Barbera Lake County 2007

Vineyards

Barbera is one of the foundation grapes of the Piedmont in Italy, and has a history in California spanning over 100 years. The bright fruit, hinting of plums, lively spiciness and crisp acidity make this an extremely versatile food wine. The grapes for our Barbera are sourced from the Dorn Vineyard located on a gravelly bench overlooking the Big Valley of Clear Lake at about 1500 feet elevation.

Winemaking

The grapes were fermented in small lots for 7 to 10 days, with the cap of grape skins punched down by hand two or three times per day into the underlying juice to extract the deep red colors of the berry. Jed likes to emphasize the fruit character of the wine, so it is aged in mostly neutral (older) oak barrels, with some new American and Hungarian oak barrels used to extract a just hint of oak flavor.