Dry Mission wines

Story Winery Mission Shenandoah Valley 2013 ($26, 14.4%):

Winemaker-owner Rob Campbell’s 120-year-old Mission vines produce a translucent, ruby-colored wine that smells dusty and earthy. A fresh, juicy nose — imagine the juice oozing from a ripe apple as you bite it — moves, on the palate, into a slightly funkier, more umami-rich profile.

Story Winery Miss-Zin Shenandoah Valley 2013 ($26, 14.5%):

A 50-50 blend of Story’s old-vine Zinfandel and Mission grapes, this wine softly conveys the delicacy of Mission on the nose and its pithy, funky bite — but the Zinfandel croons loudly, with blueberry, purple flowers and tons of spice.

Harrington Mission Somers Vineyard Lodi 2015 ($22, 13.4%):

San Francisco winemaker Bryan Harrington ferments his Mission grapes — from the Somers Vineyard, likely planted 60 or 70 years ago — by carbonic maceration, which emphasizes their light, bright, candied-fruit flavors. While his 2016 is fuchsia-colored and cloudy, the 2015 has now turned crimson and clear, its aromas evolved from fruit to earth. You can’t possibly expect, from looking at this pale wine, how very tannic it is.

Broc Cellars Mission Somers Vineyard Lodi 2016 (not yet released):

Looks like an aged Bandol rosé, but tastes nothing like one. Also made by carbonic maceration, Chris Brockway’s wine smells like strawberry cordial and tastes like bitter, slightly smoky citrus peel.

Envinate 2015 Tenerife Benje Tinto ($21.99, 12.5%):

This Canary Islands wine, made primarily of Listán Prieto, looks like cranberry juice. Funkier than any of the California versions I tried, it’s reductive, with a subtle baking spice component and rosy aromas.

Louis-Antoine Luyt Pipeño Pilluco 2015 ($18.99/1L, 13%):

Burgundy-born Louis-Antoine Luyt has become something of a hero in natural wine-loving circles; under the Pipeño label, he makes a number of vineyard-designated Pais wines from Chile’s Maule Valley. The 2015 Pilluco smells like orange blossoms and apple juice, tasting cleaner than the Envinate wine. Extremely expressive, you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for a naturally made Gamay or Trousseau.

Miraflores “1853 Misión” Sierra Foothills 2015 ($28, 14.1%):

From the Deaver Vineyard in Amador County, planted in 1853, winemaker Marco Capelli’s is the ripest-tasting of the dry Mission wines here. It smells like Cherry Laffy Taffy, tastes like figs and dates. A candied wine without being sweet at all — which masks some of the extreme, bitter tannins.