2019 Bucklin Grenache Otto’s Old Hill Ranch

Old Hill Ranch was purchased and resuscitated in 1981 by current owner and winemaker Will Bucklin’s stepfather Otto Teller. Opinionated, hard-working and cantankerous, Otto had a profound effect and influence on Bucklin’s life. Otto believed the grapevines needed great stress to produce the best wine, and upon Otto’s passing, Bucklin planted a block of grenache on a steep hillside with shallow soil that’s underlain with thick, impermeable volcanic tuff that has been compacted into rock. If these conditions weren’t tough enough, the block is also dry farmed, and average yields are incredibly low resulting in small concentrated berries that produce intense, colorful wine. Bucklin’s rare grenache has been called by many California’s greatest example of the variety.