I managed to sneak away from the tour for a day and do a barrel tasting. It’s tough to have a clear perspective in the cellar. Things change so much from month to month depending on which stage in the process I manage to stumble into. Most of the wines have just gone through racking, so they’re just now beginning to settle back down. The same juice from the same vineyard block will have subtle and sometimes not so subtle variations from barrel to barrel. If the quality is extreme, we try to rack similar quality wines together. Then I take a quick sip from each barrel and pretend to notice the difference. Hence the acting classes. Overall things are coming along well. I’m still very excited about the Ranchita Cab. It’s going to blend beautifully with the Ranchita Sangio (NAGA). And hopefully I’ll be able to wrangle a few gallons of the Malvasia from Eric for the 05 Primer.