2018 Barden Grenache

About 2018 Barden Grenache:

Sexy, light red, fine, beautiful, delicate, fancy, exquisite, feminine, pretty, lovely, silky, exotic, secret, handmade, seductive, luxurious, and provocative. Barden Grenache is good to drink up to 2036

Tasting Notes:

Color: Medium dark red with subtle black notes. Deceptively light.
Aroma: Cold climate aromas of red fruit flavors with a subtle, pink peppercorn spice.
Palate: Fruity with flavors of plum and black cherry, earth & mineral notes of shale finished with an alluring complexity full of pepper and Asian spice.

Barrel Selection:

Aged in a 2,000 liter French oak foudre for ten months.

Growing Notes:

Sta Rita Hills, Santa Rosa Road, North facing slopes on uplifted oceanic sedimentary deposits, valley oriented in east-west direction allowing cool ocean air to roll in each evening bringing cool, damp air that pushes back the warmer interior valley heat. Foggy mornings also limit sun exposure along with cooler temps that depress plant growth and subsequent yield.

2018 a “normal” vintage allowed the vineyard to have a longer picking season, as the fall days became cooler and the days shorter. The first grapes ripened in early to mid-September and the last varietals hung on vines until early November. With August start dates the harvest becomes very compacted as the heat of summer ripens the grapes quicker. It was a mellow growing season and the lack of any dramatic weather kept the vines healthy and happy with no signs of yellowing leaves and vines shutting down. Mild weather allows for more hang time which means the grapes reach that perfect balance of acidity and brix and develop more complex flavors.

Harvest Dates: 10/19/2018

Winemaking Notes:

Making cold climate Grenache is a serious matter. Open top fermentation and punched down by men and women atop a one ton open top fermenters. Free run juice was aged in a 2,000 liter French oak foudre for ten months.

About The Winery:

Doug Margerum has been involved in the Santa Barbara food and wine scene for over 35 years. Upon graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1981, his family purchased WINE CASK. In 1994 the WINE CASK became one of 74 restaurants in the world to earn the Wine Spectator Grand Award. Doug sold the WINE CASK in 2007.

Doug launched the Santa Barbara WINE CASK Futures Program in 1984, which elevated the exposure nationally of Santa Barbara Wine Country. From 1986 to 1998, Doug owned VITA NOVA winery with Bob Lindquist (Qupé) and Jim Clendenen (Au Bon Climat).  In 2001, Margerum Wine Company began in a tiny 240 square foot cold room behind Brander Vineyards. The philosophy: return wine making to its previous form of production – handcrafted and personal.

Margerum Wine Company produces limited quantities of wines made from grapes grown both our Estate Vineyard and grapes purchased from other top vineyards from in and around Santa Barbara County. The 18 acre Estate Vineyard is planted exclusively to Rhône grape varietals. The acreage is divided between limestone hillsides and gravelly alluvial flatlands along Alamo Pintado Creek. The wines are now made at their state-of-the-art winery located on Industrial Way in Buellton. Margerum carefully selects the vineyards with meticulous attention to detail in all factors influencing the ultimate quality of the wines, including pruning, soil, climate, and farming methods.

Margerum primarily produces M5 (a Rhône varietal red blend), single vineyard Syrahs, a co-fermented Syrah called ÜBER, SYBARITE Sauvignon Blanc, M5 White (a blend of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, and Picpoul Blanc) and RIVIERA Rose. Doug works with the top vineyards from the cool, eastern end of the valley in Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara to the cold vineyards of Sta. Rita Hills towards the western end of the valley.

In 2014, Margerum released BARDEN wines – an exploration of cold climate grapes grown in and around the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. BARDEN is Doug’s middle name and its English meaning is “Lives near the boar’s den”… thusly they have adorned the label with an image of the wild boar that is pervasive in the area’s vineyards.

Doug’s unique background with retail wine sales, as the sommelier/owner of a Grand Award restaurant and as a wine maker made him sought out by a variety of wineries to assist in the formation of their brands.  Doug has consulted for Chêne Bleu super Rhône wines in France, and continues to consult for Happy Canyon Vineyards, and Robert Lieff’s Tipping Tree wines in the Los Olivos District, all in Santa Barbara County, as well as the Santa Barbara wines of Paradise Springs Winery based in Virginia.