“La Sirena are some of California’s most lusted-after wines.” – The Drinks Business

The long Valentine’s weekend continues! For the love of the Mermaid, with Heidi Barrett in the house!

(look out for a couple of other specials in the Store and on the App today.)

By now we could write a compendium of reasons why we love “The First Lady of Wine” and the fruits from her winemaking passion, La Sirena.

Mostly because they make killer wines. But also, Heidi and her daughter Remi are absolute besties around Wine Spies Headquarters.

And they keep a steady flow of awe-inspiring deals coming our way that we are entirely grateful for. 🙏

Like this Chardonnay, which drinks like its $75 release price. But far outpaces anything at our price today. You could put this up against the very best of Burgundy in fact, and we’re sure it would hold it down. If not take the crown.

Heidi has proven her winemaking skills extend so far beyond Screaming Eagle. Although her work there certainly put her on the map as one of California’s best winemakers. And she built that foundation along the way at Paradigm, Dalla Valle, Jones Family, Grace Family, Vineyard 29, David Arthur, Amuse Bouche, Lamborn, Kenzo, the list goes on and on with other ultra-high-end producers.

I mean… can you imagine the fruit sources she has access to in the Russian River Valley? Take the Ulises Valdez Vineyard for instance, which is 60% of this. You only see it on labels like Aubert or Paul Hobbs! Then there’s the very special sector of the Bacigalupi Vineyard, connecting the Barretts to the Chard that changed American wine forever. Per the La Sirena notes, it’s “sourced from the original 1969 planting of the Rued clone of Chardonnay, known for its somewhat tropical aromatics (some even refer to it as the Muscat clone of Chardonnay), and blended with fruit from the Bacigalupi Paris Block, one of the sources for the Chateau Montelena 1973 Chardonnay that won the Paris Tasting.”

But fair warning - if you want a big, oaked-out, buttered-up Chard, this is not it. However, if you want elegance, power, and a CRAZY expression of the grape, you found one of the best examples around.

With no malolactic fermentation and just 10% new oak, it has shed any baby fat, and richness that defines so many “California” Chards. With some lees stirring though, it offers so much class and exotic expression. The aromatics soar! Waves of bright Meyer lemon, hints of Bananas Foster, whispers of star jasmine, dustings of cardamom, and nutmeg. Dang, this stuff delivers like a Samuel Jackson statement in Pulp Fiction. You will know it’s special, that’s for certain.

Never seen as a deal before, and probably never again will be as precious little is made.