Each year, the CBC team selects the best wine to be bottled as our Ascendance. For 2007, we’ve crafted a blend of 80% Malbec and 20% Petit Verdot. This is a powerful and tannic wine that has a spicy, cedary mouthfeel and a lingering finish. The wine breaks our house style mold and has a brooding seriousness that belies our party wine image. Something different and something fun. This wine will cellar into 2012! Enjoy!

Barbera has its roots in the Piedmont region of Italy where it has grown for more than a thousand years. Italian immigrants brought Barbera rootstock to the Napa and Central Valleys in the early part of this century where it is widely grown. California Barberas are known for long-aging, robust red wines with intense fruit, snappy acidity and enhanced tannic content.

2008 marked the 12th harvest of one of Crystal Basin Cellars’ flagship wines, Cabernet Franc, from the Gold Hill Vineyard in El Dorado County . Overlooking the American River Canyon the vineyard enjoys warm days and cooling breezes at night. This micro-climate allows an optimal ripening cycle and showcases a glowing example of the intense flavors possible from Sierra Foothill Cabernet Franc grapes.

The Cabernet Sauvignon vines that produced this wine are now 24 years old and are near their optimal maturity. Growing at altitudes of 3000 and 1200 feet respectively these vines have a late ripening cycle and produce grapes that show how good Sierra Foothill Cabernet Sauvignon can be. After hard-harvesting and crushing the grapes were fermented over a seven-day period in open-top containers. The must was punched down by hand four times a day to extract maximum color and varietal character. The wine was pressed in a small manually operated vertical basket press. After settling the wine was aged in neutral French and American oak barrels to let as much varietal character show through as possible. The wine was racked by gravity flow only, never pumped, and was bottled unfined and unfiltered.

This classic Southern Rhone wine grape is packed with rich ripe strawberry flavors with a touch of spiciness. This wine exudes the character of the Rhone River Valley Appellation Gigondas and has a hint of smokiness and soft tannins. The wine also exhibits full round fruit flavors and the traditional Rhone style with earth tones. This is a big Grenache with supple tannins that will go well with most meat dishes. Probably the world's most widely planted red grape, largely in France and Spain and more recently Australia . Grenache is often picked early due to its early bud break. This grape is perfect for El Dorado County because October is typically beautiful. In California, Grenache has been around in blends of all kinds since the 1850s, with about 7,700 acres currently planted.

Malbec is a lesser Bordeaux grape variety used in making robust red wine. Malbec wines tend to have an inky dark color and significant tannins. Long known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine, the French plantations of Malbec are now found primarily in Cahors in South West France region and in Argentina. Malbec has characteristics that fall somewhere between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. A midseason ripener, it can bring very deep color and a particular plum-like flavor component to add complexity to claret blends.