Barrel Aging

Winemaking is largely a series of choices. In wine aging, the first choice is barrel versus stainless steel. This one is easy for us, as we make red wine that clearly benefits from time in oak. Like many winemakers, we like the complexity, the aromatics and the tannins resulting from oak influence.

Among the many available cooperages, we chose to use Francois Freres for our inaugural Pinot Noir vintage. This cooperage adds beautiful toasty vanilla and chocolate notes and is the most widely used among ultrapremium Pinot Noir wineries. The tight grained oak comes from the forests of Allier and Troncais in central France.

In future vintages we will continue aging in Francois Freres for our Pinots but will also add barrels from other top French oak cooperages, including Remond, Rousseau and Sirugue for additional aromatics and flavors.

Our Pinot Noirs will typically have at least 11 months of barrel aging and our Cabernet Sauvignon will have 22-24 months on oak.