2015 La Sirena Grenache

La Sirena was started in 1994 by Heidi Barrett, one of Napa Valley’s most admired winemakers. Barret grew up in Napa Valley working in vineyards and at wineries, and later earned her college degree in fermentation science at UC Davis. She worked as winemaker at numerous Napa Valley wineries and in 1992 became the winemaker of Screaming Eagle, the most famous of the California Cult Cabs. An avid scuba diver, Barrett named her own label La Sirena, which means “mermaid” in Spanish and Italian. The Calistoga winery makes Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Muscat Canelli.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,

One of the most popular red varieties planted, it ripens late and prefers hot dry climates. It probably originated in Spain, where it is still widely grown. Grenache is best known for its use in Southern Rhone wines, including those of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.