50% Cabernet Sauvignon & 50% Merlot from Delfino Vineyard in the Umpqua Valley. Aged for eighteen months in French oak, and then for six months in bottle prior to release. This wine has bright cassis fruit flavors with earthy, lean tannins. 13.5% alcohol, a lovely partner to a variety of meat dishes. Drink now or cellar for 10+ years.

(170 cases produced)

Jim Delfino is passionate about grape growing.  You can tell by the way he talks about his vineyard, and by the quality of the grapes that come off of it.

I fermented his gorgeous grapes a 100% whole clusters.  That meant I had to get in the fermenter bins to squish them with my feet so they'd start to ferment (technical term is 'pigeage'). During my first pigeage, I found a stowaway, a yellow jacket that came in with the grapes, and yes, I found him by getting stung on the foot.  I suffered my art.

The wine is earthy and spicy with sinewy tannis.  It's tasty now but will develop over the next ten years so I'd suggest stashing some in the cellar and checking it out as it "grows up".