Popular Heavyweight
Sculpterra Winery in Paso Robles first started producing the bold red blend, Statuesque, in 2006. It didn’t take long to become the winery’s most popular blend, winning various accolades along the way.
The newly released 2016 vintage sticks with the tried and tested recipe of around equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Petite Sirah. It makes for a bold but smooth wine that will drink well young, but also have potential to age for another five or six years, maybe more.
More Details
The Cabernet Sauvignon fruit for this wine came from Sculpterra’s ‘Hillside’ block in sandy, gravelly soils. Here, it has no trouble getting fully ripe, offering up excellent red cherry flavours.
The Syrah fruit was sourced from the steep slopes and calcareous clay-silt soils of Carriage Vineyards. Yields here are very low, resulting in great quality.
The Petite Sirah comes from Sculpterra’s ‘Lago De Los Patos’ block. This fairly sheltered block has mostly clay-loam soil with rocky areas. It’s a small, carefully managed planting with seven rows covering around 1.5 acres.
Barrel ageing took 14 months, with 76% of the barrels being new (American and Hungarian oak). Only 510 cases of this wine were produced.
Tasting Notes
Deep ruby-purple colour.
Medium+ intense aroma. Ripe blackberry and cherry, coffee, baking spice, and black olive, enveloped in smoked meat. Smells amazing!
Full-bodied.
Medium+ acid is well balanced with the plentiful but smooth tannin.
Long, smooth finish, with rich dark fruit and spice.
The 2015 vintage was balanced a bit more towards jammy fruit and had much less smoked meat on the nose. It was awesome and won awards, but for me, this is even better.
Conclusions
If I was just going by aroma alone, this would be my current favourite wine. Seriously, you have to smell this stuff!
The Bently Ironworks Cabernet is still my favourite Sculpterra wine over-all, but this is a very close second. It’s heavier than would be my usual taste, but I think Paul Frankel, wine-maker at Sculpterra, has done a great job with this one. The best Statuesque yet to my mind.
Come and see for yourself at the tasting room, or buy online. Retail on this wine is $40 making it superb value, and Wine Club members can get it for as low as $26.
If you want to know more about the ‘Golden Hooves’ sculpture on the label and compare this wine to the previous vintage, take a look at my review of the 2015 Statuesque.
