Jonata Fenix Red Wine Santa Ynez Valley 2007 I recently took a trip to CA to visit my daughter to celebrate her birthday and wanted to taste some great wines I cannot readily get back east. We visited Jonata Winery in Santa Barbara. In a word, WOW! The name Jonata pays homage to the 1845 Spanish land grant, Rancho San Carlos de Jonata. At the time the land grant covered a large part of the Santa Ynez Valley. Today’s Jonata is at the heart of the former land grant. The Jonata name was borrowed by the first pioneers from the local Chumash Indian and means “tall oak”. One of the…
-
-
Robert Stemmler Carneros Pinot Noir 2013 After making wine in his native Germany, Robert arrived in Napa Valley in 1961, working with the Mondavi brothers at Charles Krug Winery, then becoming winemaker at Sonoma County’s historic Simi Winery. In 1976, he opened his eponymous winery, and in 1982 released his first Pinot Noir to critical acclaim. Meanwhile, in 1981, Anne Moller-Racke arrived from Germany to work at the family’s Buena Vista Winery. They soon became friends. After promoting Pinot Noir nationwide, Robert retired in 1989, and the Racke family purchased his label. When Anne launched an “ultimate Pinot Noir project” at The Donum Estate in 2001, Stemmler wines became Donum’s…
-
Au Bon Climat Nielson Vineyard Pinot Noir 2008 I took a recent trip out to CA, and in particular to taste some of the wines in Santa Barbara County. My next several posts will be some notes from my trip. My first stop was Au Bon Climat. Jim Clendenen, the “Mind Behind” Au Bon Climat since 1982, creates internationally acclaimed Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. Jim has other projects of passion that allow him to make artisan, small lots of distinctive wines from a wider spectrum of grape varietals under different brands. Jim Clendenen was born in Akron, Ohio in the 1950s. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara,…
-
Caymus 2012 40th Anniversary Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Third Coravin Tasting) In 1971 Charlie Wagner and his wife Lorna Belle Glos Wagner asked their son Charles (Chuck) Wagner, who had just graduated from high school, if he would be interested in joining them in starting up a winery. If Chuck declined the offer, Charlie and Lorna were planning to sell out of their ranch in Napa Valley and move to Australia. Chuck accepted his parents’ offer to launch the winery, Caymus Vineyards. The Wagners produced their first vintage in 1972, consisting of 240 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon. Since then, Caymus has focused their efforts in the production of quality…
-
Lynmar Estate Quail Hill Vineyard RRV Pinot Noir 2012 Lynn Fritz first purchased Quail Hill Ranch and Vineyards in 1980, drawn to the maritime climate and the authenticity of the rolling Russian River vineyards. The property has some of the oldest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines planted in the Russian River Valley. The grapes from these early vines were bought by Tony Soter and Merry Edwards to make wines considered to be some of the best in the Russian River Valley. Lynmar began a small winemaking activity in the early 1990s and produced small amounts of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which were extremely well received. Over the next 35 years,…
-
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…
-
ZD Pinot Noir Carneros 2013 In 1969, aerospace engineers Norman DeLeuze and Gino Zepponi, along with their families, turned their entrepreneurial enthusiasm toward winemaking. These were the early days of California’s wine industry, and they were among Napa Valley’s adventurous winemaking pioneers. Their founding concept was to produce world class Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reminiscent of France’s renowned Burgundy wines. They achieved this endeavor by sourcing from the cool Carneros regions of Napa and Sonoma. The ZD Wines brand highlights the initials of the founding partners’ last names, but it also symbolizes the term Zero Defects, an acronym for the quality control program Norman and Gino worked under while designing rockets…
-
Emmolo 2013 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc Jenny Wagner has taken the reins of Emmolo (m–oh–low) Winery from her mother, Cheryl Emmolo, the owner and founder of this lovely Rutherford estate. Jenny’s great-grandfather, an Italian immigrant, Salvatore Emmolo, planted virgin soil to grapevines, such as Carignane and French Columbard in the 1920’s. After becoming an established grape grower, he started a grapevine rootstock nursery and opened up Palermo Winery in 1934, named after the city from which he immigrated. Throughout the years Jenny’s grandfather, Frank Emmolo, found out that Sauvignon Blanc was best suited to that soil. Today, her grandparents continue to enjoy life farming on this Rutherford property. A marriage…
-
St. Clement Oroppas 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon A Napa Valley landmark since 1878, St. Clement Vineyards produces small lots of luxury and single vineyard wines from exceptional Napa Valley vineyards. Hand-crafted from grapes grown in the Napa Valley, St. Clement wines reflect a deep respect for the land and an understanding of the valley’s unique geology, soil and climate. St. Clement’s portfolio of stunning Napa Valley wines is anchored by the flagship Oroppas Cabernet Sauvignon. The first vintage of Oroppas was made in 1991, and over the years, it has become a style icon for St. Clement. The key to Oroppas is having a palate of consistent flavor profiles and tannin…
-
Landmark Vineyards 2013 Overlook Chardonnay Sonoma County Landmark Vineyards was founded in 1974 in Windsor, California, by a group that included Damaris Deere Ford, the great-great-granddaughter of John Deere, inventor of the first steel plow and founder of the world’s largest tractor manufacturer. In 1989, Damaris Deere Ford, became sole proprietor and relocated the winery to Sonoma Valley. Landmark Vineyards is located at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain in Sonoma Valley. In 1993, world-renowned consulting enologist Helen Turley was hired to work with former winemaker, Eric Stern. In addition to the estate vineyard, Landmark sources grapes from a range of different vineyards and those selected are the finest in the…