2003 Zinfandel Calistoga Napa Valley

"Vintages 2003 and 2004 featured Aussie-style surmaturite," noted winemaker Bo Barrett. "The growing seasons were so warm that the terroir was overshadowed by ripe fruit. But I want the 2004 to taste like it's from a hot year. Part of my job is to capture that slice of time. The vintages should be different. "Barrett added that the terroir comes through more clearly in 2002 and 2005. "The 2002 growing season was cooler at the time of the harvest, and that made the difference. "Barrett is one of a few winemakers who believes that sunburn was especially problematic in 2004 because the fruit had never built up an immunity to strong sun through the mostly cool summer and was especially affected by the heat wave in early September.

The Barretts briefly considered rigging their vineyards with misting machines after their experience the past three Septembers with spells of hot and extremely dry weather.But Bo Barrett examined the past three decades of weather data and hypothesized that this phenomenon is cyclical, rather than a long-term weather pattern change on California's NorthCoast.The standouts here continue to be the Estate cabernet, which has been consistently strong in recent years.This is not a cabernet in today's 15% mold."We make table wines here," explained Barrett, "and table wines by definition are under 15% alcohol.We don't like sunburned fruit."