This wine won Gold here in Sonoma County before it was ever released for sale, in a class created especially for wines that are blends, wines that are not labeled as single varietals. As you can imagine this catch-all category is one of the largest and most competitive in this event. That last statement was not an attempt to brag; that comes now when I let you know that this Barn D’Or blend won Gold with both the 2004 and 2005 vintages prior to this latest victory; and has been listed as a “Best Buy” or “Best Value” on some wine critics’ year-end list the last 3 years running.

This wine spends two full years in barrel; for me that is the way Cabernet Sauvignon reaches its full potential and then adding the fact that this is a blend, it benefits double from this part of my philosophy. You will notice how lush and round this wine is in your mouth yet without any sacrifice to the ultra-full body – this process of extended barrel age is one factor that helps make this happen. Cabernet and Syrah are both grapes with substantial tannin – during its maturation in the barrel there is an ultra-fine exchange of oxygen into the wine through the staves of the barrel and the pores of the French Oak. This helps the small tannin molecules find one another and bond together to create larger tannin molecules which have a softer mouthfeel, more mouth coating than astringent.

Because of this extended time in barrel I have my barrels made only from two specific forests in France that are in the coldest area of the Country, in this region the trees age more slowly, making the grain of the wood much tighter, this insures that during the extended time in barrel I keep a very subtle oak profile, never losing that crucial flavor balance while I work to improve the texture. Another feature to this extended time in barrel is that fatty acid compounds have more time to form and add even more to the velvety nature of these concentrated red wines. Last, with this blend, I multiply the benefits of the extended barrel aging yet again by putting the final blend together, the magical combination that I feel expresses something unique and exotic at the end of the first year – then once I assemble the wine into that blend it is returned to barrel so the flavors of the two varietals can marry together that second year helping to develop that seamless personality.

This second year of maturity in the barrel as the final wine will help it become not just a different version of Cabernet or Syrah but take on a special character of its own. Then once the wine is finally bottled I age it an additional year in bottle to allow even more character and texture development before releasing it to you. Wow, lots of time and patience and attention to detail for one moment at the dinner table – grapes picked in 2006 sent to you to be savored in 2010 – 4 years later.