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thief and said, “let’s do some barrel tasting.” We must have spent an hour and a half talking
Although the wines were young, they were al- about their philosophy of blending wines. The
ready nicely drinkable. About our third barrel, winemaker is fearless in blending wines. Blending
winemaker Denis Hoey appeared. A professional unusual varietals together to achieve uniquely
winemaker since he was 21, he now blends his palatable wines. Francisco has adopted the wine-
wine using old world methods with new world makers, slightly unorthodox blends in his own new
technique to make nouveau-style wines. His wines label, encouraged and coached by Denis. We took
are rich, textured, and balanced, reflecting the ter- home a bottle of his Sling Stone Pinot Noir with
roir and character of the varietal. They started grapes from the Santa Lucia Highlands that rivals
bringing out the bottles; I lost track of how many. anything coming out of Sonoma or Oregon.
But each one was a winner.
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