Our Wines

'02 Brion / '01 Trios / '03 Trios / Winemakers

          Our wines are handcrafted small productions from both our estate vineyards and some of the best Cabernet vineyards in Sonoma and Napa Valley. 'TRIOS Proprietary Red' 2001, is our first wine. It is an easy drinking wine with everyday appeal and versatility, made from purchased fruit and released in September 2004. The 2001 'TRIOS' is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Dry Creek Valley.

          Our flagship wine named 'BRION' is a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon produced from the Bennet Vineyard in Coombsville. We established a long-term contract with the grower Richard Bennet in 2002, and the first vintage of 'BRION' will be released in Fall 2005. Our wines are the best expression of ripe fruit, soft tannin and terroir. We mature our wines in French oak, giving them both balance and structure.

          B.Wise Vineyards is dedicated to making fine wine in an American tradition from both Sonoma and Napa Valley. We encourage people to come visit us in Sonoma and to experience our wines at Sonoma-Enoteca. Private tours of B.Wise Vineyards can be arranged through Sonoma-Enoteca. We will be starting a BWV Wine Club, which will provide exclusive access to our wines, including our flagship Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 'BRION.' Contact us for more information, or sign-up for our mailing/E-mail list to be notified of upcoming releases and happenings.

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2002 BRION Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Tasting Notes
          The wines color is a brilliant deep red with purple hues. Gracefully rich, smooth and concentrated with aromas of lush blueberry and cassis, the fruit core is wrapped in complex vanilla, coffee, caramel, tobacco, and spice box nuances. The pure, dense fruit is accented with pretty violet, anise, and toasty oak notes while the supply sweet tannins endow the wine with voluptuous texture, all finishing in a long alluring aftertaste. Beautiful now, will age well through the decade. Best from 2007-2012.

Vineyards
          Our Cabernet Grapes came from the The Bennet 1st Street Vineyard in Coombsville, a southerly appellation of Napa Valley. The vineyard, although staying warm and dry, is generally a little cooler than many Napa Valley vineyards and therefore allows more hang-time for the grapes. This brings greater concentration and layering to the finished wine. The vineyard soil is rocky loam which provides good drainage and low nutrient concentration. Under these stresses the vines work hard to produce a limited amount of fruit.

          Our Merlot came from the Caldwell Vineyard, which is also located in Napa's Coombsville appelation. The northwestern exposure of the vineyard moderates daytime temperatures and extends the sun exposure into the late afternoon. The Merlot develops a rich ripe character that compliments the more structured and nuanced Cabernet.

Winemaking
          The grapes came in small berried and deep black-blue and loaded with sugar. Following a 3 day cold soak, the fermentation took 7 days followed by a 35 day extended maceration. After which the wine was pressed and transferred to small French Oak barrels for aging. The wine was bottled in summer 2004 after 20 months maturation in barrel and further aged in bottle for an additional year.

Weather
          2002 was a challenging vintage with a generally cool growing season, lack of spring rain and excessive heat at harvest. Rainfall was right at average for the season, but most came in November-December. Vine stress and very small berry size led to a very low-yield crop.

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TRIOS 2001
Proprietary Red, Dry Creek Valley

Tasting Notes:
          This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon is plump and rich with loads of ripe berry and plum. Accented by a kiss of vanilla and spice, the fine tannins provide a lithe texture and a soft finish. No need to lay this one down, drink it now! 'TRIOS' is named after our wine bar, Trios-Enoteca in Denver, Colorado. 186 cases produced.

TRIOS 2003
Proprietary Red, Dry Creek Valley

Tasting Notes:
          Like the 2001, the wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, but shows more complexity and a slightly drier finish. Complex aromas of ripe blackberry, mocha, vanilla, and sage are intertwined with briar nuance. The balanced tannins give the wine good length and elegant structure. 398 cases produced.
To be released Fall 2005.

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