At walk-around tastings, the most avid collectors are prone to wonder, and may even boldly ask the pouring vintner, “what do you have under the table?” At wine shops, such collectors will make a beeline for the rare wine room. Arietta admits to making three such wines, near-unicorns which we rarely open at tastings and offer only to current subscribers. Production of each is only two to five barrels. The cost to produce in such tiny quantities is very high and the scale is not economical, so why bother? The answer is that we learn from and are stimulated by the challenge of “pushing the envelope” of intensity and quality with these wines.
We are pleased to offer you two of Arietta’s Reserve wines, both from the spectacular 2019 vintage. The Arietta Merlot “One Eleven” 2019, like its two predecessors, is a three-barrel selection from the thirty-five-year-old I Block on the Hudson Ranch in Carneros, aged twenty-eight months in 100% new French oak barrels. The Arietta White Wine On The White Keys “Artists’ Reserve” 2019 is a five-barrel lot of White Keys which has been aged an extra eight months prior to bottling, in the tradition of Bordeaux Grand Cru white wines. Shop these wines now. We will ship these wines beginning the week of April 25, subject to weather conditions.
Thank you for your interest in the Arietta Reserve wines.
Wishing you a Happy Spring,
Fritz Hatton and Caren Frutig Hatton
Arietta Proprietors