2008 Arietta Variation One Red Wine Napa Valley is sold out.

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From Arietta’s Private Stash: Perfectly Cellared Library Red

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    2008 Arietta Variation One Red Wine Napa Valley 750 ml

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    • Curated by unrivaled experts
    • Choose your delivery date
    • Temperature controlled shipping options
    • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

    2008 Variation One’s Final Notes

    144 bottles. That’s all that remains of the exquisite 2008 Arietta Variation One. And after today, all of those bottles will be headed from the cool, dark recesses of Arietta vintners Fritz and Caren Hatton’s wine library to the cellars of Wine Access members. 

    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, all 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 eye.

    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). The grapes for Variation One come from the lauded Hudson Vineyard in Carneros, where red grapes thrive under foggy skies. The source, pedigree, and care in this bottle—not to mention the perfect cellar regime—all add up to a red that belongs alongside cult Cabernets and Bordeaux Grands Crus, but comes at a price that puts most of those wines to shame. 

    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, giving the wine great complexity and ageability. 

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