3CV BANK is proving to be a cult wine in the restaurants of Santa Barbara Wine Country, is getting strong sales across the country and and is served in such establishments as the Denver Ritz Carlton, Brothers at Mattei's Tavern and the Ojai Valley Inn.

BANK is wine maker Doug Margerum's creation - a Cabernet Blend with a dash of Syrah, all grown on our Three Creek Vineyard and made in a handcrafted approach.

In our early days we used to sell our Syrah grapes and watch some renowned wine makers get great scores with Three Creek Vineyard designated wines. As there's no margin in selling fruit we moved to making our own Syrah, and here it is.

Very dark in color with old world aromas of pepper, earth, licorice, cola and plums are generous in the mouth as the supple tannins and zesty fruit present of marriage of power and finesse. More...

Viognier - pronounced vee-ohn-yay - is beginning to get the appreciation this dry white wine deserves as more people get to appreciate it's subtlety. Dating back to at least 281AD and with it's roots in Condrieu, France Viognier is known for powerful flower and tropical fruit aromas.

Grassini Family Vineyards is a spectacularly beautiful and precise vineyard hidden in a canyon in the heart of the Happy Canyon AVA. We're thrilled to buy their fruit for our 3CV Sauvignon Blanc, which is getting great crits in-line with other Sauv Blancs from the AVA.

3CV 2008 Estate SYRAH is produced from four clones (1, 877, Noir, and 383) grown on the hills of our estate vineyard in Happy Canyon. The wine is fermented in small open top fermenters in our very cold cellar, assuring gentle extraction, soft tannins, and fresh bright flavors of the grape.

502 cases produced.
Price: $24 : PURCHASE IN THE WINE STORE

2008 3CV BANK is our estate proprietary blend consisting of 47% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Syrah, 4% Merlot, 3% Malbec, and 3% Petit Verdot. It is a crafted wine; designed to bring maximum pleasure for early drinkability. The exquisite estate Syrah is the cornerstone of the blend even though it is a mere 8% of the mix, as it fleshes out the tannins and rough edges we find in our young Bordeaux varietals. Basically we kept adding just a little more Syrah until it reached the tipping point – it didn’t take much – where it we still had the power and elegance of the Bordeaux varietals that was now softened and fruitified by the generous, luscious Syrah. An eminently drinkable wine, that is dark, grapey, and earthy with rich supple lines and an explosion of flavors.

294 cases produced.
Price: $24 : PURCHASE IN THE WINE STORE

This wine is all clone 1 Sauvignon Blanc grown in the cool valley of Grassini Family Vineyard. We used the Vin 7 yeast strain, in extremely cold and long “fruit preserving” fermentation. Vin 7 is a product of the yeast selection program of Infruitec-Nietvoorbij, the wine and vine institute of the Agricultural Research Council in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The yeast helps in the preservation of Sauvignon’s unique aromatics. The wine was aged in all stainless steel with judicious batonnage. An eminently drinkable wine, that is fresh, crisp, and intense with rich textures and an explosion of flavors. The wine tastes lovely - with grassy, tropical fruit, kiwi aromas and full, textured persistent bright flavors and richness in the mouth.

Cases made: 269.
Released: 3.22.10.
Suggested Retail Price: $18.

Our Viognier is from Mary Beth Vogelzang’s legendary Viognier section. Extremely low yields both in the vineyard and in the press as the intense small berries gave up very little juice. All stainless steel fermentation with 25% moved to neutral French oak for barrel aging and ML. We used the VL1 yeast strain, in extremely cold and long “fruit preserving” fermentation. The yeast heightened the aromatics and gives the wine a precise clean flavor profile. Rich creamy vanilla bean, pear blossoms aromas belie the crisp tight wine that is delivered in the mouth. Long tantalizing flavors persist long after on the pallet; this is a wine that demands to be at the table – with cheese, wild game birds or grilled fish. The acacia, violet, honey and apricot, aromatics are very intriguing. Quite frankly, we are doing back-flips on this wine, the quality is extraordinary. Given the price of the fruit and the ridiculous yield the wine should sell for $75.

Cases made: 298.
Released: 3.22.10.
Suggested Retail Price: $18.