As a fifth generation Napa Valley winemaker, Joseph learned his way around a vineyard long before he was able to drink wine. By the time he was 19 he knew that he would continue his family’s winemaker legacy, working alongside his father at Caymus Vineyards. In 2001, he created Belle Glos, with a focus on vineyard-designated Pinot Noirs from California’s best coastal regions.
More recently, he has launched a number of new brands under Copper Cane Wines & Provisions. Joseph has a keen interest in contributing to the evolution of the wine industry, by discovering new winegrowing locations and experimenting in the cellar. He is thrilled to release BÖEN – an expression of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made in his signature style of rich, ripe fruit flavors balanced with bright acidity and judicious hints of toasty oak.
Joseph has always focused on making wines that best represent the region in which the grapes are grown. In California, the abundance of sunshine and warm days over a long growing season contribute to wines that are rich, bold and robust – a style that he and his family have always loved.
To produce wines that are round, opulent and supple, Joseph studies the physiology of the vine throughout the growing season. When the green canes begin to lignify, or turn to wood, they take on a copper hue. This color shift signals that the green character and harsh tannins have been purged from the vine, and thus the resulting wines – the grapes are ready to be harvested. While other wine-growing regions of the world may struggle to get a fully ripened crop each vintage, it’s the norm in California to be able to achieve optimal ripeness. Joe strives for this each and every vintage.
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Guillemot-Michel Vire-Clesse Charleston is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
This cuvée is produced from hundred-year old vines that the great-grandfather planted after he returned from World War I. The family wanted to honor his memory and vinify these vines the same way he did, in old demi-muids.
Charleston is a deep and complex wine that gently express itself in the glass, offering juicy white fruit flavors and a lengthy finish.
Charleston is vinified and aged for one year in demi-muids of over 10 years old. During the following harvest, the wine is racked and placed in vats for another 6 months of aging before bottling.
Fish in white sauce, poultry in creamy sauce, hard cheeses.
Review:
"The 2019 Viré-Clessé Charleston is brilliant, opening in the glass with notes of buttered citrus fruit, pear, beeswax and vanilla pod. Full-bodied, layered and textural, with huge concentration, lively acids and a seamless, multidimensional profile, it's long and penetrating. It's one of the very best wines I've ever tasted from the domaine. Readers will remember that the Guillemot family's oldest parcel of vines dates back to 1918, and the idea behind this cuvée is to work the vines and make the wine in the same way as their grandfather—who planted them—did. It spends a year in old demi-muids followed by six months in tank on the lees. - William Kelley"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (August 2021), 94+ pts
Saumaize Michelin Pouilly-Fuisse Pentacrine made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
The name Pentacrine is derived from a small marine star-shaped fossil found in some soils on the Vergisson rock - the emblem of the estate. The cuvee is a blend of grapes from five different parcels of the Vergisson rock planted on scratched limestone. It is vinified in large barrels (demi-muids) in order to enhance the freshness of the wine.
Tropical and citrus fruit aromas and mineral character are followed by complex citrus and apple flavors balanced by a refreshing acidity. A deliciously pure and fresh white wine.