2016 Vintage - Our First Vintage—Sold Out
Our first Vintage we created five wines from three varietals: Tannat from D.A.Ranch in the Verde Valley and from Willcox; Petite Sirah; and two clones of Syrah from Rolling View Vineyard in the Willcox AVA, Arizona.
Each of these five wines: Tannat, Love, Syrah, Heart, and Petite Sirah won medals at the 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest wine competition in North America.
Our 2016 Tannat was named the Best Tannat in Arizona at the 2018 Arizona Wine Growers Association/Arizona Republic Wine Competition, where Heart also was awarded a Bronze Medal.
While our 2016 Vintage Wines have Sold Out, we do have a small library with each of these wines. In 2021 there will be an ‘Ohana Wine Club Member event to celebrate five-year-old Heart Wood Cellars Wine.
2016 Heart - Sold Out
You always remember your first. There were many firsts that went into making this wine, our first blend.
There were over twenty blending trials, and two different blind panels where we put wines before trusted wine experts to help us judge and evaluate as well as validate what we were getting from this wine that we called “J10.” We kept separate notes on the various blends we were considering finalists. Valerie used letters to keep track of the blends, Daniel used numbers. When we compared notes, she thought her “J” was the best and he thought his “10” was the best. It was the same wine. Thus, the code name J10 was created. It was the unanimous first choice amongst our panelists and quickly became a best seller.
- Petite Syrah 57%
- Syrah 29%
- Tannat 14%
This wine was Awarded Silver Medals at both the 2019 and 2020 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competitions, the largest Wine Competition in North America, and a Bronze Medal at the 2018 Arizona Grand Wine Competition, the largest wine competition in Arizona.
Silver Medal Winner
2020 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
Silver Medal Winner
2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
♥ The 2016 Heart is Sold Out.
2016 Petite Sirah - Sold Out
Petite Sirah grapes from Rolling View Vineyard in the Willcox AVA
Known as “Durif” outside of the United States, we liked everything about the wine that could be produced from quality Petite Sirah grapes and have been fortunate to be able to purchase some from Rolling View Vineyards in the Willcox AVA. We knew of the meticulous care that Dan Pierce took of his vines, producing the high-quality grapes we were looking for.
We made our first Port-Style Wine from these grapes. As the Petite Sirah fermented, when the brix (sugar content) reached just the right level at 3 AM, we took out just enough partially fermented wine to mix with just the right amount of neutral grape spirits to fill a large glass demi-john. The remaining, still fermenting, Petite Sirah now had a higher skin-to-juice ratio giving the resulting wine a higher concentration of the desirable phenolics (taste, color, mouthfeel, etc.), which we hoped would help this wine to age very well. The goal is for this awesome wine to be incredible in 2021 and beyond.
Silver Medal Winner
Silver Medal Winner 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest Wine Competition in North America.
♥ Our 2016 Petite Sirah is Sold Out.
2016 Love - Sold Out
The story of Love: Making our own wine for the first time in 2016 was nerve wracking. Our mantra was: “don’t screw it up!” We had ordered our very first barrels, based on the grape tonnage we anticipated and budgeted for that year, and we picked up a few stainless-steel kegs just in case.
As the 2016 harvest proceeded, and we began barreling our very first wines, it suddenly became apparent that while we had just the right amount of vessels (barrels & kegs) to hold our 2016 wines, we were going to have about ½ a barrel of Syrah wine and ½ a barrel of Petite Sirah wine, and one barrel left. So, our first blend was created based on “vessel management.” We lovingly tended to and topped each barrel from our first vintage, tasting and taking notes every month, to document their progress. After about six months, Valerie noted that she really liked how the Syrah/Petite Sirah blend smelled and tasted. By the twelfth month the notes started to say that she really “Loved” how that blend was evolving.
After eighteen months in barrel, as we prepared to bottle the 2016 Vintage, we needed to name this wine for the label. When Valerie asked for ideas during a brainstorming session, with a twinkle in his eye, Daniel replied: “I think you already named this one: Love.”
- Syrah 52%
- Petite Syrah 48%
Both from Rolling View Vineyard Willcox AVA
Gold Medal Winner
Gold Medal Winner 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest Wine Competition in North America.
♥ 2016 Love is Sold Out.
2016 Syrah - Sold Out
We worked with two different clones of Syrah in 2016, both from Rolling View Vineyards in Willcox AVA. It was fun and interesting to ferment these two clones separately and monitor their evolution in separate barrels. We liked both, each for different reasons.
After about a year in barrel we chose the one that was to become this single variety. We nurtured this wine with the hopes it would age well and stand out in the Arizona wine marketplace. Wines continue to evolve in the bottle by a process known as polymerization, where the molecules continue to exchange and form long polymer chains.
This wine taught us patience. It was excellent shortly after being bottled, and then lagged in its own evolution compared to its sister wines. Then just when the last few available cases were sold, it became a fan favorite at Wine Festivals, leading us to wonder: what will this special wine taste like in 2021 and beyond?
Silver Medal Winner 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest Wine Competition in North America.
♥ The 2016 Syrah is Sold Out.
2016 Tannat - Sold Out
We knew from the beginning that this wine was special.
It was released only to Heart Wood Cellars 'Ohana Wine Club members. This special (to us) varietal was the subject of Valerie’s research paper for Enology. We were also fortunate, as Viticulture & Enology college students, to work with the Tannat block at D.A.Ranch. We also knew we wanted to make some of our first Port-Style wine with this varietal. In the same process as the Petite Sirah, we made two large glass demi-johns of Tannat Port-Style wine, leaving the remaining Tannat wine to finish fermenting with more skin contact, and therefore an increase in phenolics (taste, color, mouthfeel, etc.). We will never duplicate this unique wine; we will just strive to create another equally as impressive.
- 90% from Willcox
- 10% from the D.A.Ranch in Arizona’s soon-to-be Verde Valley AVA
This Wine was Awarded: Best Tannat in Arizona at the 2018 Arizona Grand Wine Competition, the largest wine competition in Arizona.
Gold Medal Winner 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest Wine Competition in North America.
♥ The 2016 Tannat is Sold Out.
