Rebellion, according to Wikipedia, “is a refusal of obedience or order”.

Rebellion according to this bottle is, grapes that wildly fermented with indigenous yeast.

This is a natural type of wine.  Nothing added (except sulphur at the crush pad organic nutrients during fermentation) this is what happens naturally to grapes when you let their own naturally forming yeast do the work.

This also happens to be Shinn Estate Vineyards first release of the  “benchmark 2007 vintage”, that according to the back of the bottle (and from what I have tasted).  Only 49 cases of this wine were produced.  That is 588 bottles.  Not alot, but there was alot happening with this bottle.

On the nose I was getting a huge amount of Cherry and raspberry.  There was some floral notes that I just could not put my finger on.  I was getting some earthy minerality.  Reminded me of freshly opened bag of topsoil.  The minerality was a wet slate essence.  I was also getting some spicy dried herbs, a toasty vanilla aroma and the faintest smell of coca powder.

The taste was amazing.  Not like any other Shinn merlot I had, and I have had some.  It was a bit tight at first…so I let it alone for about an hour in my glass.

After that time I was picking up an awesomely good Bing cherry tartness, some roasted coffee bean and an herbal note that reminded me of bay leaf.  There was this element of exotic spiciness that I find and love in Shinn Estate Vineyards wine; it was a bit on the peppery side but not a biting spice, very enjoyable.

I have to say, this wine was very thirst quenching.  There were alot of tannins here, but not the kind that made it undrinkable.  The kind of tannins that made me take another sip and another sip and another sip, where I had to refill my glass.

My wife loved it, and she too wanted more.  It satisfied he thirst as well.

This is retailing in the tasting room for $25 a bottle and it is well worth it.  I tasted this the second day and the tannins were much softer, not as thirst quenching but still just as good.  The fruit elements of the wine were showing a bit more.

I wanted to try this along with the 2007 Estate Merlot, but I figured I would do that another day.

I highly recommend you pick up a bottle of this “Rebellion”.  I picked up 2 so that leaves only about 586 left.

Thomas Jefferson once said, “I like a little rebellion now and then.”  I promise, you will too.

Notice the Ingredients on the back of the label...Very Cool!