Alara Cellars, San Benito County (California) Negrette 2016

 I’ll confess a somewhat underdeveloped reference frame for this grape variety, and I imagine there’s not much of it out there coming in at sixteen plus alcohol, but there’s a yum factor here that cannot be denied.  Think of it as a late harvest Zinfandel with gravitas, and pair with stinky cheeses for a short trip to paradise.