MATHIS

Barbera is a new wine for the Mathis brand. And for the first time, I've sourced grapes grown outside of the Mathis Vineyard by my friend and mentor, Joel Peterson, at his Bedrock Vineyard in the heart of Sonoma Valley. Here's a picture of it from 1905:

Bedrock Vineyard has a long and storied history, beginning in 1856: General Joseph Hooker, bankrolled by William Tecumseh Sherman, a San Francisco banker before he was an infamous Union general, bought the land and planted the first Vitis vinifera grapevines at Bedrock. When the Civil War began, Hooker sold the property to Eli T. Shephard, a U.S. Ambassador to the Far East. After phylloxera had devastated the vineyard, George Hearst (father of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst) bought the ranch and began replanting in 1884. It's changed hands only a couple of times since then, all the while continuing to produce grapes for wine.

Barbera, a Northern Italian grape, is capable of making exquisitely beautiful wines, with bright acidity and deep fruit character. The great vineyard site and careful farming at Bedrock resulted in spectacular fruit concentration in 2013 and resulted in luxuriously framed wine.  

Sadly, this vineyard block has been removed from production, so this will be a one and done effort in my 2013 Bedrock Vineyard Barbera. Get it before it's gone! My limited split case offer will be gone soon...