90% Barbera, 8% Merlot 2% Cabernet Sauvignon Rich red color with aromas of berry pie, sweet toasted notes, and a little oak. The flavors are big up front, a sweet raspberry jam mixed with some spicy pepper with an almost crisp finish. Great with food or just on its own.
2021 was a very interesting growing season. The winter was normal and spring started off nice and smooth. Temperatures slowly warmed and the grapes went through set and bloom right on time. In late June we had a heatwave that impacted the rest of the vintage. We hit a high of 118 degrees and had over 45 days of triple digit weather. The grapes stayed small and the crop load was smaller but loaded with intense flavors. We started picking early September and finished in late October.
The flavors in our Barbera are some of my favorite. We try and keep the tonnage around 3.5 tons per acre to produce flavorful fruit. We machined harvested the fruit and fermented it in two batches, each with a different yeast. After fermenting the wine was pressed off and transferred to a combination of French and American oak to age. Before filtration and bottling the wine was blended, a little Merlot for mid-palate and some Cabernet Sauvignon for the finish.
