Zinfandel (49%), Pinot Noir (14%), Syrah (12%) and Carignane (11%), Grenache (9%) Sangiovese (5%).  Navarrouge is Navarro’s answer to what Spain, Italy and France do so well- make a good, honest, affordable red we can all afford!   This wine, over the decades, has been, depending on what’s good in the Navarro cellar, a light, aromatic red fashioned  almost entirely from Valdigue to much richer renditions based on Syrah, Zin and even Cabernet Sauvignon.  This year’s 2023 rendition of Navarrouge falls somewhere right in between, getting its lovely fruitiness and berry-ish personality from Zin but the Mendocino Pinot Noir Navarro does so well plays a starring role as well bringing a vein of black cherry, cinnamon spice and a crunchy, herbal background to the party.  Syrah weighs in with its darker, more brooding peppery notes, and let’s not forget that dash of eighty-year old Carignane, the proper squeeze of lemon needed to bring the entire cast of characters together into a delightful, really fun to drink whole!  Oh yeah, just because, there’s a bit of Grenache and Sangio in the blend for a little more of the yin-yang thing that makes this wine perfect!  There’s something very endearingly Old School about a California red wine you can just pop, pour and enjoy without worrying too much about whether everyone will like it (they will!) or whether or not you can afford to open another bottle (you can!)  Limited, alas, to our internal list and not purchasable on-line.  Get a case while I have it!