This is your friendly mobster friend who you don’t want to bring up among friends but you know you can trust them to give you the truth. Once you start hanging out, it’s like being old friends. 

This is the wine that I’ve consistently doubted but is always an outstanding choice. It wasn’t until I learned more about this wine that it made sense how it’s tough to start, wonderful to pair, and delightful to finish. We don’t always finish the bottle in one sitting but it’s always a delight. 

It takes a winemaker like Nancy Walker with Stephen and Walker Winery in Healdsburg, California to create just the right amount of balance. The grapes she chooses are typically from worthy areas around Northern California, which is a sign of a trusted winemaker. The Carignane from old vines in the Alexander Valley takes an ordinary grape from an extraordinary appellation into an award-winning wine. 

If you were to read about this grape, you would also have your doubts. At first taste, you might flicker your eyelids and confirm your doubts but wait! After taking a bite of your bruschetta appetizer, you have another sip, and then you sit back in your chair.

When asked if you want to change your wine, you decide to keep what you have. 

And before you realize it, the bottle is nearly empty. For a grape that has been known for centuries to be highly produced, it can often be misunderstood. This grape produces the right amount of balance and acidity to pair perfectly with rich foods even though it’s a grape that is used to blend with other known grapes to bring texture, fruit and balance.

Like when you need some extra spice, it becomes your go-to.

Perhaps you might ditch the cabernet sauvignon and hang out with your gangsta friend, the Carignane. Who knows? You might have a great laugh, learn something new, be corrected in your thinking, or just be informed that you need to know your enemies. Allow this wine to transform your thinking.    

Stephen and Walker make a well-balanced Carignane. Nancy’s 2016, ‘18, and ‘19 Carignane vintages are award-winning vintages throughout California contests. It’s the right red wine for those who want a rich, fruity, well-balanced wine to pair with rich food without the heavy tannins of a cabernet sauvignon.

It’s balanced enough that it’s not just for heavy tomato-sauce, red-meat, strong-cheese pairing, but with Mediterranean, Lebanese, or vegetarian dishes. Why? The balance of this ripe fruit can stand up to those as well.

When you have a friend like a Carignane, often referred to as Carignan, all you need to know is how fun you can have with it. If other wine lovers raise their eyebrows at your mention of it as if you mentioned your Gangsta friend, just know it’s like that.