Helen Keplinger has been making great wine from her days at Paradigm, Kenzo, Bryant Estate and Grace Family Vineyard. But it is her own wines, Keplinger, that we think are expressive and of the highest quality at prices that over deliver. The 2018 Lithic is a blend of 46% Grenache, 35% Mourvedre, and 19% Syrah and comes from Ann Kraemer’s incredible Shake Ridge Vineyard, situated at 1700 feet in elevation in the Sierra Foothills of Amador County. Farmed to perfection, the extraordinary Sierra uplift soils, loaded with quartz, basalt, soapstone, and shale always combine to create wines of great purity, richness, and minerality. The Mourvedre, Grenache, and Syrah blocks are all on rock-filled slopes with excellent exposure and drainage. “The 2018 Lithic pulls you into a deep dive of ever-evolving aromatics – violets, blackberry, blood orange rind, black cherry, allspice, blue fruit, rosemary, pipe tobacco, black pepper…on and on. The silky entry opens to a broad midpalate, with fine tannins underpinning the entirety of the long, pipe tobacco-raspberry finish. Still young in its development, yet already very impressive, endlessly complex." 245 cases were produced.