Comments from our Featured Retailer, Red Carpet Wine in Glendale, CA
At last year’s Premiere Napa Valley, one of our top rated barrels was the “01 Reverie ‘Zircon Stream’ Cabernet” . We felt this was one of the sleeper barrels of the event. We were familiar with the quality of Reverie and hoped that the barrel would remain off the radar screen of other bidders. Our efforts were rewarded and we made the winning bid.
Proprietor Norm Kiken gave up on the hustle and bustle of being a CFO for a Manhattan based PR firm and purchased his piece of Diamond mountain in ’93 and his first release was in ’95. His winery and vineyards are sandwiched between Von Strasser and Diamond Creek.
Norm specializes in mountain grown Cabernet but also produces some of the best Cabernet Franc, as well as some Tempranillo and Barbera. He also just released some white wines under the Daydream label. He sources the fruit from the valley floor to produce a Sauvignon Blanc that is a dead-ringer for New Zealand and a non malolactic chardonnay that is incredibly refreshing. When we arrived, Norm was experimenting with various fining techniques. He had a control sample that had not been fined and then several samples that were fined, either with gelatin, egg whites, or a combination of the two. We chose the sample that had the least amount of fining using gelatin. We reported our conclusion to Norm who congratulated us for becoming junior winemakers since that was the sample he and his consulting winemaker, Ted Lemon, had decided on.
Having passed our test, Norm suggested we prepare the final blend for our ’Zircon Stream’ Cabernet. He brought out a cask sample of the Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. We started to play around with different ratios. It was amazing to see how the addition of 5% Malbec could completely change the wine. After several trials we determined that we wanted — a blend of 78% Cabernet, 10% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. We looked to Norm for approval and he agreed. That concluded our day as junior winemakers.
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