New Concept Wine from Iconic Paso Robles Winery
April 11th – Paso Robles, CA—Linne Calodo today introduced the inaugural 2019 vintage of Level Headed, an estate-grown Grenache that underwent extended aging for 36 months in a French oak foudre. Level Headed marks the first addition to Linne Calodo’s lineup in more than five years.
“Our family of wines is fairly ironclad and limited to long-proven offerings,” said Owner-Winemaker Matt Trevisan. “But every so often I discover something super compelling and undeniable—this is how Level Headed came to be.”
The journey of Level Headed began in 2011, after Trevisan added French oak foudres to the Linne Calodo cellar as a complement to traditional oak barriques. A foudre is a large wooden vat rooted in Old World winemaking and widely used in the Rhône Valley.
In time, Trevisan became fascinated with how his wines aged more slowly and differently in these large wooden tanks. Starting with the 2019 vintage, he committed to tapping the full potential of these vessels.
“I finally took a breath, sat back and decided to watch the beauty that evolves from aging a wine longer in one of these foudres,” said Trevisan. “Cellaring a wine in wood for three years isn’t an efficient business practice, but there was no other way to achieve my concept for this wine.”
The 2019 Level Headed comes from Gabbi’s Block at Linne Calodo’s estate Stonethrower vineyard, located just 10 miles from the ocean at an elevation of 1,350 feet. Gabbi’s Block is a steep northeast facing parcel that terminates along an exposed hilltop. The slope is 40 percent at its steepest, and yields are naturally low.
“This was the perfect Grenache fruit for this treatment,” Trevisan said. “It had the native nuance and structure to evolve favorably while retaining its structure over a long period of time.”
The Grenache was pressed into a 2,700-liter concrete tank and topped with Syrah, which brought enhanced width and body to the wine. In April following harvest, the blend was racked to a 3,000-liter French oak foudre for an extended maturation totaling 36 months.
The resulting wine exhibits a unique sense of style and dimension that could only come from this foudre aging treatment. The palate is expansive and engulfing. Plush textures, brambly fruits and sustained notes of cinnamon linger on a sleek, vibrant finish.
The 2019 Level Headed ($95; 280 cases produced) is available at LinneCalodo.com in limited quantities with an additional allocation only available at the winery tasting room in the Willow Creek District. This allocation also accompanies two new spring releases: the 2022 Contrarian white blend and 2022 Pale Flowers rosé.
Established in 1998 by Matt and Maureen Trevisan, Linne Calodo is a pioneering icon of Rhône-variety blends and Zinfandel-based wines from Paso Robles. The winery is named after the calcareous Linne Calodo soils found at the estate vineyard in the westside Willow Creek District. Winemaker Matt Trevisan subscribes to a “nature positive” farming ethos that emphasizes biodiversity, native lifeforms and species coexistence for the sake of creating responsibly grown, vineyard-centric wines. Visit the secluded Linne Calodo tasting room at the corner of Highway 46 West and Vineyard Drive, situated adjacent to the working winery and estate vineyard. See LinneCalodo.com.
