. Email him at jamesnokes25@yahoo.com.

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TASTING NOTES

Clif Family Estate Zinfandel 2017 ($60): A silver bike gear juts out from an otherwise plain bottle, but don’t be fooled by the cool label, there’s a very fun wine on the inside. Aromas of potpourri, Christmas spice and black and red berries jump from the glass. The mouthfeel is that of a big warm hug, and flavors of wild blackberry and raspberry are generous.

Clos de Betz 2015 ($59): Capture that whiff of beef jerky on the nose combined with crushed rocks on a summer day and tobacco pipe, and get into the flavors of semi-sweet baking morsels and black cherry on a Bordeaux blend with a silky mouthfeel. 75% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon, 10% petite verdot from three different Washington AVAs.

Covington Columbia Valley Cabernet Franc 2017 ($37): Captivated by the funky nose, think blue cheese, wet leaves, mint or green peppers. Each was found by participants at a recent tasting, and none was wrong. There’s also cracked black pepper and thyme flavors on a wine made in a style not often seen, but impossible to turn away from.

Gilbert “Rouge” 2018 ($15): An Australian red that’s the proverbial kitchen sink in the bottle, and made it work. Shiraz, sangiovese, petite verdot, barbera, pinot noir, tempranillo and Mudgee all combine for a rollicking good time with plum, black cherry, black tea and milk-chocolate flavors.

Gramercy “L’Idiot du Village” Mourvèdre 2017 ($41): Greg Harrington and his wife, Pam, with partner and co-winemaker Brandon Moss, make some of Washington’s best wines. Here they stay true to the varietal, and the smoky cherry shows with a chalky texture; this wine has a big, bold, mouth-coating body.

Gramercy “The Third Man” Grenache 2017 ($35.99): On the lighter side, there’s a pretty perfumed nose and the wine is very light in color. Cherry flavors jump from the glass.

Parabellum Coulee 2018 ($44): The winemaking team behind Walla Walla’s Force Majeure also turns out Parabellum wine; this is 86% syrah and 14% mourvèdre with sanguine, vibrant plum, blackberry and blueberry flavors – the acidity is impressive for a wine with great concentration.

Seabold “Siletto” Grenache 2018 ($39.99): Perfect for the chance to get a red with structure and fuller flavors but on a lithe frame; the wine is light ruby-colored, there’s sweet cherry, light cranberry and a hibiscus flavor.

Two Vintners Syrah 2017 ($25): There’s green olive tapenade on the nose with flavors of blueberries and blackberries.