Ursa Vineyards 2005 and 2006 Lodi Silvaspoons Vineyard Tannats ($18)

If an award were given for the most obscure grape variety contributing to California's wine trade, it almost certainly would go to tannat.

A decade ago, just 10 acres of tannat were being grown in the state. The total now is about 200 acres, but compare that with the vast stretches of vineyards planted to cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel and chardonnay.

So what is tannat? It's a black grape used by the few California winemakers who are curious enough to experiment with it to produce a dark, ripe, firm and dry table wine.

Despite its rarity in California, the grape is ancient, having been cultivated in Europe since possibly the Middle Ages; the Oxford Companion to Wine suggests it originated in the Basque region. In Europe, it continues to provide the backbone for the reds of Madiran, an appellation in southwest France.

In their youth, those wines tend to be characterized by a firm structure and a biting astringency. Indeed, the grape's notoriously high tannin level may have inspired the name "tannat." To spread out those tannins and yield a gentler wine, tannat generally is blended with such varieties as cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc.

While plantings of tannat have been declining in France, they have been increasing in South America, particularly Uruguay, where Basque settlers introduced the variety in the 19th century. Today, tannat is Uruguay's most important wine grape, says the Oxford guide.

The Basque heritage is what prompted winemaker Deborah Elissagary, who with her husband, Greg Stokes, owns Ursa Vineyards in Camino, part of El Dorado County's Apple Hill district, to add tannat to their lineup, which runs largely to another blustery red wine, petite sirah.

For Elissagary, tannat is a way to acknowledge the Basque heritage of her father from the French side of the Pyrenees.

In both the 2005 and 2006 vintages of the Ursa Vineyards Lodi Silvaspoons Vineyard Tannat, Elissagary has captured a deeply colored and alluringly aromatic table wine whose tannins aren't so forboding that they interfere with the wine's plummy fruit or its suggestions of tobacco leaves -- some still green, some dried. Both vintages are intriguing, with a fine-boned European structure. While the color is dense and the fruit ripe, they are more elegant than rustic, with a tenacious finish that just brushes aside the tannins to reward the palate with exotic and continually beckoning flavors. Pleased with the quality of the tannat on its own, Elissagary didn't blend any other grape into the wine.

Both Elissagary and Stokes are veterans of David Bruce Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains, she as a winemaker, he as a winemaker and vineyardist. They established their own brand in 2001 and two years later moved to Apple Hill. They make around 2,500 cases of wine yearly, mostly petite sirah from vineyards - wherever they are in California - that do especially well by the variety. Their tannat is from Silvaspoons Vineyard outside Galt.

By the numbers: 13.8 percent alcohol and 200 cases for the 2005, 14.8 percent alcohol and 200 cases for the 2006; both $18. The couple are down to about 40 cases of the 2005, and when they are gone, the 2006 will be available.

Context: In a word, lamb, says Elissagary, though she also has found that the tannat's concentration and muscle make it a splendid companion for similarly robust meats like venison and buffalo.

Availability: The tannat is available only at the winery, 3550 Carson Road, Camino, open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, or online at www.ursavineyards.com. Their intimate tasting room is notable for the counter Stokes built with the help of their son Kyle, who came up with the layout of alternating concave and convex barrel staves across the front of the bar.

Longtime wine critic and competition judge Mike Dunne continues his relationship with The Bee as a contributing columnist to the Food & Wine section and www.sacwineregion.com. His wine selections are based solely on open and blind tastings, judging at competitions, and visits to wine regions. Reach him at mikedunne@winegigs.com.