Inception Red Wine 2016

Luxardo Cherry, Dried Cherry, Tobacco, Leather, Cedar

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"John Hirsch of Inception Wines originally only desired to make great Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the cool climates of Santa Barbara and Central California. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he would frequently escape to the area and fell in love with the elegant, less in-your-face qualities than wines from Northern California. During their first meeting last summer, Tim was extremely impressed with all of his offerings in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and then we came to our feature wine.

To understand the origin of how this red wine came to be, you must understand that Jon is the consummate networker and was well entrenched in the LA restaurant and wine scene. He quickly found himself sourcing wines for private label clients, Wolfgang Puck and Delta Airlines to name just a couple, using his network of growers in the Central Coast. While working on these projects, a few of his Inception customers asked if he could produce a red blend, but something different than the sugary sweet, Prisoner and Apothic wannabes dominating the market.

At the time that Jon started to work on this blend, there was a small ocean of wine sitting in the tanks of the biggest producers in California, many of which are not wineries but do supply them. Bulk prices plummeted, and so he had his choice of varieties and regions to source from, while still bringing to us a wine with good value. He used a somewhat unusual blend of grapes, rather than the typical Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend: Malbec 30%, Sangiovese 20%, Tempranillo 30%, Zinfandel 10% and Merlot 10%. The Sangiovese, Tempranillo and Malbec are all from Los Alamos in Santa Barbara County. This region has warm days and cool evenings, so these late ripening grapes come in with plenty of natural acidity, which gives the wine a dryness and savory quality." - Carl Bond