2008 Grand Reve Collaboration Series V Ciel Du Cheval Vineyard Grenache

Grand Reve was founded in Woodinville, near Seattle, in 2004. It was a collaboration between businessman Paul McBride and vineyard manager Ryan Johnson. Johnson had spent a decade managing vineyards in Eastern Washington’s prestigious Red Mountain AVA and he and McBride wanted to focus on Rhone-style varietals. Grand Reve, which means “great dream” in French, was soon winning raves and ratings in the mid-90s from Wine Advocate and other reviews. McBride and his wife Susan have since changed the winery name to Force Majeure, and they’ve hired winemaker Todd Alexander to oversee winemaking. Alexander was previously winemaker at Bryant Family Vineyard in Napa Valley. More recently McBride and Johnson have also started a project they call the “collaboration” series in which guest winemakers make wines from Red Mountain grapes. Jeb Dunnick of Wine Advocate has called Force Majeure “One of my favorite estates in Washington… The focus here is always Red Mountain fruit, with grapes pulled mostly from the crème de la crème Ciel du Cheval vineyard, and increasingly from their estate Force Majeure Vineyard as more and more plots come online.”

Washington State, with 59,000 vineyard acres, is the second largest producer of wine in the United States. Wine was made in the state as early as the mid-19th century, but Prohibition and, later, restrictive state laws killed the wine making business in the 20th century until the 1960s, when laws changed and large and small producers started making wines. An influential horticulturalist and agriculture professor name Walter J. Clore studied various grape clones in the 1960s to find the best ones for Washington, and by the 1970s Yakima Valley, Walla Walla and Columbia Valley had all become important grape growing areas. The best vineyards in the state are east of the Cascade Mountain range, where hot dry summers and cold winters are conducive to successful viticulture. Numerous grape varieties are grown, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc at the head of the list.

One of the most popular red varieties planted, it ripens late and prefers hot dry climates. It probably originated in Spain, where it is still widely grown. Grenache is best known for its use in Southern Rhone wines, including those of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.