Byington Alliage - Red Meritage 2001

"Alliage" is the French word for alloy. And just as a purposeful blending of metals produces an alloy that is greater than the sum of its parts, Alliage is the result of multiple blending components to arrive at a wine far superior to its separate parts. The 2001 Byington Alliage, an amalgam of Sonoma County Bordeaux wine grapes, is a wine that goes beyond one-dimensional varietal character to optimize each element's contribution to the whole.

Winemaker Nick deLuca is pursuing something other than just complexity or varietal intensity. Complexity alone can result in a cacophony of flavors, aromas and textures that seek to impress by their sheer number alone. "Intensity." Nick states, "is a virtue, but not the essence of great wine." He believes that subtlety, on the other hand, occurs when intensity and complexity are in balance with all the wine's components. In creating wines of subtlety, Nick believes that "the individual elements yield the most superlative whole when they are similar enough to be sensorially related and different enough to produce perceivable nuances in the glass."

At Byington, we use Bordeaux as a model for our Alliage program (but enjoy the flexibility that the New World affords us), blending the 3 major Bordeaux varietals—Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot—to create a wine that optimizes the best attributes of the vintage. In the winemaking world, there are certain flavors and aromas that are naturally supportive. Old World viticultural practices have provided us with a centuries-tested model of which wine grape varieties enhance, support, and complement each other. Alliage builds on these traditions by combining them with a stylistic flexibility enabled by New World winemaking choices.

The 2001 Alliage is a blend of Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. With regards to future Alliage releases, Nick remarks, "We have no preconceived opinion as to the best proportions of these components, even which one should be the principal one."