Divergence
55% Cabernet Sauvignon/45% Mourvedre | Paso Robles
Limited Availability
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Divergence is the result of our love for the new Spanish wines that have emerged in the past few years, particularly those from Bodegas El Nido in Jumilla. You'll see El Nido referenced a lot on this page. Please don't think we're trying to compete with El Nido. That wine is stunning, and if you haven't tried it, we feel you owe it to yourself to pick up a bottle sometime. Even though we made a wine in a similar style, the wines taste quite different. We continue to love, buy, and drink El Nido. And we think you should too!
With something as new as Divergence, we felt it was important for us to provide something other than just our glowing praise of the wine. So rather than mesmerize you with our notes, we thought you like to know what some other El Nido lovers have to say about Divergence. You can also follow the discussion about Divergence at wineberserkers.com.
Humberto Dorta
Brian set out to make a wine comparable to one of his favorite wines, El Nido. As it is also one of my favorites, I approached this wine with cautious optimism. The bottle has a very cool label btw, and it is screw cap :) This wine was just bottled, so this is definitely a baby kill but who can wait to find out? 55% Cab, 45% Mourvedre.
The core of the wine in the glass is opaque but when held up to light some light does get through showing ruby colored liquid. The edges have ruby and purple hues. This one has one of the things I love about big bold reds. I can smell it from 2 feet away, mind you this was just bottled last week! The nose is huge and primary with very ripe blackberry, framboise, dark chocolate and baking spices. The palate...also huge. Bright red berries and blackberries up front along with cinnamon and a little vanilla, followed but a full mid-palate (one of my frequent complaints with big wines is usually hollow mid-palates) with great cleansing acidity. The finish is very long and while there are tannins to spare they are overshadowed by the bright fruit. There is a very slight toffee like aftertaste possibly from oak? The heat is present (15.3% alcohol) but not intrusive.
So...did Brian succeed? In my book he surpassed my expectations. I like this better already than my favorite El Nido. The oak is more restrained, it's in slightly better balance (already!) and the fruit is brighter, I see the moniker of chocolate shake given to El Nido (which I love) but I don't think you could call this wine that. If you like big slutty wines in the vein of El Nido, Godolphin (Anaparenna now I guess), Velvet Glove, Saxum, you should offer Brian your first child to be able to buy some of this.
Can't wait to see what air and age will do to this. BTW liking similar wines in the US cab/syrah market, I think Parker would give this a shockingly high score.
Day two the wine is holding up nicely. Still nose of mocha and blackberries. Palate is still huge with a little less tannin and the sweetness a bit turned up. Still awesome.
Day three: The nose is still intense but now the mocha notes are predominant. Some blackberries still present. The palate has lost what little heat it showed and only a blackberry beam is left. Baking spices are still there. The fruit remains intense. This wine may last forever...jeez. Very strong work Mr. Loring. A new must have for me.
Yoni Ovadia
TASTED BLIND: Deep Dark inky color to the wine. Sat in the decanter for a few hours. At first whiff, this come off as a Napa Cab with tons of oak. I’m getting that milky/choclately flavor I get with young Cabs when first opened. We left it alone for a few hours and came back to it. Wine has changed IMMENSELY. No longer getting the milky/choclately part of the oak, but I’m now getting the brown sugar/maple syrup part of the oak. A ton of dark fruits and black cherries coming through on the nose along with some earth. On the palate this is a huge wine, full of all the flavors that I envisioned on the nose. Mouth-filling with a long, spicy finish. This is not for the faint of heart. There is a good back bone to this so it should hold for at least a few years. I would say about 5-10 years and this will hit its stride.
and well made
Now, what do I think this wine is? Originally went with Cabernet and then kind of veered off from there. This reminded me a lot of the 2005 Saxum Bone Rock in its infancy. I am going to go with a Grenache/Mourvedre blend from the central coast, 2007 or later. When the wine was revealed to me, I got it mostly right. 2008 Loring Divergence. 55% Cab/45% Mourvedre. If I would have stuck with my original Cabernet prognosis and added the Mourvedre I would have been dead on. Very good wine and well made.
Randy Bowman
If this wine is bottle shocked from the overnight shipping then those of you who prefer old world wines should step away from the bottle. What gorgeous fruit up front and mid palate with a delectable finish. On each sip there is the onrush of dark berries followed by varying hints of spices and the lingering finish can be manipulated by chewing or swishing the wine in your mouth. Espresso is there, dark chocolate is present, hints of cinnamon, hints of black pepper and the list goes on. My teeth are black after a half a glass, or so and I had to use a 300,000 candle power flashlight to see through this opaque beauty.
If this is going to get better with time, I'm scared.
Excellent, excellent effort. The label is also unique and appealing. It is really too bad that you only made enough for Humberto, Carrie, me and yourself. If this is going to get better with time, I'm scared.
Carrie Bowman
We just sat down with our bottle of Divergence, gave it a couple hours before diving in. Humberto's notes are right on, the aromatics jump out of the glass . I love the spice, espresso, dark chocolate intermingled with the dark fruit, it's like sticking your face into a bowl of ripe blackberries and taking a bite. The finish keeps going & going. It's amazing how much this already has going for it since it was just bottled. The alcohol is there but not overpowering, with some time I bet it won't be noticeable. After having tried a barrel sample of this at LoringFest I was looking forward to it in bottle, Brian did not disappoint. It is in true fashion of those big luscious wines that deliver a wonderful mouthful of scrumptiousness (is that a word?).
If I recall there won't be much of the Divergence. I hope we can get more than a sample . If you don't have a first born to offer Brian, I would say offer up all your El Nido.
Brian Grafstrom
Tons of chocolaty oak; huge wine; oaky spice; tiny touch of heat in the belly; good acidity, but not juicy; long finish; the Cab. seems to really come through on the finish; 15.3% alc.; a touch sweet, but not r.s.-sweet – rather, this seemed to be sweetness from the oak; long finish. Very well-done; much better than the Clio.
You know, it IS a massive wine, but, in my opinion, it handles its heft with grace. I am usually NOT a fan of huge oak (and neither is Yoni), and the loads of oak on your Divergence was not lost on us — buuuut, we kept turning to each other and saying, “… but I really don’t mind it here; there’s enough fruit to support it.” So, job well-done on making an oaky wine that moderate oakaphobes thoroughly enjoyed!
Yoni and I both agreed that anyone who’s willing to buy El Nido at its regular retail price should basically be flipping head-over-heels at the opportunity to purchase your Divergence at the price you are offering it.