A story of the unlikeliest of wine releases from the Benjamin Bridge cellar revealed for the very first time after 16 years of bottle ageing in the depths of our cellar. From head winemaker Jean-Benoit Deslauriers himself, the oral history of this mysterious wine:

When hired by Benjamin Bridge in February of 2008, I was working as a winemaker in California, along the Central Coast area outside Santa Barbara. At the time, I had just started a small winery project to create elegant wines with a finessed and weightless profile that would contrast with the dominant wine style of the time: heavy, opaque and bold. I had identified an old planting of Grenache from the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard that featured the delicate complexity required for the task, making the first wines in the fall of 2007. I was excited by the potential of those wines, so when the opportunity to join Benjamin Bridge presented itself six months later, there was a bit of grief at the idea of leaving those wines behind. Lo and behold, our friends at the NSLC made room in a container of wine travelling from California to Nova Scotia. So the wine barrels were loaded, against all odds, onboard a ship travelling through the Panama Canal en route to the port of Halifax. Upon arrival, I picked up the barrels in an old delivery van at the port. A few long-time Bishop's Cellar staff may even remember a quick pit stop at their location en route to the Gaspereau Valley for a barrel-tasting in the van parked in front of the store! The wine was bottled soon after (in magnums only!) and then laid to rest in the far corners of our cellar while the early days of Benjamin Bridge were dedicated to the all-consuming task of making Nova Scotia wines shine. Away from sight, the wine has exponentially gained in depth of flavours and is now entering its prime. It is guaranteed to surpass the highest expectations of anyone looking for nuance and delicacy over brute force. 16 years later, Benjamin Bridge is proud to reveal this idiosyncratic, one-of-a-kind cellar treasure and the unique story of how it came to life.