The BARDEN trade name is Doug Margerum's middle name and its English meaning is “Lives near the boar's den” … thusly we have adorned the label with an image of the wild boar that is pervasive in our area’s vineyards.

Barden Pinot Noir is formed so as to touch the heart, mind, body and soul. It’s wrapped in a cloak of mystery, lightly adorned, and respected. Ours is a swirling worldly vision, moody but aware. We dared and entered this world with trepidation. Pinot Noir is fiend-ishly complex; we realize we are on the road to madness. It lives in the boar’s den...

Vineyard Region: Sta. Rita Hills – John Sebastiano Vineyard (37.5%), La Encantada Vineyard (25%), Sanford & Benedict Vineyard (25%), & Radian Vineyard (12.5%) – an eight barrel selection.

Vintage Conditions: Harvest 2014 was our earliest in history.  We commenced harvest on August 8th. Quality was extraordinary with small berries, ripeness without a lot of sugar and focused varietal flavors.  It was clear early on that this would be a fantastic vintage.  The average temperatures in 2014 were lower than 2013.  We had no weather issues.  The season was so consistent we were able to pick without heat spikes or cold spells causing panic or interrupting the harvest. Overall, the wines have balanced acidity, low alcohols, precious tannins and they are concentrated and intense.

Winemaking: The fruit was all hand sorted with one barrel of the La Encantada Vineyard 25% whole cluster, a combination of natural (wild) fermentation and Burgundian yeast isolates, only free-run wine used, no SO2 during maturation on full lees, bottled un-fined and unfiltered.

Maturation: This wine was matured for 10 months in 50% new French oak barriques from Tonnellerie Françoise Frères and Tonnellerie Ermitage.

Wine Analysis:  Alcohol 13.5%, pH 3.55, and TA 6.0 g/L.

Production:  374 six packs.

 Color:  Light, with a silky Bing cherry red and an array of hues in the robe

Aroma: A myriad of red fruit aromas of cherries, raspberries and strawberries complemented with subtle wood additions of vanilla, toast and briar patch

Palate: Full bodied mouth coating and rich.  Deft tannins balanced with nice acidity and dried fruits and not so sweet red fruit preserves

Peak Drinking: Now – but best with 5 to seven years of bottle age from vintage