Well, hello there, Operative!

Yesterday’s wine sold out in record time. We’re sorry if you missed out, but today we’ve got a doozy of a wine for you, the dark, delicious Ravenswood Winery 2012 Pickberry Vineyards Sonoma County Red Blend.

Today’s wine is the best-ever red blend that we’ve tasted from our dear friends at Ravenswood. This Ravenswood Winery 2012 Pickberry Vineyards Sonoma County Red Blend is a bold, rich, balanced and oh so delicious wine that our tasting panel absolutely adores. Grab some soon, before this wine sells out.

Super juicy, with bold fruits that are beautifully balanced by earthy notes. Blueberry jam, blackberry preserve, black cherry juice, bramble, mocha, black tea leaf, vanilla and cracked pepper. Brilliant and fragrant on the nose, with bold aromas of spiced Bing cherry, berry pie, sweet spice, blackberry jam, dusty bramble, coffee bean, toasty oak and cracked pepper.

Agent Red once asked Joel what his winemaking philosophy was. His answer: “Wines should reflect the flavors of the places that they were grown. Wine should taste like fruit, not oak. Wine should be balanced, rich and complex and interesting. The best wines are the ones that develop well with age.”

“To that end we attempt to let each vineyard express its optimal character by using winemaking techniques and careful attention to detail that dwells on each vineyards particular strengths. Our mantra is “no wimpy wines”, meaning that we want each wine we have to exhibit strength of character, not merely power.”

Thanks, Joel. We love you.

We grabbed up every last case that we could get our hands on but once we run out, we won’t be able to get any more of it.

Enjoy!

Here’s what the wine press has to say.

94 Points - Wine and Spirits Magazine - “A near-even blend of Merlot and Cabernet with some franc and Verdot, this comes from a vineyard that winemaker Joel Peterson has worked with since 1986. Planted on the cool northeastern slope of Sonoma Mountain in rocky volcanic soil, it tends to grow a tense wine, and the moderate 2012 vintage played into the vineyard’s hands perfectly, creating a Cabernet with a stony, sharply etched structure, racy brightness and pungent aromas of mint, black currant and violets. There’s an uncanny sense of purity here; hold onto this wine for another ten years or more.”