2023 Wood Family Vineyards “Against the Grain” Bourbon Barrel Aged Red Wine – A Big Change?
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The History of Using Bourbon Barrels For Wine
In the early 1980’s, American oak barrels where expensive for many start up wineries. By law bourbon barrels must be 100% American oak and can only be used one time to distill bourbon in the United States. So, after their use, many barrels became available for “other distilled spirits” and wineries to purchase at a fraction of the price of new French or new American oak barrels. So why doesn’t everyone purchase used bourbon barrels? Key is that whiskey barrels are produced differently than wine barrels. Whiskey barrels are charred on the inside verses wine barrels which are toasted. By only toasting wine barrels, the wine while aging develops many nuances of flavor. Bourbon barrel aged wines tend to be bold with ripe reds, vanilla, smoky and with muted tannins.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The use of bourbon barrel aging has taken off recently with more wineries using these barrels. Some view it as a trend to attract Millennials who buy whiskies. Others view it as a crossover from spirits to wine and yet the resulting wine is unique, smooth and provides an enjoyable sipping experience. This market is exploding due to the flavor profile not just with Millennials but with wine aficionados looking to enhance their experience. This is now an important wine segment statement by the Wine Industry Advisor. It is estimated that 20 million bottles of aged bourbon barrel wines are sold annually. Today 60 brands offer Bourbon Barrel Aged red wine.
A Senior VP for Southeastern Grocers had this insight “customers who prefer bold wines tend to prefer this selection during the peak barbeque months of summer, and the cool months of winter”. Also riding the coat tails of the large increase of Bourbon sales due to the “alphabet generations” has helped spur this upward trend in wine sales. Additionally, according to the Bourbon Women’s Association, their figures show it doubling from 15% thirty years ago to today and they too are discovering bourbon barrel aged wines.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The counter punch to the success of Bourbon Barrel aged wines comes from writer Blatner who believes bourbon barrel-aging has uses in other settings, he’s skeptical that it will be a long-term trend for wines. “Bourbon barrels add legit richness to stouts, porters, BBQ sauces, and even maple syrup. But when it’s slapped on a product just to move inventory, that’s where it loses credibility. I think it’ll stick around in categories where it actually improves the product (beer, sauces), but in things like wine, I’m not so sure.”
Thus, it will be up to the consumer to determine the fate of this market as an on-going segment or passing fad. For me, accounting for 20 million bottles provides credibility, being more like trend!
The Wine – “Wine is bottled Poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
I have enjoyed the Wood Family Vineyards “Against the Grain” Bourbon Barrel Aged Red Wine since its initial release. As a “wine writer/critic” I have received some flak that this is not a legitimate wine. That stated, my wife and I do enjoy it with a sear BBQ meat or by standalone in the winter months. We generally don’t drink “hard liquor” so this wine in the wintertime with a fire in the fireplace is a nice treat while watching a movie or show to leisurely sip.
Over the years, tasting and reviewing Wood Family Vineyards Bourbon Barrel Aged wines one key element is that these wines tend to morph in the bottle. Meaning that the Bourbon influence seems to get noticeably stronger when aged.
Another obvious trend is the mixture of varieties changes drastically as well as percentages. Below is the chronological formulas of this wine since 2018:
2018 – 28% Merlot, 28% Syrah, 14% Mourvèdre, 9% Petite Sirah, 7% Malbec, 7% Petit Verdot and 7% Cabernet Franc.
2019 – 40% Syrah, 25% Mourvedre, 25% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot.
2020 – 54% Syrah, 36% Malbec, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Petite Sirah.
2021 – 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Petit Verdot, 20% Malbec and 5% Petite Sirah.
2022 – 40% Cabernet Franc, 30% Petit Verdot, 25% Malbec and 5% Petite Sirah.
2023 – 75% Petit Verdot and 25% Merlot (the new release on October 12th, 2025).
The varieties are selected and blended by Rhonda Wood and her staff.
When discussing this year’s release being a big change from past releases with a strong percentage of Petit Verdot and mellowed by a touch of Merlot, Rhonda’s response was “Because we loved it! I tasted it just recently and thought it was the bomb. The bourbon influence will continue to increase”.
We tasted it a dinner party (see below) and then once again by itself to give a complete review. First on the eyes a beautiful color showing the stately and deep purple/magenta of Petit Verdot. Once the cork was popped and poured into the glass a beautiful boutique of violets/lavender and the aroma of Bourbon wafted into the olfactory senses. On the palate dark fruits, strong tannins and firm acidity greeted the imbiber. On the finish black pepper with smoky notes lingered. The Merlot played a part in calming down the strong brutish characteristics of Petit Verdot.
The grapes came from two vineyards, the Petit Verdot from Smith Ranch and the Merlot from OneOak Vineyard. The wine was aged 17 months in 28% new French oak and the balance being neutral plus 3 months in Bourbon barrels. It has 15.3% alcohol.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Knowing we were having this wine in advance, my wife primarily worked on a couple of Bourbon peppercorn sauces to apply to the filet mignon steaks. After two “trials” we selected one to go with a seared and BBQ’ed filet mignon cooked to medium rare. The sauce consisted of Worcestershire sauce, butter, maple syrup, crushed peppercorns and Bourbon.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Accompanied by roasted halved and seasoned red potatoes and roasted Brussel sprouts drizzled with aged and reduced Balsamic vinegar. Also, a fresh garden salad and French bread lightly toasted with butter, salt and garlic.
It was a very good meal and initially at the dinner all of us felt the Bourbon influence a bit lacking compared to previous vintages. That could have been due to sauce and peppercorns. The Petit Verdot was still a solid choice of wine with steak. However, as both Rhonda and I stated it, her Bourbon Barrel Aged wine does morph and will presumably do so with this vintage. But as previously noted when tried by itself two days later, the Bourbon influence was noted.
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly