Matchbook "The Arsonist" Red Blend

Some times we just have to laugh at ourselves.  Matchbook is a fairly well known California winery so we were shocked that their Arsonist Red Blend was sourced from Dundee Hills, Oregon.  Wanting to learn more, we started researching Dundee Hills until we learned seventy-seven percent of their grapes were Pinot Noir.  Huh?  This wine isn't pinot.  Oh...Dunnigan Hills, not Dundee Hills!

Then we started researching Dunnigan Hills, a California AVA where the giant in the industry there is R. H. Phillips.  Since we thought the Matchbook packaging resembled an R. H. Phillips product, we went that route only to learn Matchbook isn't from Phillips.  It is a standalone estate.  For that matter, we also learned R. H. Phillips isn't R. H. Phillips anymore since it has been sold twice, most recently to Constellation which transferred winemaking to their mega-facility at Woodbridge fifty miles away.

As we said, Matchbook is an estate and the red blend asserts its bonafides right on the label.  If a label says "estate bottled" then you better believe everything about the making of that wine is done on the property.  In this industry, that matters.  It's quality control.   

The grape composition for The Arsonist Red Blend is half Petit Verdot (pet-tee vur-doe) with equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec.  What's interesting there is that large percentage of Petit Verdot.  Historically Petit Verdot has been limited to no more than ten percent of the traditional blend.  It is a full-bodied, strongly flavored grape that adds punch to the mid-palate of a wine.  In the warmer Mediterranean climate of California's Dunnigan Hills, however, it ripens earlier moderating some of the stronger character traits.  

In a typical Bordeaux blend, Petit Verdot adds color, tannins and floral aromas to the mix with flavors that might include plum, sage, lavender, black cherry and dried herbs.  The grape originated in southwest France but is now planted on every continent.  As we said earlier, in the warmer Mediterranean climates it is softer which probably accounts for its predominance in The Arsonist blend.