2015 Dylan’s Ghost Lot 21 Red Blend

Twenty One Reserve Barrels produced of this Single Vineyard Field Blend, Heirloom Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel and Syrah. Big bold red blend, juicy red currants, ripe plums, and ripe summer cherries with enough structure to sustain it but not overpower your taste buds. This is an alluring easy-drinking red offered at an incomparable price. Deal of the day!

Winemaker: Aaron Pott 2012, Winemaker of the Year, Food & Wine Magazine
He studied enology at the University of California-Davis and became assistant winemaker at Newton under John Kongsgaard, a winemaker he credits as his first great mentor. With a desire to make wine in France and with encouragement from international oenologist Michel Rolland, Aaron became winemaker at Chateau Troplong Mondot, a Premier Grand Cru Classe, and later at Chateau La Tour Figeac, a Grand Cru Classe from Saint-Émilion. In addition to his winemaking responsibilities, he earned a master’s degree in Viticulture from the Universite of Bourgogne. He remained in France for nearly six years before returning to the US to take a position with Beringer Wine Estates as winemaker for their international brands in France, Italy and South America. Following stints at St. Clement and Quintessa, Aaron launched his own label, Pott Wine, and began a successful consulting career producing wines of distinction from select sites in Napa and Sonoma Valley.  
 
Joseph Carr, Owner
In 2010 I began to collaborate with “Food and Wine Magazine Winemaker of the Year, Aaron Pott,” (I called him “enfant terrible”).  It was to be an “art project” in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley; small barrel productions of Oakville, Stags Leap, and St Helena, Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as proprietary Red Wine Blends. We were inspired by terroir, iconic vineyards, and later the artistic dark poetry of the Welshman Dylan Thomas. At first I took the nom de guerre “Morgan Wright” (my grandfather) as the vintner for the project. I needed to separate myself from the commercial ventures I had become known for and cast aside ancien regime. We sourced from growers we have known for decades and explored blocks of vineyards that had the age and pedigree that would meet our expectations. Aaron traveled to France to hand select the French oak with Merindier Jean-Louis Bossuet. I spent close to a year, tasting our small barrel cuvees, and designing the label, and together one day we realized that Dylan’s Ghost was born. These wines were deep and dark, reflecting both terroir and Aaron’s approach to winemaking with out intervention. Robert Parker simply stated “Monster” and “Impressive” They seemed to capture Thomas’s quote “Do not go gentle into that good night” and as for me, these wines, this project and the story behind it all can be summarized by another of Dylan’s oeuvre; 
“With in me lies a beast, an angel and a madman…and my efforts are their self expression.”
 
Del Barba Vineyard:  The vineyards have been farmed by the Del Barba Family since the early 1900s. All vines are head pruned and dry farmed/minimally irrigated and planted on Oakley Sand. Many parts of the vineyard are old plantings registered by the California Historic Vineyard Society as ancient vines with other parts replanted in the 60s and 70s. The Family follows a very traditional and non-intensive Farming principle in the vineyard that respects lower yields and pushes for structured and complex taste. Many esteemed wineries and winemakers have made world class Zinfandel of these grapes over the past decades and continue doing so today.