This 2017 Red Wine is special for so many reasons. First, there were only 150 cases made of the 2017 Red Blend. It is mostly Merlot from Coombsville, with a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon, all picked before the fires. It is also the ONLY red wine Patel bottled from 2017. Arriving in small picking lugs from the vineyards, the clusters were hand sorted, destemmed and hand sorted again berry by berry. A two-day cold soak was followed by primary fermentation in small, open-top stainless steel tanks, then moved to barrels for secondary fermentation. This spent 18 months in French oak, 60% of which was new.

I was able to meet the winemaker, Raj Patel this past month in Atlanta at a special luncheon.  Formerly in mortgage banking, Raj has now turned his time and efforts to making delicious wines from Northern California. He has enlisted the help of prolific wine consultant and winemaker Julien Fayard, one of my all-time favorites!

Tasting notes: Ripe red cherry and plum fruit give this plenty of juiciness, with hints of cinnamon, wild flowers, cedar and tobacco that develop in the glass. It has an alcohol percentage of 14.9.