2017 Napa Carneros Red Shoulder Ranch Shafer 2016 Napa Relentless Shafer Vineyards traces its beginnings to 1972 when John Shafer left a 23-year career in the publishing industry and, with his family, moved to the Napa Valley to pursue a second career in wine. After purchasing a 210-acre estate in Napa Valley’s Stags Leap District, the Shafer family faced the arduous task of replanting the existing vineyards, which dated to the 1920s, and terracing the steep and rocky hillsides, eventually expanding vineyard acreage to its current 50 acres. From a modest beginning of 1,000 cases in 1978, the winery has grown steadily until…
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Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay 2012 Shafer Vineyards traces its beginnings to 1972 when John Shafer left a 23-year career in the publishing industry and, with his family, moved to the Napa Valley to pursue a second career in wine. After purchasing a 210-acre estate in Napa Valley’s Stags Leap District, the Shafer family faced the arduous task of replanting the existing vineyards, which dated to the 1920s, and terracing the steep and rocky hillsides, eventually expanding vineyard acreage to its current 50 acres. From a modest beginning of 1,000 cases in 1978, the winery has grown steadily until reaching its present size of 32,000 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,…
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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…
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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…
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Orin Swift Mannequin 2013 Chardonnay The history of Orin Swift Cellars dates back to 1995 when on a lark, David Swift Phinney took a friend up on an offer and went to Florence, Italy to spend a semester “studying”. During that time, he was introduced to wine, how it was made, and got hooked. A few more years of university led to graduation and eventually a job at Robert Mondavi Winery in 1997 as a temporary harvest worker. Deciding that if he was going to work this hard, it would eventually have to be for himself, so in 1998 he founded Orin Swift Cellars; Orin is his father’s middle name…
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Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir 2012 In 1977 David Graves and Richard Ward, both UC Davis graduate students met in brewing class. In addition to sharing a passion for brew, they also had a passion for Burgundies. In 1978 they began working the Napa harvest at Chappellet and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. In 1981 David and Dick founded Saintsbury and began focusing on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The winery’s namesake honors George Saintsbury (1845-1933), literary historian and oenophile. Vivid ruby red, with a bouquet of dark red fruit and spicy aromas. On the palate ripe fruit flavors of cherries, plum and dried red berries, slight earthy and mineral taste. Aged for…
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Sequoia Grove 2012 Chardonnay Who would have guessed Napa Valley, a small pioneer community established during the gold rush days would flourish into one of the most prestigious wine growing regions in the world today? Surrounded by its purple hued mountains, Sequoia Grove Winery sits on 22 acres right in the heart of the valley floor in a region referred to as the “Rutherford Bench”. Here the alluvial soil, rich in minerals, combined with the fog from the bay, mingling with the warm inland temperatures create the ideal location to produce fine wine. Michael Trujillo, the Director of Winemaking and President, has been with Sequoia Grove since its beginnings joining…
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Nickel & Nickel 2013 Chardonnay Truchard Vineyard Nickel & Nickel winery, located in Oakville, Napa Valley, produces 100 percent varietal, single-vineyard wines that express the distinct personality of each vineyard. Established by the partners of Far Niente in 1997, Nickel & Nickel is focused on producing single-vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from the appellation’s most significant AVAs. A small collection of single-vineyard Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah complements the portfolio. Construction of a cutting-edge winery facility housed within a vintage 1880s farmstead was completed in the summer of 2003, when the winery officially opened to the public. Truchard Vineyard lies in the heart of Carneros, prized for its rolling hills, sun…
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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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Rombauer 2013 Chardonnay Carneros Koerner Rombauer was born and raised in Southern California, in the small, agricultural town of Escondido, near San Diego. He attended public schools in Escondido and went to the same high school as Joan Ransome, who would later (in 1959) become his wife. Koerner’s first great career passion was flying, and was a commercial pilot with Braniff and flew as a captain along a South American route until the airline ceased operations in 1972. The Rombauers moved their family, two horses, and five dogs from Dallas to the Napa Valley. They purchased 40 acres of hilltop land on the Silverado Trail, near St. Helana, however without…