Why it matters
The producer
Angela Osborne arrived in California from New Zealand in 2006 with one declared purpose: make Grenache. A year later she had a vineyard source, a first vintage, and a name. A Tribute to Grace has been one grape, one winemaker, and eight single-vineyard sites ever since.
The label draws fruit from across California, from high-desert Santa Barbara County to the Sierra Foothills of Amador County and the cooler coastal influence of Santa Ynez Valley. Each site goes into a separate bottle. There is no blended house style to fall back on, which means every vineyard designation has to carry its own argument. They do. The range is among the most forensic explorations of what Grenache does differently at altitude, on quartz, or in heat across the state.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
A Tribute to Grace is not a single-appellation producer. The eight single-vineyard Grenaches span three distinct California geographies, and the differences between those geographies translate directly into what goes into each bottle.
Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard, in Santa Barbara County, is a high-desert site. The combination of intense heat and strong light creates the conditions Grenache needs to ripen fully while holding acidity. This was Osborne's founding source, the vineyard she turned to in 2007 when the label was new.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Clone 362 is Osborne's preferred Grenache selection across her sites. The clone is associated with smaller berries and more concentrated, transparent fruit character compared to some other Grenache selections, and it responds well to the biodynamic farming she applies across all her vineyard sources.
In the cellar, the red wines go through whole cluster fermentation at high percentages, documented at 67% for at least one cuvée. Native yeasts carry the fermentation over approximately 19 days. Foot-treading happens twice daily rather than mechanical pump-over, which keeps the extraction gentle and the tannin supple. Ageing takes place in neutral French 220-litre barrique for approximately 11 months. No new oak. The barrel role is to allow slow micro-oxygenation without contributing wood flavour.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range is built entirely on Grenache and Grenache Blanc. Eight single-vineyard red Grenache bottlings form the core, each labelled by its source site. The Rosé of Grenache and the Thompson Vineyard Grenache Blanc complete the range.
Santa Barbara Highlands Grenache carries the warmth and generosity of its high-desert origins. The fruit is ripe and concentrated, with the lifted perfume characteristic of well-ripened Grenache: dried wild herb, red cherry, a hint of iron. The body is generous but not extracted.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Shake Ridge Ranch Grenache is the clearest first bottle. Clone 362 on rose quartz and slate in the Sierra Foothills, whole cluster fermented at 67% with native yeasts, foot-trodden twice daily, aged 11 months in neutral French oak. No new wood. No extraction. The wine shows what Osborne is building toward across the range: Grenache that is transparent to its site, with the delicacy and acidity of altitude fruit and the capacity to develop further in bottle. Start here to understand what the label does and what California Grenache can be when it is farmed carefully and made with as little interference as possible.