Dear Cellar Society Member,
Hopefully by now you’ve had a chance to visit our new tasting room location in Apple Hill! I’m enjoying being able to spend more time at the tasting room and meet more of you. If you haven’t visited us yet, I hope you’ll be able join us for the wine club release party during the first weekend of August or one of our upcoming concert series events.
In this release I have three new wines that I’m excited to share with you. First, we have a very limited bottling of Moscato, a lightly bubbly, fruit-forward sparkling wine perfect for summertime and brunches. We want to see what you think of this style, so please make sure you tell us what you think of this wine. If you like it, then it we’ll make more!
Second, we have our first vintage of malbec since our popular 2017 vintage. I think you’ll enjoy this luscious wine’s juicy, bright flavors and full bodied but supple tannins. This wine will be a hit at any barbecue and will pair well with our Mexi-Cali Grilled Cheese Sandwich at the tasting room.
Lastly, we have our final 2019 vintage release, our merlot from Fair Play. This big wine needed a little more time in barrel and in bottle before release. It is going to pair wonderfully with rich and refined flavors, and it will continue aging for years to come, so this is a great wine to save a bottle of for a special occasion in the future!
I look forward to seeing you soon at the tasting room where we can discuss these wines more.
Cheers,
Brian Darwazeh, Winemaker
2020 Moscato
California
California
TASTING NOTES: Our first Moscato has enticing aromas of honeysuckle, lemon curd, toasted nuts and brioche followed by sweet flavors of apricot, fresh orange, and a hint of tropical fruit. As this wine aerates it evolves with additional apple tart and custard aromas. It might not last long in your glass though, because it’s delicious! It is light and sweet with crisp acidity and balance.
WINEMAKING NOTES: We produced this wine in the classic méthode champenoise used for traditional champagne production, where the wine undergoes additional fermentation in bottle to make it sparkle. This method is more labor intensive and time consuming than other methods but produces better bubbles. First, we made the base wine for this Moscato by fermenting the grape juice dry (no more sugar) then we added in fresh, unfermented (sweet) grape juice we had held back, to make the wine naturally sweet. We then added that to bottle and let it ferment again in the bottle to create the bubbles in this wine. The result is a deliciously sweet and refreshing wine that retains a lot of fresh flavors.
AGING: This wine was held cold in stainless steel tank until bottling, with no oak used. Oak and aging would have interfered with the fresh fruit flavors of this wine.
FOOD PAIRING: Moscato is delicious on its own but also pairs perfectly with brunch! Think fresh fruit and yogurt parfait. Fruity desserts like strawberry shortcake, fresh fruit tarts, or fruit- topped cheesecakes are also great pairings. Because this is a delicate and fresh sweet wine, lightly sweet pairings will tend to work best. However, Moscato is also known to pair with light appetizers such as honeydew wrapped prosciutto, spicy foods, and fresh cheeses!
WINE SPECS
11% alcohol
$32 per bottle
2020 Malbec
Saureel Vineyard, El Dorado
Saureel Vineyard, El Dorado
TASTING NOTES: This luscious wine is complex with an aromatic profile of espresso, dried herbs, blueberry, boysenberry, and cherry compote. It has juicy, bright flavors and a full body of supple, not astringent, tannins. You’ll love its long, mellow finish with flavors reminiscent of chocolate covered raisins.
WINEMAKING NOTES: These grapes were harvested at 24 brix on September 18th, 2020. We fermented the harvest in two separate one ton lots, then blended the wine together before racking it to barrel for aging.
AGING: Aged in 50% new American Oak and 50% neutral oak barrels for 24 months.
FOOD PAIRING: Leaner red meats or poultry with dark meat are classic complements for malbec. Blue cheese and various cured meats will match the intensity of this wine and contrast well with its fruit forward characteristics. Trust us, you can’t go wrong with a bacon blue cheeseburger paired with this wine! Foods with sage, rosemary, or a creamy mushroom sauce will have good contrasting flavors with this wine. For a vegetarian pairing, roasted mushrooms and stuffed red bell peppers will pair quite well.
WINE SPECS
98% Malbec
2% Cabernet Sauvignon
13.5% alcohol
108 cases produced
$38 per bottle
2019 Merlot
Sierra Oaks Vineyard, Fair Play
Sierra Oaks Vineyard, Fair Play
TASTING NOTES: This elegant merlot expresses aromas of black cherry, ripe plum, cedar, and espresso. You’ll taste tart cherry and notice this is a bold and age worthy wine with a refined profile and significant tannic structure. This wine will easily age another 8 to 10 years from its release in 2023, so it’s a great wine to set aside for a special occasion in the future!
WINEMAKING NOTES: We harvested these grapes at 25 brix, the unit used to measure the amount of sugar present in the grapes that can be converted to alcohol during fermentation. We bled off a significant amount of the juice for rosé prior to fermentation, concentrating the skin to juice ratio and increasing the tannic tension and espresso notes of this wine. The wine had an extended maceration in tank after fermentation, extending the extraction period for this full-bodied wine.
AGING: Aged in one new French Oak barrel, one new American Oak barrel, and one neutral barrel for 20 months total before bottling.
FOOD PAIRING: Pair this wine with rich foods like well marbled beef. We suggest pairing with short ribs, roast beef, beef bourguignon, or beef wellington. Horseradish cream, jus, or mushroom sauces would complement this wine. For your cheeseboards try aged cheddar, gruyere, parmesan, and gorgonzola, along with a variety of charcuterie.
WINE SPECS
100% Merlot
14.5% alcohol
Only 65 cases produced
$32 per bottle
