100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Food pairings: Steak simply seasoned with salt and pepper, braised dishes, pasta with red sauce, and game meats.

Winemaking: The 2021 vintage enjoyed optimal ripeness, tempered by the transverse valley of Santa Barbara County. Although it was a riper-style year, the team harvested on the earlier side, between October 9 and 14, to keep freshness and elegance. The wine was aged for 11 months only in neutral French barriques, preserving its juicy, accessible fruit for an early-July release.

Vineyards and terroir: The Cabernet Sauvignon comes from two organic vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley, farmed in partnership with the growers. One lies within the Happy Canyon AVA, with a south-facing orientation on gravelly loam studded with rocky galets. The second, in the Los Olivos District AVA, sits on a bench-like terrace of fine sandy loam over clay subsoil, was planted with budwood from Cheval Blanc and is farmed with applications of a biodynamic worm compost tea. Together the two terroirs are ideally suited to Bordeaux varieties, giving a Cabernet of elegance and grace.

Family and history: Railsback Frères is the project of brothers Lyle and Eric Railsback, who began in 2015 with a Bandol-inspired rosé from the Santa Ynez Valley and make their wines at Presqu'ile Winery in Santa Maria. In 2018 they began making Cabernet Sauvignon with the Murphy family and Dieter Cronje of Presqu'ile, first as a private label for a Michelin-starred New York City restaurant. The response was so strong that in 2020 they contracted additional vineyards, and since the wine did not fit the Provençal origins of the Railsback Frères label, they named it "Roman Ceremony", a celebration of the birthplace of wine.

In the pictures: The Railsback Frères winemaking team in the vineyard (courtesy of Railsback Frères).