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Press Gang Cellars

Cuvee Milo Red Blend 2018

Price: $34.95
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Tasting notes

The Cuvee Milo pulls from two contrasting Santa Barbara appellations in a single bottle: warm-climate Los Olivos District Grenache and Mourvedre paired with Sta. Rita Hills Syrah from the cooler eastern edge of that appellation. The combination gives the wine its distinctive tension, with blueberry and black currant up front and a savory finish of graphite, cocoa, and anise that keeps things interesting.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
BlueberryBlack CurrantCocoaAnise
  • Style: Dry, medium-bodied Rhone blend; Santa Barbara County; black currant, blueberry, cocoa, anise; 160 cases produced
  • Grapes & Terroir: 47% Grenache Noir (La Certe Vineyard, Los Olivos District AVA), 38% Syrah (Robert Rea Ranch, Sta. Rita Hills AVA), 15% Mourvedre (La Certe Vineyard, Los Olivos District AVA); alluvial sandy loam and clay loam soils
  • Winemaking: Native yeast fermentation; cold soak; ~25% whole cluster; extended barrel aging; hand-picked and hand-sorted fruit
  • Serving: Serve at 60-65F; 20-30 min decant recommended
  • Pairing: Lamb chops, merguez sausage, duck with tapenade, mushroom dishes
  • Similar To: For fans of Southern Rhone GSM blends and cool-climate California Syrah who want small-production, low-intervention winemaking

Cuvee Milo is a Rhone-style GSM blend from Press Gang Cellars, a micro-production label run by Kyle and Savanna Knapp out of Lompoc, California. The wine draws from two distinct Santa Barbara County appellations: 47% Grenache Noir and 15% Mourvedre from La Certe Vineyard in the Los Olivos District AVA, and 38% Syrah from Robert Rea Ranch, located at the eastern edge of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Only 160 cases were produced.

The Grenache and Mourvedre from La Certe come from the Los Olivos District, a broad alluvial terrace along the Santa Ynez River with gravelly fine sandy loam and clay loam soils of low to moderate fertility. Elevations within the appellation range from roughly 400 to 1,000 feet. The Syrah from Robert Rea Ranch grows at the cooler eastern boundary of Sta. Rita Hills, where sandy loam and marine-influenced soils slow ripening and preserve acidity.

Kyle Knapp ferments with native yeast and employs a cold soak before fermentation. He typically incorporates around 25% whole cluster and uses extended barrel aging. The result is a wine with the freshness and transparency typical of low-intervention winemaking, while still reflecting the warm-climate concentration of Santa Barbara County Rhone fruit.

Aromatically, the wine shows blue and black fruit, black currant, blueberry, cocoa powder, anise, graphite, and roasted meat. It is layered and structured without being heavy, with a profile that sits comfortably between a Provencal GSM and a cool-climate California Syrah-driven blend.

Serve alongside lamb chops with herbed crust, grilled merguez sausage, or a slow-braised short rib. The savory, cocoa-tinged finish makes it a natural match for dishes with earthy depth, such as mushroom-stuffed chicken thighs or roasted duck with olive tapenade.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Medium Body
Grapes:, 47% Grenache Noir, 38% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre
Farming:, Sustainable
Vintage:, 2018
Alcohol:, N/A
Country:, USA
Region:, Santa Barbara County
Appellation:, Santa Barbara County
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


Important Compliance Requirements

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package, carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older.


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If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


Re-routing a Package

If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.


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If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.


Heat/Frost damage

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.


Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

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4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Press Gang Cellars

Kyle Knapp founded Press Gang Cellars in Lompoc, California in 2010 alongside his wife Savanna. His first exposure to winemaking came in 2005 during harvest at Beckmen Vineyards, followed by a vintage in Western Australia. He subsequently worked his way up through Santa Barbara County cellars and served as Head Winemaker at Stolpman Vineyards. The label name comes from a song by The Murder City Devils, which Knapp has cited as an example of music inspiring his work.

Press Gang is a deliberately small operation. Case production across all wines has typically stayed well under 1,000 cases per year, with individual bottlings often produced in lots of 35 to 160 cases. Knapp sources fruit exclusively from Santa Barbara County vineyards he considers to be like-minded in their growing approach. His focus since the label's inception has been on Grenache, Syrah, and Roussanne.

Knapp's winemaking approach centers on native yeast fermentation, a cold soak before fermentation, and the inclusion of around 25% whole-cluster fruit. He practices extended barrel aging, historically in the range of 25 to 28 months. The goal is minimal intervention in the cellar while letting vineyard character drive the wine. All fruit is hand-picked and hand-sorted. Cuvee Milo, the GSM blend, is named after his son.

Wine region

Santa Barbara County, USA

Santa Barbara County sits at the southernmost tip of California's Central Coast AVA and contains seven federally recognized sub-appellations: Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, Sta. Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon, Los Olivos District, Happy Canyon, and Alisos Canyon. The county's unique east-west mountain orientation channels Pacific fog and cool air directly inland, creating an unusually long growing season and strong diurnal temperature swings. Moving west to east through the Santa Ynez Valley, the climate shifts from cold and foggy near the coast to warm and dry further inland.

The Los Olivos District AVA, established in January 2016, sits on a broad alluvial terrace plain of the Santa Ynez River between Ballard Canyon to the west and Happy Canyon to the east. Elevations range from roughly 400 feet along the river to 1,000 feet in the northern foothills of the San Rafael Mountains. Soils are predominantly well-drained gravelly fine sandy loam and clay loam with low to moderate fertility, well-suited to Rhone and Bordeaux varieties. Sta. Rita Hills, to the west, is a cooler, foggier sub-AVA whose sandy, marine-influenced soils and proximity to the Pacific make it the county's benchmark for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and cool-climate Syrah.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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