2005 Caldwell Vineyard Rocket Science Proprietary Red - 750ml

Back in 1982 John visited Haut Brion for the first time. In terms of important moments in his life, it was a biggie. He had a few real ah-ha moments there, one of which was about barrels. He had tasted most of the first growths, but he always believed Haut Brion wines had the prettiest nose, consistently, in every vintage. Knowing how much of a wine’s aromatics comes from the oak, he realized that these guys were really on to something with their in-house cooperage.

Over the years he’d talked with lots of existing coopers, based both in the United States and in Europe, about developing our own Caldwell style through our own custom barrel program. But when you’re working with commercial coopers, and five or six different vendors in any given vintage, it’s nearly impossible to get exactly what you want.