Wine of the month: BARDEN.

BARDEN is winemaker Doug
Margerum’s dream to make the ultimate expression of Santa
Barbara County grapes grown in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA.
Margerum’s access to the top vineyards along with the philosophy
and knowledge he has gained over my thirty years in the wine business allows
attempting to make this world-class wine. There are four wines of great merit:
Fonte, a blend of Chardonnay Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris picked for a balance
of flavor and acidity. Barden Chardonnay is picked for opulent flavors, matured
for 10 months in mostly new French oak barriques from Françoise Frères and
Ermitage. Barden Syrah is dark, powerful, shaped and sculptured, aged in half
new Françoise Frères and half new Ermitage French oak barrels.

Barden Pinot Noir Noir is silky and complex. Margerum Wine Company is committed to creating
handcrafted wines using only the highest quality grapes from top Santa Barbara
vineyards. They strive to make wines naturally, to make wines that have
individual characteristics and to make wines with personality. The scale of
production is kept at a level where the winemaker can touch and know the wine
as it is raised to the bottle—the antithesis of mass production. The standards of
quality are measured by Doug Margerum’s high criteria—not by external
sources. Margerum makes wines we personally enjoy—some to drink young, all
for the table, and others for long aging in cool cellars for our children to enjoy.
We have long admired Doug for his restaurants, his wine knowledge and his
pure love of good living. Now we have another reason to celebrate this
Renaissance man—he is among California’s best winemakers. Visit
http://www.margerumwinecompany.com.