Description

The grapes for this wine came from the granitic crest of the Renaissance hill, at about 2300 ft elevation. This site is extremely rocky, with barely any topsoil to speak of. A field-blend of Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, it was co-fermented in an open-top oak vat.

Like our other “Once Upon a Time” wines, it predates our vineyard lease agreement with Renaissance, which allowed us to farm sections of their vineyard for Clos Saron production a couple of years later. However, this cuvée’s story is an exception to the rule: rather than resulting from a winery experiment, it was made with the intention of being bottled and released as a Clos Saron wine. Then, while the wine was still aging in barrels, a new management had new ideas, and the agreement was voided. The wine was bottled as their own, to be released as “Renaissance” instead. Fast forward twenty years or so – and we were delighted to find that same wine, unlabeled and undisturbed, still bottle-aging in their cellar… Et voilà, now it’s back to being ‘its old self’ again, under the Clos Saron label, albeit with Renaissance corks… 

At 22+ years of age, this red field-blend has now reached its peak, generously giving forth everything it’s got: complexity, richness, caressing mouthfeel.