Anyone who has ever driven from Sonoma to Mendocino county knows that as you hit the county line you begin to climb in elevation.  Most of the vineyards in Mendocino County (called Mendo by those in the trade) grow in the high valleys of Sierra Nevada mountains, along with the area's other cash crop, marijuana.  There are many different microclimates in the county to grow a lot of varieties but one thing they are certainly known for is big red wines.

    To produce this wine the grapes are farmed using the protocols of the California Certified Organic Farmers, meaning no man made chemicals on the vines.  The grapes are destemmed then fermented in stainless steel with frequent pump-overs to extract color and tannin.  It is interesting to note that one way of taming the savage tannins of Petite Sirah is to actually make the wine more tannic.  The length of the tannin "chains" (too complex to describe here) become so long that you cannot perceive them as easily and the wine actually feels smoother.  One thing I also love about Bronco is their lack of transparency when it comes to blending.  This wine is 76% Petite Sirah, 16% "mixed reds" and 6% Centurion, a rare hybrid developed by Dr. Harold Olmo in 1975.  

    When you open this wine you will want to give it a good splash in the decanter to allow the bouquet to develop.  Once you do it gives you an inviting combination of black raspberry pie filling and Luxardo cherries, cinnamon stick, cardamom seed and baked pastry crust.  On the palate it gives you a deep sense of forward fruit, then the tannins jump up and provide a little bit of a dusty finish.  Serve this wine with grilled tri-tip steaks or grilled sausages.