Tegan had told me about the Sauvignon Blanc vineyard planted on its own roots in Sierra granite about 10 years ago. On the day that I finally visited it, he added, "Oh yeah. Don't forget to ask the grower about the Barbera. It's on its own roots too, on terraces."

And so I did, and after we saw the Sauvignon, and picked out our rows, we walked over to the steeply terraced Barbera. Big plants, with strong, heavy trunks, as is common in Piemonte. A vigorous variety. Planted in 1980.

We bought a ton in 2024, just as an experiment. The wine was medium good in January 2025, kind of pool wine. We were going to bottle it in June, with all the other young, not super-serious wines. And then in May, it suddenly seemed really good. Went from cheerful to brooding. So we let it sit. I tasted it again yesterday, on October 11. It is really good, very serious. I gave it a new name today, designed a new label. We will bottle it on the 28th of October. The land of Skree-- for the pile of granite rocks the vineyard is dug into.

Planted on its own roots