Winemaker Notes
The Arietta Red Wine Variation One 2006 is a generous, complex and exciting wine, unique in its blend and flavor profile, and not to be missed.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The blend of 55-60% Syrah and the rest Merlot is called Variation One (450-500 cases produced). The dense purple-hued 2006 Variation One exhibits notes of asphalt, chocolate, blackberries, and forest floor, and an extravagantly rich, full-bodied style with none of the noticeable tannin found in some of the other 2006s. This broad, savory, complex wine should provide provocative drinking over the next 15 or more years.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.