Fe Wines 26 Red Blend Spring Mountain 2022

Wine has the exceptional ability to act as an oasis from everyday life and also as a portal for exploration. Opening a new bottle to share with friends and family can bring respite and comfort that nourishes your soul, or this simple act can open your senses to an entirely new place in the world that you can experience with these same loved ones. Fe Wines proprietors Jon and Joanne Goldstein credit their oenophilic hobbies as foundational to their relationship. From the beginning, they cherished sharing new wines and stoking their curious minds with interesting finds from global wine regions. In a juxtaposition, though, their property on Spring Mountain is an oasis from the busy humming of wine country, where they gather to absorb the energy of the natural habitat that surrounds their vines and create wines that reflect the remarkable terroir.

The name "Fe" (pronounced Fee) is derived from the land, just as the wines are, and nods to the iron-rich soils of Jon and Joanne's vineyard. Iron symbolizes power and elegance, with strength and adaptability, reflecting the balance of traits sought in the wines. The Bordeaux varietals planted are inherently full-bodied with structured, tannic intensity while simultaneously nuanced, with aromatic layers and finessed touches that showcase the land. Before these vines were producing fruit, however, the Fe team spent seven years cultivating their plot of rugged land and developing six blocks of vines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. Their winemaker, Aaron Pott, has been alongside Jon & Joanne as they establish the vineyard and their brand and has shared that "from the very beginning, it was clear that this was going to be a great site. It's got everything I could ever want in a vineyard."

Aaron Pott is a gregarious, quirky, and tremendously talented winemaker whose bio reads like a Greek epic in which he is the tenacious hero. He credits a French waiter who served him wine instead of milk at the age of 10 with sparking his fascination with wine. After studying viticulture and enology, Aaron shipped off to France expecting to work as a humble cellar rat, completing the menial cleaning tasks to "get your hands dirty" and "work your way up." Only when he arrived, he was immediately promoted to winemaker at Château Troplong Mondot. As a 30-year-old American outsider, Aaron faced a lot of pushback from the locals in his position as winemaker, including his car once mysteriously catching fire. Yet, he persisted and spent six years in France, absorbing all the wisdom and gaining priceless experiences. From France, Aaron took a position with Beringer as a floating winemaker, which brought him to vineyards across the globe from Italy to Chile and finally back to California, where he worked as Quintessa's winemaker before launching a family brand, Pott Wine, and consulting firm, Huis Clos Consulting in 2007.

Aaron collaborates with his Assistant Winemaker, Eric Hagyard, to craft the Fe Wines, whose first vintage was in 2018. With the 2022, the team picked much earlier than usual due to the long heat wave at the beginning of September that quickened the ripening. The 26 Red Blend reflects the make-up of the vineyard with 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc, 16% Petit Verdot, and 6% Malbec. After three rounds of sorting, the fruit underwent a long maceration and native fermentation, then into barrel for 20 months of aging in 75% new French oak. Black fruits such as currants, blackberries, plums, and mission figs fill the aromatics with underlying layers of cedar, tobacco, and mushrooms. Refreshing acidity brings out brightly toned fruit notes and lifts the fine-grained, silky tannins through the long finish.