(VinePair) - Bob Blue, Fetzer Vineyards’ winemaker and the unofficial baron of bourbon barrel-aged wines, famously describes his creation as a product of thrifty necessity. “I distinctly remember in the early ‘80s that getting French oak for wine was a big deal,” Blue is frequently quoted as saying. “Since there wasn’t a ton of capital, we used bourbon barrels.”

Fetzer’s bourbon-barrel-aged Zinfandel, 1000 Stories, debuted in 2014. In the five years since, production has skyrocketed from 5,000 9-liter cases to more than 140,000 annually. “We continue to see strong double-digit growth,” Rachel Newman, the brand’s marketing director, writes VinePair in an email.