2012 Three Wine Company Carignane Lucchesi Vineyard Contra Costa County 750 ml

Matt Cline’s Big Discovery

In the mid-’80s, Matt Cline made a big discovery. He would be the first winemaker to identify the ancient-vine opportunities of Contra Costa County. One by one, he entered into handshake agreements for the fruit off plantings dating back to 1885 or older. One particular vineyard — Lucchesi — was planted to ancient-vine Carignane. Today, we all reap the rewards of the foresight of these pioneering plantings — Carignane is one of the great grapes of the rich, powerful wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Priorat. In the New World, as Jancis Robinson, MW says, “Contra Costa and Barossa Valley are currently able to produce remarkable reds simply because of the age of their ancient vines.” From this site, Matt turned out a phenomenal 2012 Three Wine Company old vine red, infused with extravagant black-fruit concentration, yet braced by mouthwatering acidity, courtesy of the New Delhi sandy-soils in the vineyard. Keep reading to find out why this is a wine that almost never was. But first, we suggest hitting “Buy.” 

Matt Cline’s 2012 Three Wine Company Carignane Lucchesi Vineyard holds a special place in our hearts at Wine Access. Truly, this wine wouldn’t exist without us, and especially YOU. The ancient, 112-year-old Carignan vines from Alan Lucchesi’s dry-farmed vineyard were almost uprooted by the California Department of Water Resources. Almost. But demand for this voluptuous, black-fruited bottling was so high, that when we rallied you, the Wine Access faithful, to write to the Water Department and urge, no, compel them to preserve this historic vineyard, you did. 

Thirty years ago, a young Matt Cline, fresh out of UC Davis, returned to his grandfather's ranch east of San Francisco Bay on the white sands of Oakley. He scoured Contra Costa County before setting his sights on a handful of vineyards that had been planted by Italian immigrants more than a decade before the turn of the 20th century. One of his greatest finds was the Lucchesi Vineyard, set at the mouth of San Joaquin River, where the breezes off the water took the edge off the summer heat.

For 25 years, little more than a handshake was necessary for Matt to lay claim to the best blocks of Alan Lucchesi’s old-vine Carignan. The results spoke for themselves — Matt’s wines were consistently among the most in-demand and highest rated bottlings Wine Access had to offer. So, when the California Department of Water Resources decided they wanted to repurpose the Lucchesi Vineyard as part of a wetlands restoration project, we weren’t having it, and neither were you.

Today we reap our reward: the vintage that almost never was, at a 37% discount. You earned it.