Wine from California

Bright and vibrant, sweet gorgeous texture layered with black cherry, blueberry and earthy Christmas spice surrounded by big, bold fruit and focused oak. Supple and delicious with a long, lingering finish.

The fruit is picked in the early morning hours to retain acidity, 100% destemmed and left to cold soak for four to five days. A light pigeage followed by a one-time racking to barrel is all there is to this one.

Aged in a combination of new and older French oak barrels for 11 months. 
Bottled unfined and unfiltered in August 2014.

Ripe and juicy with full bodied bramble, plum, wild berry and Asian five-spice notes. Framed by toasty oak, chewy tannin and raw savage round out this Sonoma Coast beauty.

Vineyard: Ridgetop Vineyard

Clone: 667, 777 & 115
Appellation: Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California
Harvested: September 28th, 2013
Style: Unfined and Unfiltered
Bottled: August 2014

Lush and mouthwatering mid-palate bursting with sweet fruit and subtle notes of spice. Deep wild berry, blackberry and plum flavors with structured oak and a long lasting, epic finish.

Vineyard: Rosella's Vineyard

Clone: 777, Pisoni & 115
Appellation: Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County, California
Harvested: October 6th & October 16th, 2013
Style: Unfined and Unfiltered
Bottled: August 2014

Bright and vibrant, sweet gorgeous texture layered with black cherry, blueberry and earthy Christmas spice surrounded by big, bold fruit and focused oak. Supple and delicious with a long, lingering finish.

The fruit is picked in the early morning hours to retain acidity, 100% destemmed and left to cold soak for four to five days. A light pigeage followed by a one-time racking to barrel is all there is to this one.

Aged in a combination of new and older French oak barrels for 11 months. 
Bottled unfined and unfiltered in August 2014.

Review:

Also brilliant, Andrew's 2013 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard shows the classic spice, dried flowers and exotic qualities of the vineyard, and backs that up with a medium-bodied, textured and seamless feel on the palate. The texture here is superb, and it builds nicely in the glass, with excellent depth and concentration. It should be as good, if not better, than the 2012, and have a decade of longevity. Wine Advocate 92-94 Points

Plush, complex super-mid-palate with dark fruit, sweet cherries, mocha and a hint of minerality. Silky, concentrated texture and vivid favors plus a touch of sweet oak. Delish!

Vineyard: Kanzler Vineyard

Clone: 667 & Pommard
Appellation: Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California
Harvested: October 7th & October 16th, 2013
Style: Unfined and Unfiltered
Bottled: August 2014

New Pinot Release from A P Vin one of Pinot s hottest up and coming labels and sourced from the Rancho Ontiveros vineyard in the Central Coast Very Limited Only 50 cases were made
 

On the palate it features exotic spices, ripe black cherry, strawberry, rhubarb gracefully balanced across a silky smooth texture and billowy tannins.

Ripe and juicy with full bodied bramble, plum, wild berry and Asian five-spice notes. Framed by toasty oak, chewy tannin and raw savage round out this Sonoma Coast beauty.

Vineyard: Ridgetop Vineyard

Clone: 667, 777 & 115
Appellation: Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California
Harvested: September 28th, 2013
Style: Unfined and Unfiltered
Bottled: August 2014

95% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from three single-vineyard sites in the Chiles Valley AVA in Napa Valley, 5% Merlot from the Oak Knoll AVA in Napa Valley.

On the nose, the 2012 Reserve Block Cabernet shows complex aromas of sweet blackberry coulis, currants, and black licorice. The dense palate is packed with an intense combination of dark red and blue berries, baking spices, and sweet tobacco. The oak is integrated seamlessly, and the perfectly balanced components come together in a smooth finish that lasts for nearly a minute.

The Black Oak Cabernet Sauvignon is garnet red in color, refreshing and inviting to the palate. The wine’s aromas are layered with rich plum notes and a warm cedar component. The ripe, dark cherry flavors, are reminiscent of decadent blackberries with a nice sprinkling of dried herbs. With a mellow tannin structure, this medium-bodied wine is delicious and well-integrated.

The Black Oak Pinot Noir is a glowing example of what they do best in Puglia, make great wine. Deep ruby in color with a lovely bouquet of sweet spices, even a dusting of cinnamon and nutmeg. The flavors are flowing with ripe black cherry. This medium-bodied wine with its fresh acidity will complement many meal selections.

The Black Oak White Zinfandel is a wonderful warm weather sipper. This is sometimes called our ‘hammock wine’ for lazy days by the river.

Lovely perfume aromas that remind one of ripe melons, honeysuckle in summer, and cherry blossoms in spring. The flavors are bright and delicately sweet, with a very good balance of fresh acidity that lightens up the complex texture. The succulent flavors are of juicy tangerine, white peaches and just picked strawberries. All this with an additional hint of lemon-lime and sass that make this a very approachable and fun wine selection.

Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare  is made from 57% Grenache, 18% Grenache Blanc, 9% Mourvèdre, 6% Roussanne, 5% Carignane, 5% Cinsaut

No oak.

This wine is quite emblematic of the great sea change that has occurred at Bonny Doon Vineyard since the sell-off/ draw-down of the Ginormous Doonamath, whereby we have essayed a most sincere effort to make “quieter” wines in a more natural, less manipulated fashion. As such, this Vin Gris is made from bespoke grapes and is not a byproduct of red wine production, per se. We harvested at the appropriate ripeness level for its style. The essential principle here is that less is truly more. The wine does not overwhelm one with fruitybombasticity; it’s charms are seductively subtle. An extremely elegant and complex Vin Gris de Cigare.

The ’17 Vin Gris is a return to form from recent vintages, and a true expression of a proper Vin Gris, which is to say a pale pink wine made with the scantest skin contact. As a result, the wine is somewhat lighter and more delicate on the palate with minimal astringency and perhaps more of a floral aspect than doonright fruitiness. The perfume of this wine is subtle, haunting, not vulgar or tawdry, like some of the louche rosés de la nuit. Enfin, this wine is all about elegance and restraint. Rosehips, cassis, fraises de bois, citrus rind, with a wonderfully austere stony finish.
The wine does not overwhelm one with fruity-bombasticity; it’s charms are seductively subtle. An extremely elegant and complex Vin Gris de Cigare.

The Grenache for our Vin Gris came from bespoke sections of the Alta Loma Vineyard, harvested at the appropriate maturity level for this elegant style of wine. About 24% of the wine is composed of traditional white Rhône varieties in substantial part from the Beeswax Vineyard in the Arroyo Seco district of Monterey, adding a surprising richness and foundation. We also employed the practice of postfermentation bâtonnage—the stirring or re-suspension of yeast lees—to give the wine a certain creaminess of texture.

Varietal Blend: 57% Grenache, 18% Grenache Blanc, 9% Mourvèdre, 6% Roussanne, 5% Carignane, 5% Cinsaut. 
Appellation: Central Coast
Vineyards: 41% Alta Loma, 13% Beeswax, 11% Bokisch Ranch, 8% JD Farming, 6% San Miguel, 7% Cass, 5% Gonsalves, 4% Scheid, 3% Wente, 1% Rancho Solo, 1% Ventan
Alcohol by Volume: 13.2%
TA: 4.5 g/L
pH: 3.42

This wine just begs for oysters or stone crab.

Review:

- Wine & Spirits Magazine (June 2018), 90 pts, BEST BUY - YEAR'S BEST ROSES

Bydand Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley  is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Aged for 22 months in 80% new French oak, 20% neutral French oak

Located in the heart of the Rutherford Bench the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon exhibits all of the characteristics that make this one of Napa Valley’s most popular grape growing areas. Revealing deep and polished flavors of dusty earth and wild berry this wine finishes with fine-grained tannins that produce a complex and vibrant finish.

Bydand Chardonnay Sonoma Coast is made from 100% Chardonnay

Aged for 16 months in 30% new French oak, 70% neutral French oak

Farmed by one of California’s most respected and longest operating grape-growing families, the Roberts Road Vineyard is located in the Petaluma Gap. Sitting on well draining gravel soils, coastal winds allow for a long, slow and even growing season. Planted in 1998 these Dijon 95 grapes provide minerality and vibrancy to a full-bodied wine with impressive purity of flavor and mouth-feel. French oak barrels add subtle toast to aromas of pear, stone fruits and white citrus.

Bydand Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast  is made from 100% Pinot Noir

Aged for 16 months in 40% new French oak, 60% neutral French oak

Umino Vineyard is perched atop rolling hills overlooking the Petaluma Gap in Sebastopol, CA. Taking advantage of maritime influence this 11-acre vineyard benefits from warm sunshine throughout the day and cool coastal winds at night. Planted in 1996 to 4 Dijon Clones of Pinot Noir these vines produce wine of purity and balance. Exhibiting rich flavors and aromas of crushed rose petal, raspberry and cherry cola with earthy minerality and lively acidity.

Early to bud and early to ripen, the 2014 vintage was our third drought year in a row. Dry, even temperatures marched the grapes along at a steady clip all year and created a wine with beautifully integrated fruit, acidity, and tannin.
Dense and dark magenta in color, this is a lithe and energetic vintage with lifted aromatics and a purity of fruit that lights up the medium-bodied tannin structure. The nose promises fresh black fruits, cherries and a touch of graphite, and the palate completely delivers. Juicy blackberry, plum, and bright cherry explode in the mouth, and develop into savory notes of baked black fruit and fresh pencil shavings on the mid-palate. 
Eagle Summit Vineyard’s signature eucalyptus appears on the back palate to brighten the fruit, showing fragrant peppermint and warm, toasty spices through the finish. Whether you open it young or wait a few decades, this vintage does Howell Mountain proud--sophisticated and smart, with a rustic wild side.

Cresta Velia Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Aged in 100% French oak (86% new)

• 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Eagle Summit Vineyard on Howell Mountain
• Equal amounts of clone 4 and clone 7
• unfined and unfiltered

Review:

"The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% Cabernet aged 20 months in 86% new French oak, with the typical suspects in terms of cooperage – Darnajou, Taransaud, and Remond. This opaque purple-colored wine has plenty of mulberry and blackcurrant fruit along with hints of blackberries, camphor and incense. The are some notes of unsmoked cigar and licorice as well. Ripe, medium to full-bodied and luscious, it is a classic to drink over the next 15 or more years. - RP"

- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #228, December 2016), 90 pts

Delta Landing:
An extensive system of estuaries where water flows throughout the coast range connecting a series of waterways and wetlands. This isolated and exotic confluence of rivers promotes one of the most unique and fertile agricultural areas in the world. Warm breezy summers coupled with sharp foggy winters creates enticing varietals that will enchant your palate.

Tasting Notes: Opulent and bold, the Lodi Zinfandel is alluring and powerful yet perfectly balanced. The fruit is lusty and pepper tinged with deliciously smooth, intense red and black fruit flavors of cherries, raspberries and blackberries. This juicy, medium bodied wine shows off bright acids and soft tannins for an exhilarating and significant finish.

Delta Landing:
An extensive system of estuaries where water flows throughout the coast range connecting a series of waterways and wetlands. This isolated and exotic confluence of rivers promotes one of the most unique and fertile agricultural areas in the world. Warm breezy summers coupled with sharp foggy winters creates enticing varietals that will enchant your palate.

Tasting Notes: Opulent and bold, the Lodi Zinfandel is alluring and powerful yet perfectly balanced. The fruit is lusty and pepper tinged with deliciously smooth, intense red and black fruit flavors of cherries, raspberries and blackberries. This juicy, medium bodied wine shows off bright acids and soft tannins for an exhilarating and significant finish.

Lancel Creek Vineyard is perched above the tiny hamlet of Occidental on the remote Sonoma Coast. This secluded, two-acre site was prepared, planted, and is still tended by Ulises Valdez. The pale, off-white Goldridge soil provides just enough nutrients and moisture for these densely planted vines to ripen a small amount of intensely aromatic and flavorful Chardonnay. The vineyard faces the Pacific Ocean, a mere five miles to the west. The combined influence of the cold Pacific and the warming afternoon sun produces a wine of incredible richness and sublime balance.

Soil types: Goldridge, fine sandy loam.
Age of the vines: 15 years

Silver Eagle Vineyard rests atop Stoetz Ridge, the land mass that divides the remote Sonoma Coast from the Russian River Valley. This vineyard experiences both the cooling ocean breezes of the nearby Pacific, as well as the warmth of the interior valley. The Chardonnay made from this unique confluence of climates is extraordinary; a fascinating juxtaposition of briny minerality and candied citrus.

Average age of the vines is 10 years.

100% native fermentation (primary and secondary), long cool fermentations often lasting up to a full year, minimal lees stirring, no additions of any kind (commercial yeast, water, acid, enzymes, etc ...)

Ageing: 12 months sur lie in 60 gallon Burgundian barrels. 6 additional months in stainless. 
Cooperage: Francois Freres 100% French Oak, Vosges and Troncais forrests, 40% new oak.

Never any fining or filtration.

Review:

The 2014 Chardonnay Silver Eagle Vineyard is flat out gorgeous. Ample, unctuous and inviting, the 2014 offers exceptional depth, silkiness and nuance. Apricot jam, honey, honeysuckle, orange peel and baked apple all flesh out in the glass. The interplay of rich, textured fruit and bright aromatics is compelling. The 2014 is a bold, opulent wine from Matt Courtney and yet it retains remarkable balance. -Vinous 95 Points