“I never jumped on that bandwagon…are you blonde enough…are your boobs big enough,” says Aiken with a straight face. Honest, down-to-earth (she drives a 1958 Morris Minor truck) and not shy about voicing her opinion, Aiken knows what she wants from her wines and what she is not willing to accept, like the high alcohols that are all to common today in many Napa Valley red wines. Besides, I don’t like Merlot and it’s not easy to get good Cabernet Franc.” She prefers only 100% Cabernet Sauvignon for the simply stated reason that, “Cabernet Sauvignon grows best in the Napa Valley and I think for now I have two very good vineyards for my blend. Subsequent vintages including the currently available 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon are made at Arkenstone on Howell Mountain. The result is “Meander,” a limited production Cabernet Sauvignon that takes its name from a combination of Aiken’s and winemaker husband Joel Aiken’s two sons Mitchell and Andrew.Īiken made her first Meander Cabernet Sauvignon at Ballantine in 2003. Helena.” To retain those unique characteristics, Aiken says she ferments the lots separately and then prepares the blend. The flavors I get from Morisoli grapes blend nicely with the blackberry and pepper from the Lewelling Vineyard in St. “With Insignia it was the joy of creating the blend every year. Those characteristics also appeal to Aiken’s skill at blending. There were many noteworthy Cabernet Sauvignons in the Napa Valley then, so why did the Morisoli grapes resonate with Aiken? “I really like the cherry-berry and yummy mint notes from the Morisoli Vineyard in Rutherford,” she says.
And Gary is a non- interventionist, a practice that I believe in,” Aiken explains. “Rutherford is a special place, cooler, and soils are different. “Gary Morisoli called me in 2003 to say that he could let me have some grapes.” Aiken says the price then for Morisoli Cabernet was $8,200 a ton, but the grapes were what she was looking for. “I started in 2000 putting my name on a lot of waiting lists and it took me three years before I got a call from a grower,” recalls Aiken. Backus and Eisele fruit weren’t available, so Aiken began a prolonged search. “I always loved the rich aromatics and the lushness and intensity of Insignia,” she says.īy 2000 Aiken was ready to do her own thing, but she needed grapes that met her standards. “What are the great Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in the Napa Valley, and can I get my hands on the grapes?” That hopeful question was rattling around in Amy Aiken’s brain in 2000 when she decided that it was time “to fashion my own wine from vineyards that I believed offered superior aromatics, flavors, textures and character.”Īiken, the proprietor-winemaker for Meander and Conspire wines, cut her teeth on the likes of Joseph Phelps red wines including Backus and Eisele Cabernet Sauvignons and Insignia, in the late 1980s when she started her winemaking career with Phelps in the Napa Valley.
Wine Review Online - Meandering with Amy Aiken
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