We were getting close to the end of the wine tasting at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan with a tasting of wines from Blue Rock Winery led by Carla Jeffries.  Carla Jeffries was fascinating to talk to and it was a true pleasure, as for a few minutes, I even had all of her attention, until others joined in for the tasting.  She is the Managing Director/General Manager of Blue Rock Vineyard as well as the liaison with trade and media.  I found out that she was from the Midland area of Michigan originally and that her family was in agriculture, as well as homemade wine. She began her career in California first with Francis Coppola’s Winery, followed by another, and then to Blue Rock Vineyard, overseeing hospitality, sales, marketing, branding, administration and part of the winemaking team.  She also gave me a sample of serpentine blue rock, that is part of their signature soil, which now greets guests at my house on the front porch ledge.

The penultimate wine that we had was the Blue Rock Vineyard “Black Label” Best Barrels Merlot Alexander Valley Sonoma County 2021.  The fruit for this wine came from the Blue Rock Estate Vineyard in Alexander Valley and it was ninety-four percent Merlot, five percent Cabernet Sauvignon and one percent Malbec.  It was fermented and aged for twenty-two months in French Oak, of which twenty-five percent was new, and then in the bottle for twenty-one months before release.  There were 576 cases produced of this wine.  A deep ruby-red colored wine that offered notes of red and black fruits, fennel and vanilla, with cocoa, cedar, tobacco and graphite.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black cherry and raspberries, and secondary flavors of coffee, licorice and mocha blending with firm tannins and ending with a nice long-count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.

The final wine of the tasting was Black Rock Vineyard “Black Label” Best Barrels Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley Sonoma County 2019.  This wine was created from barrels representing four distinct blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Petit Verdot all from their Blue Rock Vineyard Estate.  The wine is ninety-one percent Cabernet Sauvignon and nine percent Petit Verdot.  The wine was fermented and aged in French Oak for twenty-eight months, with forty-five percent new and then an additional eighteen months in the bottle before release.  There were 537 cases produced.  A deep reddish-purple colored wine that offered notes of black fruit, black peppercorn, vanilla and graphite.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of blackberry, black cherry, plums, cassis, along with black pepper and vanilla blending with tight tannins and ending with a long-count finish of black fruit, spices and terroir.