The excellent 2006 vintage gave us a lot of great wine to work with and 55% of our Cabernet production went into the making of our second wine, Baby Blue. This Cabernet is 100% Estate fruit and is produced with the same precision as the more expensive Blue Rock. The wine spends 20 months in 100% French oak and has been bottled unfiltered. As a result, Baby Blue is delicious on release and is intended for mid-term cellaring.

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Blue Rock is located in the Alexander Valley next door to Silver Oak Winery. The hillside vineyard, consisting of 46 acres, was replanted in 1982 to the 5 Bordeaux varietals. In 1993, an additional 3 acres of Beaucastle-clone Syrah were planted in the hills. The ancient olive trees are beautiful and still produce tiny amounts of organic oil. Bordeaux varietals are adaptable to many soil and climate conditions but develop great character and longevity in relatively few locations. Blue Rock is blessed with cool mornings and warm days that make it one of those special places where Bordeaux varietals develop clarity and finesse. The vineyard elevation is between 300 and 600 feet above the valley floor. As a result, the soils are shallow, generally no more than 18 inches deep, before the roots hit a layer of clay and serpentine rock. The vines are small and densley planted producing yields that average a modest 2.5 tons per acre. Further complexity is derived from the multiplicity of root stocks and clones. The name Blue Rock comes from our soils, which are studded with blue pebbles, rocks, and boulders of serpentine. The serpentine rock defines the unique flavor profile of the vineyard, as serpentine naturally reduces the yields to very low levels. Today, the very best vineyards are planted on devigorating rootstocks in order to improve the flavor and density, something that comes naturally to Blue Rock.