Is Weed Wine Nonetheless Related within the Age of Edibles?

Mr. Mahle likes to make use of Rhône grapes like grenache or mourvèdre, and he prefers to make a rosé.

“I solely needed a rosé,” he mentioned. “Purple wine didn’t make sense to me. It appeared like sort of a sundowner sip.”

On a latest go to to Mr. Mahle in Sebastopol, the place he’s primarily based, I tasted two of his weed wines, a 2015 grenache rosé, a mild, natural wine, and a 2013 mourvèdre rosé, natural, minty and mineral. I assumed the 2013 was particularly scrumptious and confirmed how nicely these wines might age. The excitement? I confess, I spit the wines so didn’t expertise the total impact. It appeared the skilled factor to do, notably at 9:30 within the morning.

Mr. Lindquist, too, makes a grenache rosé, however particularly enjoys a syrah-based darkish rosé.

“It has a good looking coloration and a whole lot of daring, meaty, smoky traits,” he mentioned. He additionally likes white variations made with marsanne or viognier.

As for the number of weed, within the previous days it was exhausting to be too particular, however now, after legalization, which has made so many alternative strains out there, he has choices. He prefers Cherry Pie, a hybrid pressure of indica and sativa, the 2 most important species of hashish. He grows it himself — as much as six crops for dwelling use is authorized in California — and believes it’s predominantly sativa, which is alleged to provide a extra energetic excessive than indica.

“I’m guessing there’s no regulation of what Cherry Pie is meant to be,” he mentioned.

Mr. Lindquist mentioned he likes to make a barrel or two each different 12 months, and he stays an fanatic, ingesting it a few instances a month, “relying on who we’ve got over to dinner.” He made a rosé in 2021 and plans to make a marsanne this 12 months. Now, he mentioned, his weed wines are authorized: “It quantities to a house winemaker making it.” And if federal rules ever modified, he may think about promoting his weed wines commercially.