New Arrivals

If you like Chardonnay that’s recognizably Californian – that is, full-flavored and rich with tropical fruit in balance with refreshing citrus – you will enjoy Pacific Heights Russian River Chardonnay. And the reasonable price may encourage you to stock up and enjoy often! According to the winery, the Russian River Valley features soil “predominately made of sand and pebble, characterized by good drainage and poor soil fertility. This allows greater vineyard management control to customize growing conditions. The weather is influenced by the close proximity to the Pacific Ocean, where evening fog remains through the night and lingers into the morning, dropping the temperature nearly 5 °C. The resulting chardonnay has full fruit maturity and retention of crisp acidity.”

The Saini Vineyard in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley demonstrates that Chenin Blanc is capable of magic when grown under the right conditions. Planted in 1982, the vines are dry-farmed in sandy soil, so yields are low and the fruit expresses pure flavors and freshness that gets lost in warmer sites. Winemaking emphasized the natural flavors of the fruit, too, with a mere four months in neutral French oak and only 50% going through malolactic fermentation. The result is a rich, silky wine with flavors of citrus, orchard fruit and wild herbs and a lovely mouthfeel with a hint of viscosity. If your image of Chenin Blanc is a wine that’s semi-sweet, you’ll be in for a surprise: this Saini Chenin is bone dry and elegant. 

Grapes from vineyards located in the Dry Creek and Knight’s valleys were blended to make Barrique’s 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon. The combination of cool and warm sites created a complex wine that brims with a wide spectrum of flavors. In 2015, yields were low but the quality was excellent. The deep purple color and dark berry flavors were coaxed gently into being by destemming but not crushing the grapes and allowing them to soak on their skins for 21 days. The fruit, acidity and fine tannic structure make for a wine that can be enjoyed now or savored after a few more years of bottle age. 

Sourced entirely from a vineyard at the western edge of the Oakville AVA, where even the appellation wines can start at 100 dollars, Blacksmith’s C.L.R.T. (claret)  takes “value” to a whole other level! A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot, C.L.R.T. is a seductive wine with everything you expect from an Oakville Cab: deep black cherry, blackberry cassis, dark chocolate and vanilla notes, cinnamon and spice. 2014 was an excellent vintage; this wine is delicious now but will continue to improve for the next decade and more.

Like the McFadden Farm Zinfandel, the Mendocino Cuvée is made in the style of “cru" Beaujolais. That is, carbonic maceration is used to make a Zin that is light ruby-colored, reduced in alcohol, intriguingly aromatic, fresh and full of flavor. Unlike your typical Zin, it has zip instead of weight, and structure without much tannin, making it a quaffable red for warm summer evenings. The grapes were sourced mainly from the Signal Ridge Vineyard in the Mendocino Ridge AVA, a high-elevation region near the Pacfic Ocean. Indeed, this vineyard is the highest in all Mendocino County, where the vines are bathed in sunlight while being cooled by maritime winds. This climate as well as the rocky soils keep yields down and produce complex and compelling wines.

Petite Sirah is neither Syrah nor “petite” – at least in color, flavor or structure. In reality, it is the Durif, a hybrid that was developed in the 1880s in Southern France but never popular there, preferring drier climates in the New World. In California, the name changed early on and winegrowers have long used Petite Sirah as a blender, adding color and structure to their Zinfandel wines. In recent years, its popularity as a single varietal has grown as wine lovers have learned to appreciate its unique dark fruit and peppery character and excellent potential for aging. At the Todd Brothers Ranch, located near Geyserville in Sonoma’s Alexander Valley, the rocky and steep vineyards were planted in 1958; because these vines struggle to find nourishment, they produce tiny jet-black grapes of intense flavor. Dashe Cellars produced just 147 cases of this wine. It aged 14 months in barrel and another two and a half years in bottle before release. The dark color and complex mix of fruit, earth and peppery spice may send your mind spinning to the great wines of the Southern Rhone. You can enjoy this gorgeous wine now or let it mature another 20 years!

While dinosaurs did once roam this part of the Santa Ynez Valley, it’s the limestone and sandy soils  of the Jurrasic Park Vineyard rather than Stegosaurus fossils that nourish the Chenin Blanc vines that produce this excellent wine. Not only the soil, but also the arid climate of the region allowed the vines to have been planted on their own roots rather than grafted, which is the norm throughout the US and Europe as protection from root louses. Though somewhat risky, own-rooted vines are heartier and require less irrigation. Grape clusters are small and the wine is beautifully textured with abundant minerality and exotic fruit. Winemaking included aging of 11 months in concrete eggs, five months in neutral French oak and nine more months in bottle before release. Currently, green apple, lemon citrus, herbal notes and palpable wet stone minerality stand out, but those who can wait will be well-rewarded as the wine matures and the flavors deepen.

In 1959, when Joe Rochioli Sr. and Jr. decided to try growing grapes for fine wine, they took a chance on Sauvignon Blanc. At the time, the grape was not well-understood in California and used only in blended wines. Now one of the oldest Sauvignon Blanc vineyards in California, the vines still produce enough fruit to constitute almost 60% of this wine - with much of the rest coming from a newer vineyard planted to a rare clone of Sauvignon Blanc. An excellent choice for spring and summer sipping,  the wine is light in color, with a lovely nose of gooseberry and honey, and a palate that’s refreshingly tart and minerally.

Three estate vineyards planted decades ago on distinct soils bring complexity to this delicious Chardonnay. It’s a wine with both yin and yang, yielding an experience that’s rich and sumptuous yet elegant and poised. The nose exhibits floral aromas along with apricot, melon and toasty brioche. A sip opens up layers of baked apple, citrus and a luxurious mouthfeel. This is a wine sure to excite all manner of Chardonnay lovers, as it seems to deliver buttery richness as well as refreshing minerality reminiscent of Chablis.

While Rochioli’s vineyard-designated wines consistently earn stellar scores, buying them requires being on "the list." Happily, the rest of us can enjoy the equally carefully-crafted estate Pinot Noir, which is a blend of the winery’s esteemed vineyards. In 2015, the blend consisted of twenty four percent Little Hill, eighteen percent Sweetwater, eighteen percent West Block, fourteen percent Big Hill, fourteen percent East Block and twelve percent River Block. It’s a full-bodied wine that’s bright in color and aromatically intense, offering ripe cherry, vanilla and floral notes. Elegant and well-structured, the compelling interplay of bright fruit and mineral notes is classic Russian River Valley! Still young and a bit tight; decanting is recommended.