Steele Shooting Star Barbera 2000

We are always on the lookout for classic varieties planted in ideal locations. In the late 1970's Louis P. Martini of Martini winery, who was probably the sharpest judge of great vineyard ground in all of California, chose to plant grapes in the hills north of the Napa Valley in Lake County. Here he found red volcanic soils, ample sunshine, almost no fog and the 1500 foot plus elevation to provide the cool night temperatures. These factors all added up to a wonderful place to grow red grapes. The Martini winery decided to concentrate on their Napa and Sonoma holdings and sold this property to a neighboring vineyard. This large property is now named Snow's Lake Ranch.

Barbera is a classic northern Italian grape variety, which makes the Barbera d'Asti and Barbera del Monferrato of the Piedmont region. It was not widely planted in the north coast region of California but it is an ideal variety for the warmer sites. It has a moderate aroma, good color and is high in acidity but low in tannins. A long season is needed to get the proper sugar and to help reduce some of the natural high acidity. We aged this wine in American Oak barrels. It was kept in barrel for 8 months and bottled early to preserve the wonderful fruit aromas.

Food Pairing:Serve this wine with a steaming bowl of Cioppiano, the flavors and structure of the wine will compliment the spicy tomato broth from the soup.