Denner Vineyard is one of the Grand Cru sites of west Paso Robles and is in the heart of the Willow Creek District.  This neighborhood might be considered the best corridor in Paso for Rhone varietals as you will find great wineries like Saxum and Linne Calodo farming their fruit right next door.  Ryan used to work with this fruit when he worked at Linne Calodo and was ecstatic that Denner’s winemaker, Anthony Yount, offered him fruit from two of the oldest Mourvèdre blocks on the property.  The two blocks are right next to each other with one facing east and the other due north.  The east exposure has cool-climate aromatics and flavors of olive brine, dark fruit, and tilled soil, whereas the north exposure brings more meatiness and iron to the blend.

Blocks 14 and 13A were picked on October 16^th and fermented separately with 100% whole clusters.  After a 15-day fermentation, the wines were racked to neutral French oak barrels and blended five months later.  The final blend, a 50/50 mix of the two blocks, was then aged an additional nine months before being bottled on December 16^th.