Troublemaker is a wine from the Hope Family Winery, which is based in Paso Robles, the central coast of California. As Hope has five brands, I will specify that Troublemaker specifically belongs to Austin Hope. As the wine’s name would suggest, is indeed a troublesome and wild wine. It is also, non-vintage meaning that its grapes are not of a specific year. Instead, it consists of all five Rhône grape varieties: Syrah, Petite Syrah, Granche, Mourvedre, and Zinfandel.
The Rhône refers to the Rhône wine region (the Rhône valley) of Southern France. With five wine varieties that are aged (15-27 months) in French and American oak barrels, and all harvested at different dates, Troublemaker is a jungle complex of flavors and smell, each bottle never exactly the same. It is overall dry. It is dry, smoky, peppery, and savory, accompanied with the slightly sweeter notes of chocolate, caramel, and black cherry.