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The Super Happy Happy Canyon AVA Red 2023 is a ten-buck Trader Joe’s exclusive. This Red is made by Field Recordings, an excellent winery in San Luis Obispo, inside Paso Robles. I searched the internet for information on this bottling and found nothing, leading me to believe it is only available at Trader Joe’s.
Field Recordings is Andrew Jones’ project, he is a winemaker and a vine nursery fieldman. He has traveled the Central Coast looking for forgotten vineyards to restore. Most of Field Recording’s eclectic line of wines have color-coded labels, The Super Happy has more of a 1950s wallpaper vibe.
The Super Happy Red is 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Sangiovese, and 20% Malbec sourced from a vineyard or vineyards in the Happy Canyon AVA inside the San Ynes AVA in southern Santa Barbra AVA.
Santa Barbra is about an hour or so north of Los Angeles which should be too warm to grow grapes, but a triangle-shaped part of the Santa Barbra coast juts out into the Pacific bringing cool water temperatures and wind to the north, west, and south. San Ynes is the southernmost AVA and Happy Canyon is in the eastern section of the San Ynes AVA.
Happy Canyon has warm days and cool nights which makes it an ideal location to grow these three grapes.
Field Recordings has retail wine from Happy Canyon in their portfolio called the Super Gnario Red it is a blend of Corvina and Rondinella, two grape varietals originally from the Veneto in Italy. It took them eight years to get the vines and the grapes to a place where they could produce wine. This is an indicator of the kind of effort they put into these wines. The alcohol content is 14.9%. the enclosure is a screwcap.
The Super Happy Happy Canyon AVA Red 2023 Tasting Notes
The color is cherry red with black highlights. The nose is a little rustic (I like rustic) there are notes of blackberry, mocha coffee, spice, and lightly herbal, with plum, and blueberry. The Super Happy Happy Canyon AVA Red 2023 is a sleek, Red with good flavor and structure.
The Red Blend tastes like extracted blackberry, sharp spice, blueberry, a hint of vanilla, and raspberry. The mid-palate shows orange zest, tart cranberry, a hint of creme brulee, and raisin spice.
The tannins do their job with biting and the acidity allows the flavors to fully unfold.
The Summary
- And from a highly respected winemaker and winery, this is a must-try wine!
- The Super Happy Happy Canyon AVA Red 2023 by Field Recordings is an excellent Red blend.
- A value-priced wine from a place that does not often show bargain wines.
