Blindfold 2012 California White Wine Established in 2009, The Prisoner Wine Co. emerged with the change in tenure of the Napa Valley red blend and the typical California Zinfandel. With over a decade of winemaking experience at Ravenswood crafting Zinfandel, winemaker, Jen Beloz started The Prisoner Wine Company along with a family of growers and a winemaking team to grow and produce a selection of premium blends, including Cuttings, Blindfold, and Thorn. Created to provide the perfect white wine companion to The Prisoner, Blindfold is bold and intriguing. In establishing their own spin on a white blend, winemaker Jen Beloz and her team sought out interesting Rhône and aromatic…
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The Prisoner 2013 Napa Valley Red Wine Established in 2009, The Prisoner Wine Co. emerged with the change in tenure of the Napa Valley red blend and the typical California Zinfandel. With over a decade of winemaking experience at Ravenswood crafting Zinfandel, winemaker, Jen Beloz started The Prisoner Wine Company along with a family of growers and a winemaking team to grow and produce a selection of premium blends, including Cuttings, Blindfold, and Thorn. The Prisoner was created and inspired by the drinkable “mixed black grapes” first made by the Italian immigrants who originally settled in the Napa Valley. In 2003 The Prisoner was launched and soon became the…
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Flowers 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir As nursery owners in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Walt and Joan Flowers had long dreamed of combining their love of wine with their passion for agriculture. They knew they wanted to produce their favorite varietals, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; what they didn’t know was that their path would eventually lead them across country to Northern California’s rugged Sonoma Coast. After responding to a small classified ad in a national wine publication, that’s exactly where they landed. In 1989, after many information-gathering trips to Napa and Sonoma, Walt and Joan purchased 321 acres, including a ridge top, high above the Pacific Ocean on the northern Sonoma…
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Viña Neyen De Apalta 2010 Espíritu de Apalta, Colchagua Valley The Neyen Winery was founded in 2002 on the site of one of Apalta’s first wineries, built in 1890. Nestled into a horseshoe-shaped ring of mountains, Neyen produces a treasured red wine reflective of the famed terroir enclosed by the Tinguiririca River, blessed by the sun, and protected by the Coastal Mountain Range. The Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon vines, from pre-phylloxera cuttings imported from Bordeaux, have produced high quality fruit since their first harvest in the early 1890s. For decades, the rich fruit supplied Chile’s top producers. By 2002, Apalta had become known around the world as a source of…
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Flowers 2013 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay As nursery owners in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Walt and Joan Flowers had long dreamed of combining their love of wine with their passion for agriculture. They knew they wanted to produce their favorite varietals, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; what they didn’t know was that their path would eventually lead them across country to Northern California’s rugged Sonoma Coast. After responding to a small classified ad in a national wine publication, that’s exactly where they landed. In 1989, after many information-gathering trips to Napa and Sonoma, Walt and Joan purchased 321 acres, including a ridge top, high above the Pacific Ocean on the northern Sonoma Coast.…
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Bodegas Alejandro Fernández Tinto Pesquera 2011 Wines produced by Alejandro Fernández are made exclusively from the difficult, quick-maturing Tempranillo variety, of which he is the acknowledged master. His world-famous Tinto Pesquera is aged a minimum of 18 months in oak, with selected Reservas and Grandes Reservas remaining in barrel for 24 months and longer. Already over 70 years old, Alejandro shows no sign of letting up, rising at five every morning and personally overseeing all stages of the winemaking. The attention to detail is evidenced in this excellent vintage. Opening a bottle the color is a very dark Ruby with aromas of red/black fruits with hints of espresso, toast and…
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Quinta de Pancas 2011 Grande Escolha Quinta de Pancas was founded in 1495 by the Guimarães family and remained under their ownership up until 2006, when Companhia das Quintas acquired it. Located in Estremadura, “Alto Concelho de Alenquer” next to the Pancas Village, the property is noticeable for the architecture of the manor house, especially the entrance arch and its panels with tiles from the 16th Century. Estremadura is a prolific wine region located at the center of Portugal’s Atlantic coast. Despite being one of the country’s most productive vinicultural areas, its name remains relatively obscure, as its wines have traditionally been labeled with the names of the local sub-regions…
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Groth 2013 Chardonnay Hillview Napa Valley In 1981, Dennis and Judy Groth purchased 121 acre parcel in Napa known as the Oakville Vineyards, in the heart of the Oakville Appellation. In fact at that time some of their grapes found their way to Silver Oak and other notable Napa wineries. Between 1999 and 2003, almost 50% of their vineyard was replanted and in 2006 they rebuilt the barrel cellars, crush and fermentation areas. The Groth 2013 Hillview Vineyard Chardonnay was produced from grapes grown only in the Hillview Vineyard in Napa Valley, 100% Chardonnay. The 2013 growing season matched that of 2012 and produced a banner crop producing grapes that…
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Patz & Hall 2013 Dutton Ranch Chardonnay I previously reviewed the 2011 & 2012 vintages and found the wines impressive, but the 2012 growing season was longer and cooler allowing the winemaker to pick the fruit at the peak of ripeness. Founded by 4 individuals Patz & Hall is one of California’s premier wineries. I noticed a light straw yellow color and light aromas of fresh fruit, mostly green apples and slightly citrus with floral notes. On the palate, the flavor was somewhat full and rich with layered flavors of peach, green apple and vanilla spice. The wine had a slight mineral taste with light oak, noting that the wine…
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Campillo 2001 Gran Reserva Bodegas Campillo represents the culmination of the accumulated experience of four generations of winemakers who sought a site at the heart of Rioja Alavesa – Laguardia. Strategically placed in a location in which all key factors: altitude, climate, soil and terrain are ideally suited for growing grapes and ageing their wines. Juilio Faustino Martínez always had the dream of creating a winery surrounded by vineyards, thus transforming the concept of château to the land of Rioja wine. To this end he started his project by acquiring 35 hectares of land near Laguardia in the 1980s which were later expanded to 50. After several years, in 1988, everything…