Alban Vineyards - Edna Valley - Pandora Red 2010 Bouteille (75cl)
Alban Vineyards Pandora 2010 is a red wine from Edna Valley in California, produced by Alban Vineyards. This cuvée blends Grenache and Syrah. Rated 93/100 by The Wine Advocate, this vintage displays an elegant and fresh profile with concentrated fruit, a supple texture, and a juicy palate, notably evoking dark fruits, flowers, mint, and spices. The Wine Advocate drinking window is from 2014 to 2022.
La bouteille proposée
- Size
- Bottle (75cl)
- Label Condition
- Perfect
- Fill Level
- Perfect
- Capsule Condition
- Perfect
Identité du vin
- Couleur
- Red
- Pays
- Etats-Unis
- Région
- Californie
- Appellation
- Edna Valley
- Producteur / Domaine
- Alban Vineyards
- Cuvée
- Pandora
- Millésime
- 2010
Alban Vineyards
Alban Vineyards is a family-owned estate in Edna Valley, on California's Central Coast, dedicated to Rhône grape varieties. John Alban crafts single-vineyard Syrahs there — Reva, Lorraine, and Seymour’s — as well as Pandora, made from Grenache grown on Seymour’s Vineyard. The vineyard covers approximately 66 acres and relies on viticulture attentive to the expression of its diverse soils.
- Owner
- John et Lorraine Alban
- Maître de chais
- John Alban
- Surface (ha)
- 26.71 ha
Histoire du domaine
John Alban's interest in Rhône grape varieties crystallized at the age of 24 after discovering a Condrieu. After studying oenology at the University of California, Davis, he received a scholarship that allowed him to train in France with established producers ranging from Beaujolais to Provence, while studying soil and climate correlations with California. Starting in the mid-1980s, he propagated selections of Viognier, Roussanne, Grenache, and Syrah that were very rare at the time, and later acquired the Edna Valley property with his family in 1989. The estate released a varietal Roussanne in 1991 presented as the first produced in the United States. John Alban subsequently played a major role in spreading Viognier and other Rhône varieties in California by supplying plant material to numerous winegrowers. The estate's cuvées gradually became structured around distinct parcels: Reva bears his mother's first name, Seymour’s his father's, while Lorraine was born from a lot of Syrah isolated for the first time in 1995 and named in tribute to the woman who became his wife. John and Lorraine Alban are today listed as proprietors, with John remaining the estate's winemaker.
Pandora
Pandora is crafted from Grenache planted on the steep, terraced summit slope of Seymour's Vineyard, featuring soils of white chalk mixed with fractured flint and sandstone. Alban explicitly markets this wine under the name Pandora, distinct from the Seymour's Syrah originating from the same sector. The wine is open-top fermented with indigenous yeasts, then aged for a long period in large French vessels before being bottled without fining or filtration.
- Origin of the cuvée name
- The name refers to Pandora, the first woman in Greek mythology, who closes her jar in time to keep Hope inside.
- Cuvée creation year
- 1998
- Style of the cuvée
- A dense, long, aromatic and exotic red wine, generally characterized by fresh red fruits, smoked herbs, fennel and a stony expression. Its prolonged aging and low-intervention vinification aim for an ample yet nuanced expression of the Grenache from this hillside.
- Position within the range
- Great single-plot Grenache wine of the estate, coming from the same summit slope as the Seymour's Syrah.
Histoire de la cuvée
The slope of Seymour's Vineyard was progressively terraced over seven years and then planted with Syrah and Grenache, despite initial reluctance towards Grenache on a terroir considered top-tier. Alban reserves the Syrah for the Seymour's cuvée and the Grenache for Pandora. The 1998 vintage represents the earliest currently documented release.
