Matchbook Arsonist Red Blend 2016

Dense, dark and ripe, the Arsonist 2013 Red Blend is a towering affirmation that we must all sometimes play with fire. Aromas of mocha, blueberry and cardamom intermingle with cigar box and hints of black pepper. A sweet oak character on the entry brings blackberry and cherry on the mid-palate, finishing with a pleasing peppery nip. Firm tannins on the entry complement a mouth-filling structure.

Why Matchbook? As a farm kid growing up in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Matchbook's owner, John Giguiere, was a confirmed pyromaniac starting various things on fire such as his father's wheat field. At one point, fearing total ruin from his kids burning him out of the house and farm, his father took them to the city jail for an hour stay to impress upon his brother and him the futility of their fascination with fire. John and his brother answered at a later date by graduating from random fires to the launching of rockets which often blew up at some stage of their journey resulting in more random fires and a call to the local fire department for help.