2022 Orin Swift Machete Red Blend California

Orin Swift called this one the baddest wine of them all. They are not wrong.

Machete is Dave Phinney's Petite Sirah project, and the whole point of it is to put that grape center stage. Petite Sirah is a bruiser: dark, tannic, built like a linebacker. Most winemakers use it to prop up softer reds.

Phinney does the opposite. He leads with it, then folds in Syrah and Grenache to give it shape. The 2023 is Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Grenache, aged twelve months in French oak, 35% of it new.

The fruit comes from three counties: Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino. The blend shifts a little every vintage, so no two Machetes are exactly alike. What stays constant is the intent. This is a big, unapologetic California red. It pours almost black and fills the glass with plum, wild blackberry, and crushed stone.

Then there is the bottle. Orin Swift ships Machete under twelve different labels, and collectors chase them the way people chase album pressings. The label is half the reason this wine has the following it does. The other half is what's inside.

Open it for a steak, a crowd, or a night you want to remember.

Decant it an hour. It rewards the wait.