Dear Cellar Society Members,
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a warm and restful Holiday season and your 2025 is off to a great start. We are looking forward to a big 2025 full of great wine releases and enjoyable events at 1850 Wine Cellars and Myka Estates.
January at the winery is always a time for looking ahead and planning out the year. We are monitoring how the wines from the 2024 vintage are coming along now that they have had a little bit more time in barrel. These wines are showing great tannin structure, varietal expression and fruit character so far. I’m excited to see how they progress and evolve throughout the year as they age and integrate their oak programs.
White and rosé wines from this past harvest will soon be bottled and scheduled for release when they are at their peak. We are also tasting through previous vintages of red wines and deciding which of these wines will be ready to bottle in the next few months. It’s an exciting time at the winery and we are looking forward to presenting these wines to you.
In addition to new wine releases, we are also in the process of planning out events at the tasting room that are centered around the club member experience. Some of these events are on the website already and others will be added in the near future. We greatly appreciate the feedback that our Cellar Society members have given us both in person and on our recently emailed club survey. The Cellar Society is built around your experience so we want to hear your thoughts on the wines, events and overall view of the club.
The winter release this year features two wines that are great to cozy up with. The 2021 Meritage is a brand-new release and is crafted with fruit from the beloved Jodar Vineyard. This Bordeaux-inspired blend spotlights rich dark berry flavors with a forward expression of baking spices, dark chocolate and berry pie. The tannin structure on this wine offers plenty of heft to pair with hearty winter meals yet is smooth and approachable enough to enjoy on its own. Excuse me while I open another bottle of this wine…
We are also pleased to reintroduce the 2020 Petite Sirah as a part of this release. The perfect accompaniment to a fireside chat, this wine checks all the boxes for this varietal. The nose of this wine is exceptionally aromatic with perfumy notes of jasmine, raspberries, vanilla and tobacco. Juicy acidity refreshes the front of the palate then leads to full-bodied flavors of blueberry and black tea. You’ll find the tannins and rich flavors of this wine create a pleasantly persistent finish.
I hope you will be able to join us at our upcoming Cellar Society release party on the 1st and 2nd of February. As always, Chef Lisa will be creating beautiful pairings for our release wines as well as our “extra pour” of 2018 Zinfandel. I will be there that Saturday the 1st and look forward to catching up with you all and chatting about our wines.
All the best,
Brian Darwazeh, Winemaker
2021 Meritage
Jodar Vineyard, El Dorado
Jodar Vineyard, El Dorado
TASTING NOTES: We love this wine’s berry jam opulence with baking spice and pepper aromas. It has a mouthwatering juiciness on the mid palate with hearty tannins throughout and berry pie flavors. With a structure that is sturdy yet approachable, the finish on this wine lingers with a rich taste similar to dark chocolate.
WINEMAKING NOTES: The components of this blend were all fermented separately at the peak of their ripeness, driving rich and full fruit flavors. After primary fermentations were completed, extended macerations took place before pressing to extract more tannin and structure from the resulting wines. During this extended maceration, malolactic fermentation took place naturally, softening the acid structure in the resulting wine. The finished wine was then pressed, blended, and aged in oak.
AGING: This wine was aged in 75% new French medium plus toasted oak and 25% new American medium toasted oak. This oak blend was used to create a balance between subtle baking spice nuances and a rich and round mouthfeel.
This wine will age for another 5 years from its release in January 2025.
FOOD PAIRING: Taste this wine with Chef Lisa Scott’s Jambalaya at our release party! She chose that pairing because this wine is delicious with Andouille Sausage and the complex flavors of Jambalaya. It also pairs well with her cream of mushroom soup! This wine pairs well with full-flavored, aged cheeses like gouda or sharp cheddar. Its acidity will balance with a variety of tomato-based dishes. Its tannins will stand up to the flavors of grilled beef or lamb. Try it with grilled, stuffed portobellas for a vegetarian or vegan pairing.
WINE SPECS
81% Cabernet Sauvignon
13% Merlot
6% Cabernet Franc
14% alcohol
121 cases produced
$34 per bottle
2020 Petite Sirah
Mabera Vineyard, Amador County
Mabera Vineyard, Amador County
TASTING NOTES: This Petite Sirah, always a favorite amongst fans of 1850 Wine Cellars, has a characteristically very deep, dark color. It is richly aromatic and flavorful, with concentrated blackberry aromas balanced with vanilla, fresh tobacco or herbs, and black tea. The bold fruit flavors carry to the palate where they are balanced by a round plum cake background profile and big, lush tannins.
WINEMAKING NOTES: We picked these grapes at the peak of ripeness and fermented with Rhône yeast to maximize the berry and dark fruit aromas. We allowed this bold wine to age a bit longer than most of our wines, because it was so big and needed time to develop. This wine will continue to age another 6 to 8 years from its release in the winter of 2024.
AGING: Aged in 40% new American oak, 40% new French oak, and 20% neutral oak, the classic 1850 Wine Cellars aging profile, for a total of 32 months to allow the tannins to soften.
FOOD PAIRING: A bold Petite Sirah like this calls for richly flavorful food pairings that can balance it and not be overpowered by it. It classically pairs with red meats but also with exotic flavors. The complex and rich flavors of Chicken Molé make it a consistently good pairing with Petite Sirah. Other richly seasoned dishes will pair well. Come to our release party to taste Chef Lisa Scott’s Truffle and Smoked Gouda pasta with Beef Tenderloin paired with this wine.
WINE SPECS:
95% Petite Sirah
5% Zinfandel
13.5% alcohol
118 cases produced
$36 per bottle