Deep Purple

Our approach to winemaking is a bit like a Renaissance painter’s strategy for painting. First, he would grind pigments to prepare a selection of paints. Then, he’d begin to create. Typically, the combination of paints created art more powerful than just one color alone; occasionally, however, one color was so pure and perfect it was destined to make a statement on its own.

Every crush, we build our “paint box” by making small lots of a number of different wines. Before bottling, we taste them and begin to “paint”, combining two or more varieties in varying ratios to see what makes the most flavorful “picture”. If making wine is science, blending assuredly is art.

Petit Verdot is one of those wines that you’ll see in a Bordeaux-style paint box; it features prominently in many great Cabernet Sauvignon- or Merlot-based blends to add depth, color, and structure. It can be, however, a lovely wine all by itself, deeply purple with dark berry flavors.

Ours starts with violets—it’s intensely floral. There’s a spiciness behind the flowers that makes us think of cinnamon with a little white pepper. There’s a strong dark berry aroma. Sometimes it seems more blueberry; others, more black.

In the mouth, there’s an overwhelming sense of purple. It’s very juicy—mostly blackberry, but you might find some boysenberries or ollallieberries in there, too. There are plenty of tannis that are firm but not overly drying; there’s a sense of coffee flavor about them with, maybe, a little cocoa, too.

Petit Verdot is a big, but not overwhelming, wine that will take on strongly flavored food: red meat, duck, and barbecued ribs are complemented. It also works well with savory dishes; a cassoulet with duck, sausage, and beans pairs well. For dessert, pair it with harder aged cheeses.

Technical Data:

Appellation: Mendocino County, vineyard certified organic
Blend: 97% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot
Alcohol: 13.2%
Acidity: 0.55 g/100 mL
Residual Sugar: < 0.1%
pH: 3.75
Malolactic Fermentation: Complete
Barrels: 1, 2, and 3 year old French oak
Harvest Date: October 27, 2009
Bottling Date: August 23, 2010
Release Date: October 31, 2010
Total Production: 48 Cases
Price: $29