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The King of Wine in Italy is Barolo. It is long lived, a magnificent wine that ages to silky rose petals. It is made from Nebbiolo grapes. It is rare to make a really fine Nebbiolo, and this is one of our very best. It is delicate cherry with enough tannin to let you know it is serious. With this balance of fruit and tannin it is set to age another 5 years to reach the rose petal stage. We have had an excellent 30-year-old Barolo that few wines could match. But that is an investment in the future. If you can put wine away and forget about it, this is the variety to try. The wines are unforgettable. Right now, however, it is absolutely the best wine to pair with lamb chops braised in the mirepoix with rosemary. Some wines just reach out and tell you, "This is it!" This is one of those pairings. If you recoil from lamb, find a better source of meat. It can be delicate and wonderful, just like the wine.

The 1999 vintage was particularly extracted and full-bodied, so the decision was made to allow it to barrel age longer than most previous vintages of Cabernet. A combination of half 3-year old French and 1-year old American oak barrels were used. The French for the subtle fine vanilla finish, and the American for complexity due to its being a different species of oak from the French. With the 1999 vintage being so deeply flavored, bottle aging was essential. At this date, the wine emerges from the bottle requiring some breathing time before the full flavors show. But with a little swirling, the aromas dance out of the glass and the flavor coats the palate. Expect this wine to mature and show off as it emerges from the younger, shy years. Look for cherry, leather, and a flash of mint. Feel confident to pair this wine now with juicy beef flavors, or to lay it down in the cellar for 5 to 7 years.

Some wineries look for early drinking, fruity Cabernets. To us, these are white Zinfandel style wines. They are straightforward, easily sipped wines that are pretty forgettable. They don't stand up to many entrees, although they do have their place in someone's kitchen cabinet. Joe and Gino produce a mouth filling Cabernet. This 1999 vintage has the force of the 1997, but without the rough edges. It has a smooth fruity front, stays on the palate, and lingers after you've put down your glass. There is tannin and acid. It will age. But it sure is good right now. All the Riserva's are special, this is particularly so. As with all the Cabernet's, prime rib is a great food pairing. Roasts of any kind with beef juices cooked with a mire poix are terrific. However, man does not live by meat alone, or kalamata and caper appetizers. So look for a great pfefferneuse recipe!

It is deep. It is slow to awaken. Crafted in such a big style, it is demanding lots of bottle age. After extensive breathing, however, we know what's there: a Merlot that's bigger than many other winery's Cabernets. Long after this vintage is gone from other wineries, this wine is just being released. It demands respect. It needs its rest and will not be show off until ready. The time is now. Now and for the next ten years, this wine will evolve, will delight. It will remind you why Merlots were so wonderful before they were popular. Our usual food with Merlot: Parmigiano Reggiano. Or consider grilled mushrooms, roasts in a cherry sauce, or spicy foods. It stands up to big flavors. It will for a long time to come.

Here we have the 1999 Nebbiolo which waited almost 5 years above the fray of a busy winery, aging. The wine that starts as tar and ages to rose petals. This was the last variety harvested, and it was good that it was: the heavy, compact clusters literally broke the crusher. We had never seen such brick-like clusters: big, dark, solid. The last bin was added to the fermenters as essentially whole clusters, barely crushed with the cap-punching tool. Now, at its release, it insists on its proper place in your cellar: keep it in a special place, let it rest in the bottle, try not to disturb it or it will release a royal roar. Still showing plenty of tar, the tannins are just beginning to soften, and its typical high acid just beginning to subside. Only time will let the silky rose petals blossom.

Being of Italian descent, Gino knows Sangiovese. Over time, Gino has determined that following traditional Italian methods produces the best wine. Classico Chianti in Italy is required to meet certain standards. We use those same standards here by barrel aging the wine 4 ½ years and ensuring the grapes reach ripeness (at least 12% alcohol). We go further by bottling 100% Sangiovese. Due to the long, dry year and the long hanging time on the vine, the fruit was fully ripe with mature flavors. But, alas, the tonnage was very low. After primary fermentation, the new wine is pumped to older, neutral flavored oak barrels. Flavors are predominantly strawberry. The barrel age has toned down the sprightly tannins and acid, allowing the undercurrent of cedar to emerge. It was bottled Valentine's Day, 2004. Extremely limited production. Drink now, or age three to five years, or longer. This is a classy Sangiovese, produced without gimmicks or chemistry, relying instead on the gifts of Nature and the art of the winemaker.

Named for our 3 daughters, Tre Sorelle ("Three Sisters") is a traditional Bordeaux blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva, 29% Merlot, and 13% Cabernet Franc. A family blend we are particularly proud of. The 1999 vintage is a particularly appealing one. Like the Riserva, it is a big mouth-filling wine. It is built to age, but is appealing right now, especially with Italian fontina cheese and also grilled mushrooms. The wine and cheese melt together in your mouth. The mushrooms bring out the earthy goodness of the wine. Do not be afraid to cellar this wine. This is a big vintage, on the scale of 1990, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, and 2003. When young, the different wines strike the palate from different angles. With age, the different elements will all blend into a long, complex wine, in unison.

This wine is a 4-way blend, based on Sangiovese. It is a complicated blend that results in a very drinkable wine, one virtually everyone likes, a wine you can feel confident about bringing to any gathering. New wine drinkers like it for its fruit, we vintage wine drinkers like it for its complexity. It has been taken to Italian wine tasting parties and knocks their socks off. Some wineries use leftovers to release some kind of low-end wine. We began with the thought to make a blend to be proud of, especially to be named after our grandfather,who's name was Bambino. It has to be good: we wanted our mother to be happy. It took four hours of laborious tasting, using pipettes and a yellow legal pad, to come up with this wine. In the 2000, we have a forwardly fruity wine, with tannins on the finish to let you know it can age longer. Remember, we added the word “Grande” to the name because we didn’t want anyone to think this is a rosè. As a blend of 2000 vintage wines, these have been barrel aged 40 months. This is pretty incredible for the industry, but then we want a good blend. At the price, this isn’t a sly business decision, it’s done for the wine.

The 2000 vintage at Fratelli Perata again demonstrates how the flavors held in the small Cabernet Sauvignon clusters can be transformed into a luscious glass of wine. The 2000 vintage is a blend of 3 hills of Cabernet Sauvignon.These wines are unfined and unfiltered. The lees were removed simply by racking the clear wine to clean barrels several times over the period of barrel aging. Neither enzymes nor other chemical magic were added to the juice to produce the soda pop clear, insipid wines commonly produced. We believe the best wines are made with excellent fruit gently handled by a winemaker who is more artist than chemist. Gino's brother (fratello), Joe, is adamant that our Cabernet Sauvignon meets his high (read: deep and rich) standards. This wine is worthy of bottle aging, allowing time to silken and meld its elements of fruit and oak.

Paso Robles now has a more than 30-year history with Merlot, and it is doing well here. Each variety demands its own, ultimately best location: for soil, temperature, wind, and orientation to the sun. We are fortunate that Merlot has responded so favorably to our vineyard site. It is from experience with grape growing in general, with knowledge of Merlot's unique requirements, and site selection that this grape has been our bread and butter since 1990. Even though our Merlots are full-bodied, extremely long-lived, deeply flavorful wines, we have not stopped looking for ways to improve upon them. With the 2000 vintage, we introduce a new clonal selection of Merlot to blend with the grapes we planted in 1980. This comes imported just recently from Bordeaux, France. The berries are smaller, the clusters are less dense and smaller. The flavors they produce are fruiter and brighter. The color is richer. For this vintage, they add another element to make the wine more complex and interesting. We are very happy with the result. The 2000 Merlot is the real deal: lots of fruit up-front, great depth and mouth-feel. Layers of mocha and oak complete the traditional cherry base. The tannins and acid are relatively strong at this point, but this is what allows the wine to age to a silky wonder.

The very first wine Fratelli Perata entered in a wine competition was the 1990 Merlot, at the Pomona Fair (Los Angeles). It won a gold medal. It confirmed our decision that certain microclimates in the Paso Robles viticultural area are capable of growing a real premium grape, from which great wines are made. We were happy that our hillside vineyard proved to be one of these.

A new variety for us, made from fruit from our young vines. 100% Syrah for full varietal effect. This is spicy and fruity in the French style, will be lighter (but not light) than other Syrahs that have Cabernet added to them.

As our vines mature, so do the flavors. The 2002 Cabernet Franc continues to be a showy varietal, bottled as a 100% varietal. The relatively young vines of this new French clone are proving a good match for the Paso Robles appellation. The grapes were harvested earlier than previous years, on September 25, 2002 at a Brix of 24.0 degrees, pH of 3.5, not quite as sweet as the 2001, with similar acidity. The grape clusters were sorted at the crusher for good color and perfect ripeness. It was fermented in 1½-ton lots, with the cap punched down by hand 4 times per day for 12 days. It was pressed to only 1 bar of pressure in our stainless steel press, and then pumped directly into new French oak barrels. Racked 4 times during barrel aging, the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered on February 14, 2004. This is a very limited production.

Our Syrah is a variety that does extremely well in the area, responds best to our way of viticulture, is multi-dimensional as a wine, and moves through the winery quickly. It is 100% Syrah, to highlight the spicy notes and requires some bottle aging to tame the tannins. Prone to producing too large a crop to make a wine with finesse, the syrah is pruned and thinned to concentrate the spicy fruit flavors The best winemakers worldwide give this variety a brief barrel aging. However, it is in the bottle that the tannins and the flavors come together. Our 2001 was pretty much an acid rocket when released to our Buon Amici Wine Club. By October it married well with Basque Mahon cheese, by Thanksgiving it was wonderful with goose. Now it can be sipped while making dinner. A rapid transformation compared to our Cabernets and Merlots. With the 2002, the classic bacon aspect of the wine is very pronounced, with undertones of blackberry, black pepper, and coconut. The acidity is much milder at this age compared to the 2001, but it will require bottle age to tame the bacon and let the ripe fruit return to the nose.

Full of flavor, young and vibrant. Deep, lingering, wanting more. This describes our Italian relationship with Zinfandel. Whether the vintage is particularly rich, or imminently matched with Gorgonzola cheese and a plate of pasta, we love the Zinfandel as no other variety. Bottled on February 15th, 2004, the Zinfandel is ready to drink. Alcohol skirts just under 14% by volume. We are careful not to produce alcohol bombs or short-palate fruit bombs. Ours is always 100% Zinfandel. Color is not darkened by adding other varietals, such as Petite Sirah. The pepper on the nose comes from the combination of this Zinfandel growing in this location. The bramble blackberry aromas come naturally from the Zinfandel brought in from our vineyards. This is unmanipulated, straight on Zin. Drink it young for its lively fruit and edgy tannins, or let it age. It has the legs for it.

Even though considered a blender, this Petit Verdot will continue to improve with bottle age. Since this is our first offering, we will keep you posted on how long to age it. We are happy to report that the 100% Cabernet Franc is aging beautifully, and suspect the same will be true for the Petit Verdot. Making interesting wine true to its variety, but with the Fratelli Perata style, is our goal. Petit Verdot, with its big tannins, pairs well with steak right now. With its unique blueberry aromas, it is delicious with Blueberry Biscotti.