Amuse Bouche

Heidi Barrett has been, in one way or another, involved with winemaking since she was a child. After graduating from UC Davis in 1980 with a B.S. Degree in Fermentation Science, she went to work for Justin Meyer at Franciscan Vineyards and Silver Oak. After subsequent crush jobs at both Lindeman's Wines in Australia and Rutherford Hill, Heidi Barrett became assistant winemaker to Jerry Luper at Bouchaine Vineyards. Then in 1983, at age 25 became winemaker at Buehler Vineyards. It was here that she first attracted critical acclaim by greatly improving the wine quality and taking the production from 6,000 cases to 20,000 cases.

She has developed a stellar client list of super and ultra-premium wineries, and is currently winemaker for Jones Family, Barbour Vineyards, Paradigm Winery, Showket Vineyards, Lamborn Family, and two newcomers Lynch and Revana Family Vineyards. Past clients include Screaming Eagle, Grace Family, Vineyard 29, Hartwell/Grace, and Oakford Vineyards. In addition to these clients, she does a limited amount of consulting work for Diamond Creek Winery and Niebaum-Coppola (Rubicon) where she works with their winemakers to further improve their wines.

Heidi also started making her own wine, La Sirena in 1994 with a tiny production of Sangiovese. "I was looking for a name for my wine which would be as magical as I think wine is. La Sirena which means "the Mermaid" in Italian and Spanish is a way of representing two of my great passions". In 1996 she made the first Cabernet Sauvignon for La Sirena and in 2000 the first Syrah.

In 2002, Heidi partnered with longtime friend John Schwartz and famed French artist Guy Buffet to create Amuse Bouche, a Pomerol-inspired Merlot from Napa Valley. Recognizing that the cult wine phenomenon has created an almost aspirational class structure among collectors, the partners decided to make this limited edition wine available to a much broader consumer base.