Once a year we need to simplify the many tiny wine parcels that the nature of our business develops. Why not blend these left-over parcels into a single blend with a distinctive Barossa name, and that was how Stonevale Red Barn was created back in 2008. Flexibility is the key so Red Barns are blends from many sub-regions and at times may include Eden Valley wines which also allows us to contain costs.
For this wine a blend of Cabernet was prepared yet it needed a fuller, softer, sweeter mid palate and this was developed with Merlot. Grape varieties respond to a wide range of ripening conditions and the introduction of Merlot from the late 1980s has opened up blending options. Merlot sits comfortably with Cabernet in a blend and as our understanding of its qualities develops we may at some future point release a single varietal Merlot.
