• Anderson Valley,  California,  Cellar Selection,  Pinot Noir

    Cellar Selection

    Cakebread Cellars 2012 Two Creeks Vineyards Pinot Noir Over 30 years ago, Jack Cakebread came to photograph the Napa Valley for a book and while there, he casually mentioned his interest in one day owning a vineyard to some family friends who had a ranch in Rutherford. When he returned home that afternoon, the phone rang and it was the family friends offering to sell their property. He headed back up to the valley that same afternoon to make his best offer, and Cakebread Cellars was born. Today, the winery owns 13 sites totaling 982 acres, 460 of which are currently planted. The Cakebread Website is full of interesting information…

  • Anderson Valley,  California,  Pinot Noir,  Weekend Selection

    Weekend Selection

    Cakebread Cellars 2015 Two Creeks Vineyards Pinot Noir Over 30 years ago, Jack Cakebread came to photograph the Napa Valley for a book and while there, he casually mentioned his interest in one day owning a vineyard to some family friends who had a ranch in Rutherford. When he returned home that afternoon, the phone rang and it was the family friends offering to sell their property. He headed back up to the valley that same afternoon to make his best offer, and Cakebread Cellars was born.  Today, the winery owns 13 sites totaling 982 acres, 460 of which are currently planted.  The Cakebread Website is full of interesting information…

  • Anderson Valley,  Cabernet Sauvignon,  California,  Exceptional Red,  Merlot

    Exceptional Red

    Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery 2013 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Sebastiani’s first century in Sonoma winemaking began when Samuele emigrated from the Tuscany region of Italy in 1895 and started Sebastiani nine years later. A stonemason by trade, he quarry-mined the Sonoma hills for cobblestones that were used to build the streets of San Francisco. He worked long hours and saved carefully to buy land in Sonoma County, from which he would make wine for the Sonoma community and San Francisco’s restaurants. The winery was the only one in Sonoma County to continue operations through Prohibition, making a small amount of sacramental and medicinal wines. It has been joked, and perhaps…

  • Anderson Valley,  California,  Pinot Noir,  Weekend Selection

    Weekend Selection

    Goldeneye Anderson Valley Pinot Noir 2012 Goldeneye Winery was founded in 1996, years before the Pinot Noir boom that has reshaped the landscape of California winemaking. But the genesis for Goldeneye goes back even further. In 1990, after fifteen years of making world-class Bordeaux-varietal wines, Dan and Margaret Duckhorn embraced their growing love of Pinot Noir. They wanted to found a winery that could make a terroir-inspired expression of California Pinot Noir of equal stature to the acclaimed Merlots they had pioneered at Duckhorn Vineyards in Napa Valley. The Duckhorns knew that in both the Old and New World, the finest Pinot Noir thrives in very different conditions than Merlot.…

  • Anderson Valley,  California,  Exceptional Red,  Pinot Noir

    Exceptional Red

    Copain “Tous Ensemble” Anderson Valley 2014 Pinot Noir Copain Wines is perched on a hill overlooking the serenely beautiful Russian River Valley. Winemaker Wells Guthrie discovered early on that his taste in wine gravitated toward Europe in general and France’s Rhône Valley in particular. So much so, he picked up and moved with his new bride to the region to learn from the best. For two years, Wells apprenticed for esteemed winemaker and living legend Michel Chapoutier in France’s Rhone Valley. During that time, Wells was deeply inspired by the traditions and practices of French winemaking, not to mention the European attitude that wine is an essential part of life.…

  • Anderson Valley,  California,  Pinot Noir,  Weekend Selection

    Weekend Selection

    Cakebread Cellars 2012 Two Creeks Pinot Noir Recently I commented on Cakebread’s Chardonnay, a real gem, so I wanted to dive farther into their wine offerings. Cakebread Cellars was founded, in 1973, by Jack and Dolores Cakebread and they have an enduring commitment to quality, their belief is that life’s occasions are elevated by good people, good food, and good wine flows through everything they do. In 2013, Cakebread Cellars celebrated their 40th harvest, and the second generation of winemaking, however in 1994, Cakebread made their first Pinot Noir, and in 1995, the family purchased a 60-acre former apple orchard in Anderson Valley near Boonville and began developing this vineyard…

  • Anderson Valley,  Brut,  California Sparkler,  Chardonnay,  Exceptional White,  Pinot Noir

    Exceptional White

    Roederer Estate Sparkling Anderson Valley Brut N.V. Roederer Estate is the first California sparkling wine to be produced by Champagne Louis Roederer, further building upon a 200-year tradition of fine wine making from this family owned company.  Roederer’s unique winemaking style is based on two elements: complete ownership of its vineyards and the addition of oak-aged reserve wines to each year’s blend or cuvée.  The Roederer Estate is located 125 miles north of San Francisco near the Mendocino Coast, and since 1982 began developing its own vineyards and crafting wines.  The Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut made its debut in October 1988.  Anderson Valley offers a climate of warm days…