Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terroir we call "Paradigm."

Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terroir we call "Paradigm." Winemaking is agriculture when you own your vineyards and are able to farm them to promote the very best Earth will give you. All of our selections of wines are made from five varietals on the estate. Every wine is 100% farmed and grown by us.

We never set out to create our own style of wine. The experience of our winemaker, Heidi Peterson Barrett, exemplifies a “wine wisdom” which recognizes the inherent quality of the fruit. Non-invasive, allowing the grapes to express themselves as they do each vintage from the well tended vineyards. The flavors and aromas of our wines are due to the nurturing and the vintage specific guidance required each year to make the finest of Oakville wines both in the cellar and vineyard.

The five wines made at Paradigm are grown, produced, bottled, and aged at the winery in Oakville. All are aged in French Oak barrels for twenty months. The Cabernet Sauvignon is then bottle aged an additional twenty months prior to its release. The Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Zinfandel are given fourteen months of bottle age before their debut. For the first time in 2009, a Rosé in the Vin Gris style was made from our Merlot grapes.

 

Heidi Barrett

Winemaker

Heidi has been our winemaker at Paradigm since our first vintage in 1991 when we started using some our own grapes to make wine instead of simply selling them to other nearby wineries. Fun fact: Heidi's father, Dick Peterson, an acclaimed winemaker on his own, helped to design the original Paradigm winery building.

A Napa Valley native and a graduate of UC Davis, Heidi is winemaker for some of Napa Valley’s most highly-regarded wineries. In addition to Paradigm, her current wine projects include Amuse Bouche, Fantesca, Lamborn, Kenzo Estate, Au Sommet, Vin Perdu - as well as her own labels, La Sirena and Barrett & Barrett. She has worked previously with Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, Jones Family, Grace Family, Vineyard 29, David Arthur, Barbour Vineyards and Showket.

Heidi’s philosophy in making wines for Paradigm is simple: she feels that she is working with an extraordinary vineyard site that has been farmed impeccably for years. She lets the fruit from this vineyard express its quality and unique terroir with minimal intervention.

Heidi Barrett

Winemaker

Heidi has been our winemaker at Paradigm since 1991 when we started using some our own grapes to make our wine instead of selling them to other nearby wineries. A Napa Valley native and a graduate of UC Davis, Heidi is the winemaker for some of Napa Valley’s most highly-regarded wineries, such as Screaming Eagle, Grace Family, and Dalle Valle. Heidi’s philosophy in making wines for Paradigm is simple: she feels that she is working with an extraordinary vineyard site that has been farmed impeccably for years. She lets the fuit from this vineyard express its quality and unique terroir with minimal intervention.

Handcrafted


Our hands touch the vines while we are tending to them. Our hands touch the vines when we are pruning. Our hands touch the grapes while we harvest. Our hands touch the wine in all of it’s phases. We do not employ mechanical harvesters or pruners. No ocular berry sizing and sorting, no mechanical or automated pumpover devices. No computer tank monitoring systems.

We pick by hand, we sort our fruit by hand in the field and at the conveyer, we pumpover by hand, we do not run to the computer first thing in the morning during harvest…we meticulously go from tank top to tank top and smell each tank.

Handcrafted


Our hands touch the vines while we are tending to them. Our hands touch the vines when we are pruning. Our hands touch the grapes while we harvest. Our hands touch the wine in all of it’s phases. We do not employ mechanical harvesters or pruners. No ocular berry sizing and sorting, no mechanical or automated pumpover devices. No computer tank monitoring systems.

We pick by hand, we sort our fruit by hand in the field and at the conveyer, we pumpover by hand, we do not run to the computer first thing in the morning during harvest…we meticulously go from tank top to tank top and smell each tank.
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