2005 Syrah Hudson Vineyard North Block Carneros

Duncan Arnot Meyers, who assists Pax Mahle at Pax Wine Cellars, has teamed up with Nathan Roberts, a young barrel-maker whose family owns Roberts and Sons Cooperage, for this tiny start-up project. Roberts's father is a well-known cooper in Napa Valley who most recently headed the Beringer-Blass barrel-making program, so serious oak flows in Nathan's veins. This is an extremely promising, albeit microscopic, enterprise, with a production in 2004 of 4-1/2 barrels of cabernet sauvignon and 16 barrels of syrah (quantities will rise to about 1,000 cases with the 2006 vintage). The focus is on obtaining grapes from unique sites regardless of the amount available. "And of course we have the flexibility to make whatever size barrel out of whatever wood is required to handle a wine," said Roberts, with no small degree of satisfaction.