Today’s Story: Jolie-Laide
Jolie-Laide is a boutique winery established by Scott Schultz in Forestville, CA, though he sources his fruit from trusted vintners across a range of appellations. “Jolie-Laide” translates to “pretty ugly,” and is a French term of endearment for something not conventionally beautiful which in this case stems to lesser known or “unloved” grape varieties Scott works with. I reviewed two wines from Jolie-Laide previously, first the 2016 Provisor Vineyard Grenache in A Journey for the Mind and Palate and most recently the 2019 Trousseau Gris in Incredibly Versatile Trousseau Gris. For a more detailed overview at how Scott makes his wines or where he sources his fruit from, you can check out these prior posts if you haven’t already.
Today’s Wine: 2016 Halcon Vineyard Syrah
100% Syrah; 12.8% ABV
The 2016 Halcon Vineyard Syrah is opaque medium purple in color with ruby hues. Given an hour and a half or so to open up, the wine showcases a nose of blackberry, plum, black cherry, smoked charcuterie, tobacco, charred earth, green herbs, black peppercorn, and crushed rock minerality. On the palate, I get notes of brambleberry, blueberry, boysenberry, black raspberry, licorice, sweet tobacco leaf, red florals, dried rocky soil, graphite, savory mixed herbs, and a hint of oaky spice. This is full-bodied with medium acidity, high tannins, and a long finish dominated by chewy red and black fruits.
Price: $44. Another outstanding value from Jolie-Laide, and my favorite wine I’ve tried from them so far. This has everything you could want from a Cali Syrah twice its price: depth, evolving complexity each hour it breathes, finesse, and character. Pair with herb-grilled lamb, spicy Korean-style pork, or a quality burger.
JB's Wine Talk 
2 thoughts on “There’s Only Beauty Here”