Get to know the winemaker behind La Sirena 2017 Studio Series Red Wine
Winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett is well known for crafting 100 (Robert Parker) point wines for Screaming Eagle in 1992 and 1997. She started her own label, La Sirena, in 1994. The first year she produced a wine made from Sangiovese, and she added La Sirena Cabernet Sauvignon in 1996. Today, she creates stellar wines with the help of her family. Her older daughter Remi Barrett has been Director of Sales & Marketing at La Sirena for 13 years and her younger daughter Chelsea Barrett assists with winemaking on sister brand Aviatrix. Heidi’s husband Bo Barrett is co-winemaker on their joint project Barrett & Barrett.
It seems that wine runs in Heidi’s family. She told Club 672, “My father, Dr. Dick Peterson, has been a winemaker since the late 1950s, so I grew up in wineries and vineyards and started helping him when I was in high school. When it came time to go to college, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in winemaking.” Heidi continued, “For La Sirena, I make all the wines. Credit is also due to my cellar crew and vineyard team who help make it happen. I collaborate with my daughter Chelsea on Aviatrix and a few other wines we make together for other brands. I also . . . have assistant winemakers at a few other wineries I work for.”
Regarding the vineyard sites for her blend, Heidi stated, “Our Studio Series blend shows off what we grow at our property in Calistoga, which is Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Our hillside vineyards are right at the foot of Mt. St. Helena, so they have rocky volcanic soils and a lot of Calistoga character; great ripeness from our warm days and nice structure from our cool nights and morning fog.”
Heidi is best known for her incredible wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, but she also produces a signature white wine called Moscato Azul as well as Chardonnay, Rosé, Malbec, and Syrah. Under her Aviatrix label she makes a Grenache and a sparkling wine. She produces an estate Cabernet Sauvignon with her husband under their Barrett & Barrett label. Her wines are currently distributed in 17 states and small amounts are exported to Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean islands. Visitors to Napa Valley can taste her wines by appointment at Joseph Cellars in Calistoga or at Vintner’s Collective in Napa.
When asked if there is anything she wanted 672 Club Members to know about the La Sirena 2017 Studio Series Napa Valley Red Wine they received in their recent shipment, she replied, “I think something very unique about this wine is that the winemaker is also the label artist! I am a lifelong painter and artist as well as a winemaker, so Studio Series is my way of showing off my art inside and outside the bottle. My mother was an artist too, so creativity and wine have always been in my genes. Each vintage of Studio Series will have a different piece of my original artwork on the label. It’s been so fun selecting which piece to use and seeing the beautiful, colorful bottles come to life. I think it really adds a lot to the wine drinking experience when the bottle and label is interesting and special too.”
