Amuse Bouche

Amuse Bouche

Amuse Bouche is a winery in Napa Valley, California (USA) established in 2002 by the highly respected wine-maker Heidi Peterson Barrett and her longtime friend John Schwartz. Before Heidi started producing wine at Amuse Bouche, she was an independent free-lance winemaker and consultant at Dalla Valle Vineyards and Screaming Eagle among others.

The first wine, labelled “Amuse Bouche” has been inspired by the wines from the Bordeaux appellation Pomerol. Predominantly Merlot with a small amount of Cabernet Franc from Oakville, the wine is aged in 100% new oak. The first vintage only produced 3000 bottles, but nowadays the production is close to 9000 bottles. The labels of the 2016 vintage are painted by Heidi herself and are hand signed and numbered.

The “second wine” is called “Vin Perdu” and is made from the Bordeaux grapes Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot coming from the Amuse Bouche vineyard, as well as from other estates. As a homage to her father: Richard (Dick) G. Peterson, they introduced a separate line influenced by Burgundy in France; A Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA , near Monterey Bay and a sparkling Rosé Brut, crafted in the Méthode Champenoise style.

Amuse Bouche also owns “Au Sommet” in Atlas Peak (Napa Valley), together with Jim Barbour. This domaine is specialized in producing a fantastic wine from Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. The vineyard (only 2.8 Ha) is one of the highest in Napa Valley, rising 2100 ft (640 m) above sea level.

John Schwartz also produces wine, together with wine maker Kent Jarman, under the name “Coup de Foudre”. Mainly from the Napa Valley region, but also from Sonoma Coast and Santa Rita Hills in California, they use a broad variety of grapes, especially Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir. Examples are: “37.2 Cuvée”, “Les Bouquinistes”, “Lightning Bolt” “Cabernet Sauvignon” and “Pinot Noir”.

The various wines already received very good reviews from the international wine critics and especially the forthcoming vintage 2016 will be remembered as one of the top vintages in Napa Valley. Will one of them become the next cult wine?