This wine honors a Major Milestone and perhaps is a nod to how time flies. It really has been ten crazy years since we purchased what is now Brecon Estate. Along the way we tried to take a path less traveled, picking up a somewhat colorful inner circle and rather unconventional influences. This special wine aims to reflect all this and improve on our ever popular “42” Rhone Blend, “the answer to life, the universe and everything.” A little more color, structure and silkiness, perhaps thanks to the addition of some tiny-berried Petite Sirah baby vines. Best saved for a special occasion or large family gathering. 

92pts. James Suckling. September 2022

93pts. purely domestic wine report. December. 2022

91pts. Vinous. May 2023

We love names that mean something to us personally. The Last Sandwich is a doff of the caving helmet to some impressive discoveries made in Ogof (Welsh for cave) Draenen that our founding winemaker was involved in. Apparently, they were literally sitting down to devour their last sandwich, when they spied an unseen way on. Ironically, this blend came about in much the same way. They had tried blending both this particular rich oily Viognier and crisp refreshing Albarino every which way with other varietals. Finally hitting upon blending them together while fighting over the last chicken tikka panini. Which, as you might expect, paired delightfully.

Let us indulge you in a pilgrim's tale of the “Wife of Brecon” (although perhaps not in a Chaucerian style). We must confess… our winemaker has been quite the keeper of ye secrets, from said partner. If you have lingered around these old vines a while, you may recall our winemaker secretly creating the initial Bordeaux Rosé without his wife's knowledge. This year he gave the tragic impression we would not release a Rosé this vintage. However with some wizardry or witchcraft, 185 cases poofed into existence in our cellar. Surprisingly richer than our steely past vintages, our winemaker went for complexity this year. Lightness of touch that comes directly from fifty plus year old Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, the Grenache so elegantly coats the finish with that refreshing and naturally sweet,  white cherry note.

Gold. Drink Pink Vino International Rosé Competition. May 2023

I’ve just been perusing the tasting notes of our previous vintages. It’s rather like galavanting down memory lane before it gets paved over! Clearly a two-way street, as not only was each Brecon Grenache distinctive and unique, but so were the wine descriptors. Continuing this remarkably diverse trend we went yet another route in 2021. Changing up the vineyard, sub appellation, clone, aspect, and slope, because we loved this brighter, darker, more structured clone. It’s more akin to a fabled old-vine Grenache, having heaps of texture and silkiness to be sipped and savored. Of course such a characterful drop deserved some rather attractive fine French oak.

Amazingly, sunny Paso Robles can take some of these lesser known varieties to new dizzying heights. Bright, but dark velvety fruit, oodles of varietal character, fantastic structure, and excellent mid-palate fruit weight. No need to go Icelandic volcano watching to warm your tootsies. This multifaceted Petit Verdot, we are reliably informed, pairs perfectly with the Northern Lights. Those beautiful dancing waves of light have captivated people for millennia.

Gold. L.A. Invitational. February 2023

91pts. Vinous. May 2023

Perhaps a little unusual for the Brecon Mourvedre to be on the spectrum, the Reserve Spectrum that is. However as a fully paid up member of the “flat Jupiter society,” I am sure you will totally appreciate the gravitas of this Mourvedre, bending distant light sources to its will. The consequent red shift is phenomenal. Visually beguiling, ever enchanting, like many heavenly bodies. Drink now or for the next 4.2+ “buzz light years”. Intriguingly this equates to light just now emanating from our nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri, reaching us as this wine reaches its “optimus prime”, i.e. the end of 2027.

Folks have been penning tasting notes/reviews on these vines for over fifty years! That's a lot of cerebral hemorrhaging. We wish we had some of those early musings. Consistent year in year out, it does, however, clearly seem that with greater vine age, the waxing has become way more lyrical. Here is just one example from the previous vintage: “This is a purple-powered punch of a wine: It’s bright, with focused, slick tannins; good acid structure; and a juicy mouthfeel. Plum, violets, and boysenberry join in a dance of merriment with savory notes of cured meat that impart intriguing elegance” (Somm Journal 03/2022). You could write the same note for this vintage too. 

Not going to pontificate over this tech sheet for too long as we normally sell out days after release, and this is the smallest bottling we have ever done! Sitting regally on its own Calcareous hilltop, these vines are reaching that point in life when the smooth old rascals are considered to have a lovely lightness of touch, be subtly fragrant, and rather flirtatious; softer than the more masculine Cabernet Sauvignon. It pairs remarkably well with a tender juicy steak in a restaurant's snuggest alcove.

Best of Class, Gold. L.A. Invitational, March 2023

Think Exotic. Gewurz, as it is known to its friends, tends to shy away from the traditional French cuisine end of town. Head down the side street and be a lot more experimental from the pairing point of view. Think Ginger, Madras and Cloves. It's intense floral aromatics are a treasure and much like the aromatics on a peaty Islay Malt you can absolutely lose yourself in the nose. Only needing to occasionally come up for air and take a sip. For the record the obvious Lychee and Pineapple will be complex in time adding more nutty almond overtones.