2007 Arietta Variation One Red Wine Napa Valley 750 ml

120 bottles. That’s all that remained in Arietta’s dark, cool wine cellars of the exquisite 2007 Arietta Variation One. All of those bottles are available today to Wine Access members, coming directly from the dark, cool recesses of Arietta vintners Fritz and Caren Hattons’ wine library. We recommend clicking the “buy” button now, and saving this story to re-read with a glass of this perfectly aged, crimson wine in hand. 

This is one of the wines we pour for our most avid collector friends, whether they love Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley, or California Cabernet. It’s also one we open for pure pleasure—and a ton of top Napa Valley winemakers we know do the same. 

Variation One, which co-ferments Syrah and Merlot in nearly equal proportions, cascades from the glass with savory aromas of leather, tobacco, cedar, dried violets, and balsam built around a core of baked and fresh plums, blackberry, smoke, and a hint of cracked pepper. The softened, velvety tannins are supremely enjoyable on the palate, and while you could continue to cellar this beauty for another decade it’s drinking in its prime today… after 13 years under the Hattons’ watchful eyes.

Arietta is awash in some of the top talent and grapes in California. Their winemaker is the renowned multi-100-point Andy Erickson (of Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, and Harlan Estate), and the grapes for Variation One come from Carneros’ lauded Hudson vineyard, where red grapes thrive under foggy skies. The source, pedigree, and care in this bottle—not to mention the perfect 13-year cellar regime—all add up to a red that belongs alongside the cult Cabernets and Bordeaux Grands Crus, at a price that puts most of those wines to shame. 

Robert Parker himself called this wine a “head-turner” in its youth, and we’re proud to say it’s still a bombshell today. Erickson’s blending mastery is on full display in this wine, whose savory and floral tones harmonize with symphonic grace and elegance. After fermentation, Variation One was aged in new French oak for 22 months, which added the structure and spice notes that make it sing today. The Syrah brings a wilder sense to the classic Merlot, allowing the wine to achieve great complexity and ageability. 

The result is one of the most special and cellar-worthy wines made in Napa Valley, aged to perfection for you. Claim your share of this special red right now.