GSM is a red that's hot

GSM is an unsexy label for what can be a very sexy wine, a blending of three traditionally Rhone-grown varieties — grenache, syrah and mourvedre.

The three are most often comingled in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, where they thrive in the stony soils and over the centuries were found to balance each other out. Grenache, which can be perfumed and aromatic and full of bright raspberry fruit, was a good tamer of syrah's more savory elements, its spicy, peppery notes. Mourvedre, a tannic mouthful on its own, was the perfect infusion of color and strength.

Now, they're something of a hot new thing in reds here in California, as producers are increasingly putting two or all three of these varieties together, realizing their 100-percent syrah, for example, might taste better as a blend.

Richard Arrowood of Amapola Creek Vineyards and Winery in Glen Ellen is among those making the switch. A renowned winemaker who cut his teeth and earned his fame making exquisite Sonoma County chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon at Chateau St. Jean and Arrowood Winery, he officially walked away from Arrowood last year to focus full-time on his small-production estate wines at Amapola Creek.

At Amapola, Arrowood produces an estate-grown cabernet, a Monte Rosso old-vine zinfandel, and, in 2007 and 2008, a 100-percent estate syrah. Starting with the 2009 vintage that 100-percent syrah will now be blended with grenache.

"Grenache noir has more aromatics and perfume," he said. "It's one of my favorite red wines."

As well as that of his wife and business partner, Alis. Beginning with the 2010 vintage, the blend will officially be called Cuvee Alis. About 100 cases are made.

Arrowood has budded over part of his eight-year-old syrah vines to grenache noir using a Bien Nacido clone, believing the varietal will grow happily on his certified-organic Sonoma Valley vineyard estate that lies just below Monte Rosso.

Arrowood likes to co-ferment his syrah with viognier and continues to do so with his new GS blend. It will be aged 18 months in new and seasoned French oak, then left unfined and unfiltered, attempting for the purest expression of what those grapes can do.

While Arrowood is making extremely hands-on, minuscule-production wines, his syrah at $45 is more affordable than, say, his cabernet, which runs closer to $80. Cuvee Alis should be priced similarly to the syrah.

A GSM or GM's lower price definitely makes it an intriguing choice for wine drinkers who want something weighty enough to go with a meal but still pretty enough with bright fruit to drink on its own.

Boz Scaggs of Scaggs Vineyard has a similarly priced GSM blend called Montage, all three of which are grown atop his own high-altitude Mount Veeder vineyards, first planted in 1997 to cuttings from Beaucastel in Chateauneuf-du-Pape as well as syrah clones from Lee Hudson in Carneros.

A majority mourvedre (52%), at least in the current vintage, 2008, with a balance of 32% grenache, 18% syrah, the blend is deliciously lush yet full of structure that will keep it interesting for years.

Scaggs' winemaker is Ken Bernards, who explains the grapes' complementary natures this way:

"Grenache with its brightness and softness lifts the wine and the palate, mourvedre picks up where grenache leaves off and brings backbone and continuity to the whole, and syrah adds spiciness and broadness," he said.

Scaggs has been committed to these varieties from the beginning. Others are giving them a go just now, convinced the blend will be an approachable and affordable hit with consumers.

"What's the next hot thing that California can do?" said Bill Leigon, president of Hahn Family Wines, which owns vineyards in both the Santa Lucia Highlands and Paso Robles and is just launching its first GSM. "I'm bullish on grenache. We've got enough grapes to drive it, it's an incredibly versatile wine, Americans can say GSM and it's a way to sell syrah. The holy grail."

Virginie Boone is a freelance wine writer based in Sonoma County. She can be reached at virginieboone@yahoo.com.