Having finalized the components of three red wines from the 2008 vintage — the Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon — Bartier was compelled to blend them together.
“I dumped the samples into a jug, stirred it up and tasted it,” he explains.
Call it a eureka moment.
“You know that clichй that blended wines are better than the sum of their individual parts? That’s absolutely true in this instance,” Bartier says.
The talented vintner says the rich character of the blend floored him. It didn’t take him long to decide that instead of making different wines — three of the winery’s most popular, he adds — he’d make one larger volume blend.
“Pouring the wines into that jug was an irreversible path. How could I not do this?”
The newly released 2008 Rockpile is the final version of that spur-of-the-moment blend. Rockpile combines Syrah with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and tiny amounts of five other grape varieties including Zinfandel and Viognier.
It also inspired a sibling white blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc from the 2009 vintage called Stemwinder.
A total of 4,500 cases of Rockpile were made, which Bartier hopes should insure that the $25 red wine enjoys a longer shelf life than the 2,000 cases of each of the single-varietal wines.
“Those wines would get out there and be gone — just vanish,” he says. “People would always say to me, “We really love the Merlot or Syrah, can’t you just make more?”
In fact, Bartier says he had just seen Rockpile on the shelves of a private wine shop for the first time last Friday. Unfortunately the moment was tarnished for him.
“I took some flack,” he explains. The shop clerk fixed him with a steely gaze and said, “You know our top-selling wine here was Road 13 Merlot…”
“What can I say? It comes down to the fact we think it’s better wine,” says Bartier who has the complete support of Road 13 owners Pam and Mick Luckhurst.
“We’re a small winery. That means I get to do what I want to do and make the best wine we can possibly make. If we were a big winery, I’d be committed to making what sells.”
Road 13 wines are available in British Columbia and Alberta. The winery is looking for representation in other provinces.
Wine of the Week:
****+
Road 13 Vineyards 2008 Rockpile
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
$24.99
This intriguing, multi-layered red blend puts the Okanagan Valley’s best face forward. It’s seamlessly integrated on the palate, which is bursting with rich, ripe, spicy flavours. The generous ripe berry fruit component gains interest and complexity from meaty and savoury notes, including a hint of that telltale sage that is a classic trait of wines from the southern Okanagan Valley (road13vineyards.com).
Christopher Waters is the editor of Sun Media's Vines Magazine. He can be reached at chris@vinesmag.com.
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