Kelley Fox Wines Kelley Fox Wines was founded in 2007, together with her father, Gerson “Gus” Stearns, producing about 100 cases or so. Today, Kelley has grown production to about 3000 cases per year. Grapes sourced from the historic Maresh Vineyard, the Demeter-certified biodynamic Momtazi Vineyard along with Hyland, Freedom Hill, Weber, and Durant Vineyard. Kelley has been immersed with her full-time pursuit of making Fine Wines since 2000. In fact, literally Kelley is submerged into her wines. One of the many winemaking decisions a winemaker contends with is Pigéage, a French word meaning to “punch down.” Punching down refers to a winemaking process, during the early stage of fermentation,…
-
-
Occidental Freestone-Occidental Pinot Noir 2017 Steve Kistler, founder and winemaker of Kistler Vineyards for 37 years, has established a new pinot noir brand “Occidental” which is owned and operated by the Kistler family. Occidental built a state-of-the-art winery on a ridge top next to the Bodega Headlands Vineyard overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and was completed in August of 2013 just in time for the harvest. Occidental makes very small quantities of Pinot Noirs, from select vineyard sites and are allocated to their Mailing List members. If you want to grab a few of these gems, click this Mailing List Link to join! Medium Ruby color with rich sweet red fruit…
-
Joseph Phelps Vineyards 2016 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir Pastorale Vineyard I recently wrote about Joseph Phelps Vineyards having its roots dating back to 1973, see October 25, 2019 review of Joseph Phelps 2016 Napa Sauvignon Blanc & 2016 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay Pastorale Vineyard. While many of the early Joseph Phelps wines were made with grapes from the Home Ranch in St. Helena, Joe also sourced fruit from outside growers. But as the winery continued to grow and he traded earlier efforts in Riesling and Chardonnay for Cabernet, Merlot and other red Bordeaux varieties, he began acquiring vineyard land in the Rutherford, Oakville, Stags Leap District, and…
-
2017 MerSoleil Silver Chardonnay 2017 Emmolo Napa Merlot 2017 MerSoleil Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 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…
-
Jaffurs Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County 2015 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends. There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate. It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time. The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard. I recommend…
-
Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir Julia’s Vineyard 2016 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends. There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate. It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time. The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard. I…
-
Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard 2014 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends. There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate. It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time. The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the…
-
Au Bon Climat California Pinot Noir Isabelle 2015 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends. There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate. It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time. The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard. I…
-
Jamie Slone Wines Pinot Noir 2014 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends. There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate. It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time. The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard. I recommend to…
-
Barden Wines Pinot Noir 2015 (by Margerum Wine Company) In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends. There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate. It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time. The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard. …