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The road for oak barrels used in Barrel Road wines is a long one with many stops, each adding to the barrels’ unique story. The journey starts in Indiana with our partners at Backbone Bourbon, where new American oak barrels age small batches of Backbone’s premium bourbon whiskey. From here, the barrels make the ultimate road trip to our California cellar, traversing Midwest back roads and highway 70 through the Rockies, crossing the salt flats in Utah and rounding Lake Tahoe.

Grapes are sourced from some of California’s most premium coastal regions, where long days of sunshine are complemented by foggy mornings and Pacific breezes. Barrel Road’s winemaking team hand selects the best lots of red grapes from these regions.

2015 Barrel Road Bourbon Barrel Red Blend, California
With bourbon-soaked barrels in our cellar, Barrel Road uses them for aging, bringing in additional layers of complexity to our Red Blend. Wonderful aromas of vanilla, caramel and spice are complemented beautifully by the wine’s rich red fruit notes. One detects dark chocolate folded into the mix with dark cherry and plum accents. Toasty, spice, and vanilla notes dominate the round palate with an incredibly firm and balanced tannin structure. The finish is pure enjoyment with more vanilla and dark spice notes.

Vineyard Info/Region: For this wine, we source grapes from premium vineyards in California’s Central Coast and interior winegrowing regions. The Central Coast is noted for the cooling influences of the Pacific Ocean. The climate can generally be described as Mediterranean, with mild winters and long, dry summers. Proximity to the Pacific Ocean provides sea breezes that prevent over-ripening throughout the growing season.

Winemaking/Viticulture: After our first successful vintage of bourbon-barrel aged wine, our team was excited to gear up for another round. Again, the whole team worked together closely to craft the base Red Blend before aging began. Soon, the racks piled up with bourbon barrels – now filled with our wine. After three months, additional blending was used to integrate bourbon, oak, and primary fruit characteristics of the wine. The result is a balanced, unique wine with pronounced bourbon and oak notes such as vanilla and dark spice.