Smooth, delightful, inviting GSM. It delivers plum and red fruit on the initial attack and mid-palate, then boisterous blackberries on the finish. The GSM will go down easy with red wine drinkers, including faint-of-heart tipplers. Nice dinner-table wine when you do not want to go big and fancy, but with this baby you ain’t gonna eat out of Styrofoam containers either. $69
Excellent, ripe fruit. Delicious, especially after some air. A GSM like this, for me, works like a well-made Pinot Noir, a Sauvignon Blanc, or a Pinot Gris: it will go with almost anything you throw at it. OK, I am sure the peanut gallery can come up with exceptions, but I will stand by it as a general rule. There are go-to wines when you are bewildered about pairing. This is one of those wines. The pairing may not be perfect, but it will be close enough.
That exposes a conundrum when I suggest food pairings at the end of my wine stories/reviews. Most wines go with almost everything, especially if you like that wine. Yes, I have been fortunate to experience wine-food pairings that were fabulous. But I know the perfection exists in the penumbra surrounding the bonhomie of the people and place where the pairing occurred as much as any technical specifics of the wine and fare. I recommend this wine not because it is the perfect pair with some specific dish, but because it is likely to be more than good enough for anything you’ve cooked up.
Lindsay and Greg Hamilton met in Glasgow, Scotland, where Greg was working as a wine merchant, and Lindsay was on vacation. They discovered a mutual love of wine. After marriage, they moved to California and began making wine in 2011 out of a Berkeley garage using borrowed equipment. Their project bloomed, and in 2016 they moved to Kenwood in the Sonoma Valley to continue it. Then the 2017 Sonoma fires destroyed their home. Undeterred, they pushed on, pursuing their dream of a small, family-owned winery in Sonoma. Hamilton Family Wines is the result.
The winery crafts wines in small lots using grapes sourced across Sonoma County. Greg says he favors restraint and transparency, allowing the fruit and soil to take center stage. Jess Wade is the consulting winemaker. Wade shares Greg’s mission of focusing on balance and site expression.
Hamilton Family Wines GSM, Windsor Oaks Vineyard, Chalk Hill 2023: Medium ruby color; plum, red fruits, black cherry, blackberry jam on the nose and palate.
Dry; subdued, fine-grained tannins play well with supporting acidity. This is an exceptionally approachable GSM—50% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 25% Mourvèdre. Medium body, plush mouthfeel. Fermented with native yeasts and aged 15 months in neutral oak. You can pour this for people put off by red wine. Decant if you wish; some swirling in a generous glass also will work. 14.5% ABV
Pairing—Herb-crusted lamb with rosemary and garlic; slow-braised short ribs; grilled pork tenderloin; duck breast with spiced blackberry reduction. This is a little pricey for weekday casual, but if price doesn’t matter, it pairs with the lineup of comfort foods—from burgers…to dogs…to pizza—you get the idea. Cheese—Hard to go wrong here: Manchego, aged or smoked Gouda, Tomme de Savoie, mildly aged cheddar, Pecorino Toscano.
