In a new piece for VinePair, Stephanie Cain highlights one of the things we love best about Paso Robles: its diversity. In her piece, she includes what may be the first sentences ever written in a national publication about Terret Noir, one of our weirdest and most interesting grapes:

Terret Noir is a barely known grape, one of the 18 permitted in France’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. Even there, it’s not widely used, so it’s very surprising to see it pop up in Paso. Here, it thrives. Paso’s Tablas Creek Vineyard propagated theirs from cuttings originating at Château de Beaucastel, and they add it to their own red blends as well as a varietal bottling that they have produced for the past five vintages. The garnet-hued wine offers aromatics of watermelon rind, juniper berry, and rose petal, with salty and tangy flavors that finish with grippy tannins and peppery spice. It’s like a meal in and of itself but goes particularly well with Mediterranean dishes like Lebanese lamb meatballs, where the spice and high acid of the wine stand up to the rich meat dish.