In the heart of our vineyard property, right next to our home, lies our Library Block of experimental vines. We tend them lovingly -- training them, tending them, and protecting them from the Texas elements as much as is possible -- with the aim of encouraging them to ripen at our location. As growers, we ensure that the fruit used to craft our wines is as perfectly ripened as our site, soil and climate will allow, thereby laying the foundation for outstanding wines.

There are three general categories of grapes we experiment with:

• Winners
• Losers
• Romantic

Winners stand out, boasting consistently ripened fruit each season, resulting in beautiful wines on an ongoing basis. Each of these “winner” varietals has its own unique issues, but overall each seems to ripen well in response to diligent growing practices.

Losers make themselves obvious quite readily as well. They generally have thin skins, tight clusters, and rot as soon as they develop sugars. We have had a handful of “loser” varietals. With those, there is only remedy -- the chain saw. We pull them out and simply experiment with a different type of grape.

Then there is the complicated category – The Romantics. What does that mean when applied to a grape varietal at Perissos Vineyards? Well, some years they produce an amazing crop with sensuous flavors, while other years, they produce little to no crop at all. When it’’s a good year, the Romantics create a remarkably memorable wine. On the other hand, when it is bad year, we want to run and get the chain saw... but we don’t, because next year might be another great season.

The breakdown for our experimental test block (Library Block) at Perissos Vineyards to date since 2005 is as follows:

Winners	Losers	Romantic
Aglianico	Zinfandel	Muscat Canelli
Dolcetto	Chenin Blanc	Grenache
Rousanne		Mourvedre
Viognier		Cabernet
Petite Sirah		Malbec
Tempranillo
Touriga

In response to our experiences with the Library Block, we have planted larger commercial sections of Petite Sirah, Tempranillo, Viognier, Syrah and Aglianico.