Growing up in Napa Valley in a winemaking family, Heidi Barrett was destined to become one of California’s leading winemakers. Graduated from UC Davis with a B.S. Degree in Fermentation Science in 1980, Heidi has exposed herself to a wide range of winemaking experiences and started making her own wine in 1994.
In 2002, she found Amuse Bouche, commonly known as the Pomerol-inspired Merlot from Napa Valley with her longtime friend, John Schwartz. Recognizing that the cult wine phenomenon has created an almost aspirational class structure among collectors, the partners decided to make this limited-edition wine available to a much broader consumer base.
Heidi Barrett has been a wine judge at various competitions over the last 20 years, was president of Napa Valley Wine Tech, and has graced the covers of both The Wine News and The Wine Enthusiast. She has been a featured guest on several television programs, was winemaker of the year, made Parker’s list of wine personalities of the year 1994,1995 and is on Parker’s wine heroines list of 1998. Parker has dubbed her the “first lady of wine”.
Amuse Bouche Prêt à Boire Rosé 2021
Made in the southern French style, the 2021 Prêt à Boire Rosé is a Grenache and Syrah blend. Pale salmon pink in color, it offers beautiful aromas of potpourri, raspberry tart and fresh cherries, with hints of baking spices and cracked black pepper. It remains the only rosé produced in the US that garners 90+ point ratings from all the top wine critics.
Some of you may not be aware that the world lost George Rodrigue on December 14, 2013. He was 69 years old. George, and his wife Wendy, have been dear friends of ours since 2005 when we initially commissioned George to paint a "blue dog" for our 2006 Amuse Bouche release. A native of Louisiana, George launched his painting career in the 1960s. He was not only a magnificent artist; George was a true community leader, philanthropist and advocate of arts education, inspiring a new generation of artists through the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts.
"Cherry-colored rosé with aromas of plum stones, raspberries, watermelon, sweet spices and dried flowers. Medium-to full-bodied with bright acidity and just a hint of tannin texture. Dry. Grenache and syrah. Drink now."
- James Suckling, October 2021
Richard G Paterson Pinot Noir 2019
As history and legend purport, the Wrotham clone was discovered near Wrotham Village in southeast England; the cuttings were introduced there by the Romans some 2,000 years ago. The Wrotham clone produces a uniquely rich colour and a spicy character not often found in other Pinot Noir wines.
In 1980, Dick Peterson brought the first and only Wrotham cuttings back to California and planted them in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA just south of Monterey Bay. This region boasts a cool climate and one of the longest growing seasons in California.
Dick Peterson has been an innovator in the California wine industry since the 1960s. As a young man, he produced novel products such as the first wine cooler for Seagrams and Gallo’s Hearty Burgundy. He was pivotal to the success of a portfolio of wineries, including Beaulieu Vineyards with Andre Tchelistcheff, the Monterey Vineyard, Atlas Peak Vineyards and Folie à Deux Winery.
Aged 14 months in burgundy oak barrels.
Vin Perdu Napa Valley Red Blend
This is your opportunity to secure an allocation of our best value, most mind-altering wine from our Napa Valley estates. Every year the blend changes. The Vin Perdu 2019 is composed of estate grown grapes from the Amuse Bouche, La Sirena and Fantesca properties.
For this vintage, Heidi masterfully blended 42.3% Cabernet Sauvignon with 33.1% Petit Verdot, 16.9% Merlot, 6.2% Malbec and 1.5% Petite Sirah. We produced only 200 cases. Each label features our patented flip lenticular label, and our unique storytelling with each new vintage.
The 2019 Vin Perdu label reflects these past 12 months of our lives and the indisputable conclusion that if you don’t occasionally remove your mask to savor the finer things in life, the wine will be lost forever!
LeRoy Neiman Red Blend 2019
It is our great honor to celebrate the legacy of LeRoy Neiman on his centennial birthday this year. We have teamed up with the LeRoy Neiman Foundation to produce a limited-edition Napa Valley wine paired with an original lithograph. This is an extremely rare offering that will be allocated on a first-in basis to you, our most loyal supporters!
Heidi has masterfully blended Bordeaux varietal lots from our various vineyards in Napa Valley to create LeRoy Neiman Vintage 2019.
Varietals: 63.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15.6% Syrah, 10.1% Petit Sirah, 8.4% Petit Verdot, 2.1% Cabernet Franc
Amuse Bouche Napa Valley Red Blend 2018
We commissioned renowned New Orleans artist James Michalopolous to create our 2018 label art, aculinary-inspired piece entitled “Fish Swish.”
Born in 1951 in Pennsylvania, James was drawn to New Orleans in 1981 in search of hippie bohemian culture in America. He began sketching artists and musicians, houses and street corners. Fascinated with the duality of beauty and decay, he adopted the architecture of the city as his muse. He captured the spirit and the essence of his subject in layer upon layer of thick impasto paint. This body of work, infused with Michalopolous’ singular style, came to represent for the world the gritty, vibrant, alluring image of the Big Easy; and it established him as the most influential living artist in the region.
Varietals: 92% Merlot, 8% Cabernet France
Amuse Bouche Napa Valley Red Blend 2019
For the 2019 vintage of Amuse Bouche, it features the artwork by one the most prominent artists of our time. Françoise Gilot, born in 1921, is a decorated French painter perhaps best known for her long, stormy relationship with Pablo Picasso, with whom she had two children, Claude and Paloma. Gilot is highly regarded as an international artist of the second half of the twentieth century. She has exhibited her work for more than 50 years in the major art centers of Europe, Asia, and North America. She was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters with rank of Commander in 1988, the French Legion of Honor with rank of Chevalier in 1990, and the rank of Officer in the National Order of Merit by the president of France in 1996.
Amuse Bouche 2019 is crafted in the Pomerol-style, is a blend of 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc from our vineyards in the east Rutherford Hills of Napa Valley.
"The 2019 Amuse Bouche, a Right Bank-inspired Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend is superb. Expansive, sweet aromatics are immediately seductive. Silky tannins wrap around a core of plum fruit, sweet tobacco, chocolate, spice and leather. This wonderfully expressive, elegant Napa Valley red hits all the right notes in a mid-weight, nuanced style that is all class." - Antonio Galloni, January 2022
"This is a beautiful, juicy, merlot-based red with melted-chocolate and berry aromas and flavors. It’s full and creamy with lovely balance and attractive character, showing freshness and layers of fruit. Violets and berries at the end. Merlot and cabernet franc. Gorgeous. Drink or hold." - 95 points, James Suckling