Bourbon Barrel Aged Wine with 1924’s Portfolio Director, Andrew Blok [INTERVIEW]

Bourbon aged wine is taking the wine community by storm. We reached out to Andrew Blok, the Portfolio Director for 1924 to learn more about their Double Black Bourbon Barrel Aged Cabernet Sauvignon and how the bourbon barrel influences the final product. He also shared with us some of the history behind 1924, and make some recommendations you won’t want to miss….especially his unexpected paring with their Cabernet Sauvignon.

Who is Andrew Blok?

Andrew Blok is the Portfolio Director for 1924 as well as several other brands at family-owned Delicato Family Wines. After graduating with a BS from UC Davis’ Viticulture and Enology program (that’s grape growing and winemaking to the rest of us), he hopped right into wine production with harvest internships in Sonoma County, New Zealand, and Santa Barbara County. While his background in winemaking gives him a unique perspective, he ultimately fell in love with brand management because it provided the opportunity to introduce interesting wines and stories to people worldwide.  

1924 Highlights:

• Wine —1924 Double Black Cabernet Sauvignon delivers rich aromas of black cherry, violet,  black  pepper and smoky,  toasted  oak,  setting  the  stage  for  layered, concentrated flavors of blackberry jam, black currant and spicy clove. Inky in the glass, this Cab has smooth, structured tannins and a generous finish.
• Vineyards—This 1924 Double Black Cabernet Sauvignon was crafted using grapes from select  vineyards  throughout  the  Lodi  region,  an  area  long  known  amongst California winemakers as the “Zin-famous” appellation. Lodi’s climate is ideal for growing concentrated, full-flavored grapes – well-draining sandy soil, warm summer afternoons and cooling nighttime breezes from the Pacific Ocean.
• Winemaking—The fruit for the Double Black Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested during the cool early morning hours. Following de-stemming, the grapes were fermented slowly in stainless steel fermenters and then pressed gently into stainless steel tanks. A portion of the wine is aged on a blend of American and French oak while another portion is maintained in stainless steel, providing  blending  options  for  the winemaker to craft a bold and structured wine.
• Pairing—Pair this full-bodied wine with equally bold dishes: spicy chorizo chili, barbecue brisket or garlic chicken wings.

Here is the interview…

What makes your wine so special?

Our winery was founded in 1924, when our founders planted our first vineyard—right in the middle of Prohibition. And ever since, we’ve been farming vines and making wines our own way. Our Double Black Bourbon Barrel Aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a good example of that. It’s not traditional to age wine in bourbon barrels, but we love the layers of flavor that they give to the wine—the bourbon barrel influence dials up the caramel and toasty oak notes. It’s a bold wine that we make for our fans, who know what they love and, I think, know that we’re all about knowing which rules to break and which to bend in the pursuit of good taste and good times. 1924 wines honor that legacy of our Prohibition-era founding, which is a testament to how success can come from going to the beat of one’s own drum and being a bit of a rebel, regardless of what everyone thinks you should be doing.  

Where does the inspiration come from when developing a new wine?

What inspires us when developing a new wine is our Prohibition-era heritage. Right now, there’s a similar spirit in our culture—after years of living through the pandemic, there’s a strong desire to get out there and socialize, have fun and just enjoy life. Whatever we put out in the world, whether that’s delicious wines from our amazing vineyards, or any kind of event or engagement for our fans, we want it to be a companion to and maybe even an inspiration for our fans to seize and enjoy the moment.  

Which of your wines would you recommend for a novice drinker? Which for an aficionado?

Our Double Black Red Blend is perfect for a novice drinker. It’s a smooth red that we blend to ensure that it’s perfectly balanced and loaded with flavor, but still easy to drink. You don’t need to have a big steak in front of you to balance out the wine, it’s balanced all on its own and is just super delicious. A lot of the fruit comes from our vineyards in Lodi, California, which is an area that’s historically been a superb home for Zinfandel and other robust red grapes. For a wine aficionado, I recommend 1924 Double Black Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s a classically structured Cabernet, with rich black cherry fruit and tannins that give the wine some heft. This is a wine that is great to drink now, but it also has the complexity and balance to age really well in a bottle for a few years, too. It’s a serious wine at a price that’s actually affordable, and that’s another reason why, I think, we have seen such success with it.

How have 1924 wines evolved over the years?

1924 Wines started with a single wine, our Double Black Red Blend, and over the years we’ve added new wines, including a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bourbon Barrel Aged Cabernet Sauvignon and, recently, a Port Barrel Aged Pinot Noir, which is doing really well. With the wines themselves, we work really hard to get the flavor profile perfect by drawing inspiration from the bold flavors of the 1920s. So, while the brand has evolved, the wines themselves are consistent year to year. 

What is a surprisingly good, unusual wine and food pairing?

Try pairing the 1924 Double Black Bourbon Barrel Aged Cabernet Sauvignon with some peanut butter cups. It’s incredible, I swear! The salty kick and sweet flavors from the peanut butter cups mixed with the sweet fruit and spice from the Cabernet Sauvignon makes for an amazing combination. 

Thank you to Andrew for making the time to for the interview…it was a pleasure! To learn more about 1924 visit 1924wines.com.

Cheers!