We are please to be rolling out our new red blend; as the winemaker, I am very pleased with this wine!  We have not produced a blended red since 2008, which was our Cabernet-Merlot that was awarded a Double Gold at the Seattle Wine Awards.  Opening a bottle of this 10-year-old wine not long ago, and experiencing how well it had developed with those years of aging, we decided to once again return to our tradition of doing a Cabernet based blend.

The passion about this type of wine goes back to my first experience working on a vineyard in the Bordeaux region of France in 1979.  The actual selection of the vineyard sources, the varietals for the potential wine, the barrel selection for aging is quite fun, but also challenging.  Finalizing the actual combination is more difficult, in that my palette becomes fatigued with tasting the proposed blends.

Well, after all that hard work (someone had to do it!), the wine ended up with Cabernet at 40%, Merlot 30%, Malbec 18% and Sangiovese at 12%.  There was new French Oak used on 45% of the wine, adding a rich note, but not overpowering the end product.  There is nice fruit finish from Sangio, tannic structure from Malbec and the richness of Cabernet.  I feel that this wine is tasting wonderful now, but it will mature and develop more fullness for years to come; definitely worth cellaring!

AUGUST UPDATE!  This hard work paid off, we have now received two GOLD MEDALS, one each from the Seattle Wine Awards and the Savor NW Wine Competition!