2024 Vinos Finos de California Sabroso Central Coast 750 ml

“#%^&ing delicious!” That’s how David Ramey originally described Ted Glennon’s Vinos Finos de California Sabroso to us at a party.  Obviously that kind of enthusiasm from a legendary winemaker is a great endorsement—but it’s since been dwarfed by stratospheric critical raves.

Vinos Finos de California is Glennon’s celebration of historic vineyards and an era when all California wines weren’t necessarily big bruising powerhouses. A native of Monterey, Ted is the sixth generation of his family in California, and the first to produce wine. Thanks to his long career in the industry, he’s got insider access to some of the Central Coast’s best under-the-radar vineyards.

Ted focuses on overlooked vineyards in the cool coastal mountains and valleys of the Monterey Bay region, and for his 2024 Sabroso, he leaned on four organically farmed sites. Three of them are own-rooted, a rarity in the US, where phylloxera spurred widespread grafting. 

The backbone of the wine is 43% 1975-planted Grenache from well-drained, gravelly soils in Arroyo Seco. An original source for the legendary Ventana wines of the 1980s and 90s, this spot’s cool morning fog creates a long growing season. It’s perfect for physiologically mature grapes that don’t carry high finished ABVs—the exact kind of grapes that make this blend sing. 

The Grenache is augmented with 21% own-rooted Zinfandel, partially from the Joullian Vineyard in Carmel Valley. Those grapes are joined by 36% own-rooted Cabernet Pfeffer, a French grape previously known as Mourtaou. This grape, which makes light, peppery, perfumed reds, is now extinct in France. The only plantings in the world are in San Benito County, and these grapes hail from vines planted in 1992.