Winemaker Notes
Abstract pours a neon purple splash and an opaque maroon core with dark aromatics upfront. Black plum, boysenberry and hints of bing cherry and lavender invite a taste. On the palate, the aromatics turn into the sense of taste along with a touch of dark chocolate and reduced blackberry. Supple drying tannins and a slight chalky texture close the wine with a calming finish.
Blend: Grenache, Petite Sirah, Syrah
About Orin Swift
The history of Orin Swift Cellars dates back to 1995 when on a lark, David Swift Phinney took a friend up on an offer and went to Florence, Italy to spend a semester “studying”. During that time, he was introduced to wine, how it was made, and got hooked. A few more years of university led to graduation and eventually a job at Robert Mondavi Winery in 1997 as a temporary harvest worker. Deciding that if he was going to work this hard, it would eventually have to be for himself, he founded Orin Swift Cellars in 1998; Orin is his father’s middle name and Swift is his mother’s maiden name. With two tons of zinfandel and not much else, he spent the next decade making wine for others as well as himself and grew the brand to what it is today.
The Abstract Label
A labor of love, the label for Abstract took three years to compile and three weeks to create. Phinney ripped the 230 images that make up Abstract out of magazines bought at airports during his travels. Inspired by a collage an Italian designer had tacked up in his living room, Phinney thought his own version might make for an arresting wine label.
Featuring everyone from Elvis Presley, Earnest Hemingway and Tilda Swinton, to Paul Weller, Marilyn Monroe and The Queen, having amassed a sizeable collection of portraits, Phinney placed them together on a large table in his office that he sealed off so his work wouldn’t be ruined by a gust of wind – he decided not to glue them down.
In case tragedy struck, he took a picture of the developing collage each night for reference. The easiest part was photographing the work – all he needed was a ladder.
Like the collage, the wine inside the bottle, a blend of Grenache, Petite Sirah and Syrah, is made up of 100 different components sourced from multiple vineyards in multiple appellations throughout California whittled down over the course of a few months during multiple marathon tastings.
