“Le Barrettage is a Rhone-lover’s dream wine. Our Syrah-based blend showcases our favorite vineyard sites and melds an old-world sensibility with the power of Napa Valley fruit. Rich, velvety, earthy, and ripe, Le Barrettage has won many fans with its unique character and beautiful flavor profile.

The name came to me a couple winters ago while driving up to Tahoe to go skiing. It’s a fusion of my last name with the classic Rhone wines from L’Hermitage. Just makes you smile! There will be even more smiling when you taste this amazingly rich, silky and absolutely delicious wine. We have kept the Rhone style bottle but the new label has some delightful surprises. The blend comes from our own Barrett Vineyards Syrah, a tiny little 2-acre block at the foot of Mount St. Helena, a favorite vineyard in the hills of St Helena, plus a dollop of Petite Sirah from a neighbor vineyard in Calistoga. All are exceptional vineyard sites, quite rocky and steep, producing an incredibly layered, textural, and complex wine. I was only able to make 255 cases of this special bottling so I hope you will get a chance to enjoy it.

This is a high pigment vintage. The wine coats the glass with a very deep ruby blackberry color. Aromas are deep and rich of black plums, molasses, pomegranate, clove spice, venison, violets, and other fresh flowers. It is fully ripe and concentrated, dense, lush, and mouth-coating. Nice layering and a big ripe expression of this gorgeous variety. This is quite a hearty big red wine that is begging for grilled meats, ribs(!), steak, venison, duck, spicy sausage, rich pasta, or lasagna. Flavors persist with lovely balance and a long silky finish. I allowed the wine to open up for about 20 minutes before these notes as it is quite young. Further time gives greater results as it opens up showing what can happen with additional age. If you just can’t wait, you may consider a moderate decant, though I’m not normally a fan except for older wines with sediment or extremely young wines that need to awaken. This is a delicious wine. The resulting blend is greater than the sum of its parts showing the dense, rewarding concentration and the magic of skilled blending.” - Heidi Barrett, October 24, 2013