This wine is a blend of the two oldest and adjacent blocks on the property. Over 85-year-old, bush grown carignan and zinfandel. The carignan was lightly foot tread and fermented whole-cluster in open top containers, while the zinfandel was destemmed and ferment in a 1 ton open top wood fermenter, pumped over twice daily until dry. Wine was aged in a mix of used French and Hungarian barrique for 1 year before blending and bottling. The combination of concentration from the old vines and whole cluster provide a rich structure and dark.

Our first vintage was 90 cases of Chardonnay in neutral oak barrels. We named the wine Heroine to capture its grace and elegance, while still reflecting the powerful terroir of California, and we loved the idea of putting a true American art form – comic book art – on the label of our American wine. When it all sold in 6 weeks, we realized we might have more than just a side project on our hands—this brand was becoming a real business.

We named our winery Iconic because we aspire to establish a new benchmark for California wine: wine that is authentically Californian but more restrained than the “blockbuster” wines that became the norm in the 1990’s.

Birk & Karl