Many years ago, while staying on the Maresh farm one night during harvest, I heard a songbird in one of Jim Maresh Sr.’s sequoias singing in minor keys just before first light. It took years to learn what this bird was. I had listened to countless songbird recordings to find it. Well, it was the Golden-Crowned sparrow. These lovely sparrows migrate south at night along the Pacific from Alaska and Western Canada in the fall. The Maresh Golden is a medium, youthful and rich blue-red with brilliant transparency. Of course, the nose is full of Hood strawberries with the cool freshness of rain and the Pacific Ocean in the spring air, along with dark red cherries and spice. This beautifully structured wine has disarming purity and weightless power.