The Cliff Notes: The wine is bright red garnet in color, with a nose that suggests pungent berry, gunpowder, dusty oak spice and a hint of menthol. Fresh raspberry, strawberry and stonefruit (peach/cherry pit) with a touch of vanilla come through on the palate. The wine has a very fine and stable acid-driven structure that offers minerality, suggests ageability, and demands food.

The Story: Antoinette Carriere was my maternal grandmother. She has passed, but this wine might very well accompany her today, based on its ethereal nature. Grounded as the Canadian wheat farm on which she and my grandfather raised their nine kids, she still managed to dance with her toes off the plane of the earth.  Looking up, seems to me, is as good a place to take your cues from as any. I’m pleased to put my grandmother’s name on it.

Cases Produced: 121

The Building of: Small-lot wild yeast fermentations, 100% barrel aged for 18 months in French oak barrels (one new, two twice-filled, two neutral). Bottled, unfined and unfiltered, in March of 2009.

Ageability: Absolutely decant to get it air within its first three years. Well cellared, you should anticipate additional complexity during its first 10 years with a potential 12- to 20-year drinking horizon.

Alcohol: 13%

pH: 3.56

Vineyards: Temperance Hill’s (28-year-old) later and cooler high-elevation vines deliver old vine complexity with fresh acidity. The five best barrels became this wine. The vines are from the front block east, the oldest at Temperance, and their massive root systems go deep to deliver both high flavor and nuance to the limited yield.