Renowned cult winemaker Heidi Barrett joins Fantesca Estate
St. Helena's Fantesca Estate & Winery said Tuesday it's hired former Screaming Eagle "cult" Napa winemaker Heidi Barrett to oversee its winemaking. She'll also co-star in a series of films the newbie boutique winery is making of this year's harvest.
The four-year-old winery was started by Duane and Susan Hoff, a husband-wife executive team with years of experience at Best Buy. Located in Napa's Spring Mountain district in the hills above St. Helena, it exclusively makes cabernet sauvignon. The 1,000-case winery released its first wines in the fall of 2005, according to its web site: the 2002 Fantesca Spring Mountain cabernet sauvignon and the 2004 chardonnay from Napa's Los Carneros District.
In an April 8 news release, the company noted that Barrett has been hailed by experts such as famed wine critic Robert Parker Jr. and wine magazines Wine Enthusiast and Wine & Spirits as a top winemaker. Parker called her "The First Lady of Wine" for receiving four of his perfect 100-point wine scores, and she won a fifth 100-point score from Wine Enthusiast, making Barrett the only winemaker to have received five perfect scores from top critics, according to Fantesca. Meanwhile, Wine & Spirits has dubbed her "the reigning queen" of Napa cult wines.
Fantesca Estate & Winery is her first new project since leaving Screaming Eagle in 2006, winery officials said. But Barrett's own La Sirena Wines web site notes that she's currently the winemaker for a host of producers, including La Sirena, Amuse Bouche, Revana Family, Jones Family Vineyards, Barbour Vineyards, Paradigm Winery and Lamborn Family, and consulting winemaker for Kenzo Estate, Terrano and Meyer Family. Past clients include Screaming Eagle, Showket Vineyards, Grace Family, Vineyard 29 and Hartwell/Grace Vineyards, according to the La Sirena web site.
In a phone interview late Tuesday, Barrett said she signed on as winemaker at Fantesca, one of several wineries where she serves in that capacity, because she likes the Hoffs and the challenge of working in Napa's hilly Spring Mountain region for the first time payday loans in 1 hour. "I really like them. They're a young dynamic combination," Barrett said of the owners. "I freed up space for them."
"I'm very excited to be the new winemaker for Fantesca Estate & Winery," Barrett said in the statement, adding that the winery's mountainous, volcanic soils give it "incredible potential" to produce an extraordinary cabernet sauvignon.
Fantesca also said it plans to capture the entire growing season this year in a series of bi-monthly high-definition films in which Barrett, Vineyard Manager Jim Barbour and owners Susan and Duane Hoff will chronicle their wine's journey from bud break through harvest on Fantesca's sister web site, adoptagrape.org.
On the site, visitors can "adopt a grape" from one of Fantesca's seven vineyard blocks and receive films, photos and written updates to keep them current on the progress of "their" grape. The free program allows consumers with little or no wine knowledge to be a part of the winemaking experience, at least indirectly, winery officials said.
"Technology for technology's sake, such as a static webcam, is truly boring," said co-owner Susan Hoff. "Our hope is to incorporate technology in a way that brings people closer to their passions in life."
Previously, Nils and Kirk Venge were Fantesca's winemakers, and produced early vintages beginning in 2002, before the winery itself was founded, said spokeswoman Tiffany van Gorder.
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