New Arrivals

According to the J.W. Morris website: "The J.W. Morris Chardonnay starts off with notes of pears, green apples and butterscotch on the nose. These aromatics ultimately lead to flavors of vanilla and caramel, along with pineapple, citrus and a hint of oak. This wine pairs very well with poultry and seafood dishes. It goes especially well with cedar-plank-grilled salmon."

According to the J.W. Morris website: "This very fruit-forward Pinot Noir leads with notes of blackberry and smoky aromas. On the palate, the fruit really steps forward with intense berry flavors, balanced with vanilla and spice. This wine is as complex as it is delicious and pairs well with grilled meats and vegetables. For something a bit more exciting, try it with a Thai curry dish!"

According to the J.W. Morris website: “This Cabernet Sauvignon offers intense dark fruit flavors, complemented with notes of butterscotch, vanilla, and mocha. Layered with complexity and having a great tannin backbone, this ‘weighty’ Cab always delivers. A great wine for an evening on the patio, along with your favorite steak and grilled vegetables.”

Lovers of white wines with the notes that develop with age should check out this Sauvignon Blanc from the 2006 vintage. The Dry Creek Valley features a climate that’s cooler than the Alexander Valley but not cold like Sonoma’s Petaluma Gap or Russian River AVAs; hence, Sauvignon Blanc does not have to be made in a crisp, Sancerre-like style. Indeed, the producers of Trois Voyelles clearly had white Bordeaux in mind when they made this wine. Fermented and aged in French oak and at least partially put through malolactic fermentation, this is a wine that has mellowed well into a mature state. Golden colored, this Sauvignon Blanc seduces with its rich, full body as well as aromas of guava, apricots, white raisins and dried herbs. A mouthfilling palate follows with ripe pineapple as well as notes of butter and toast that last long in a luxurious finish. Fans of Rombauer Chardonnay may find this mature Sauvignon Blanc similarly seductive and compelling with new surprises that emerge in each sip. 

While Cabernet is king in Sonoma’s warmest AVA, the Alexander Valley, the well-drained soils and Mediterranean climate can also produce Syrah that’s enticing, multidimensional and complex. Wilson Fleming’s Trois Voyelles Syrah grows at the southern end of the valley, where cool nights extend the harvest season, producing fruit with elegance and balance. At 14 years of age, this Syrah is all about the emergence of savory notes – green olives, dried herbs, smoke, earthiness – to balance out the dark fruit. Earthy tannins and acidity give structure and freshness to this wonderful example of a well-aged California Syrah. 

Hotei’s new offering from Joel Gott, the Santa Barbara Chardonnay, is a little more Burgundian in character than the unoaked Chardonnay many customers might be familiar with. With a portion of the fruit fermented as well as aged in oak barrels, the wine offers a bit more vanilla spice as well as a rounder and softer mouthfeel. The wine is blended from several sites in Santa Barbara, including the Rita’s Crown Vineyard, a high-altitude site with steep slopes, calcareous soils and a cool, marine climate. Stone fruit flavors, freshness, minerality, and balance - a lovely wine that will pair well with roasted chicken, crab cakes or pasta dishes made with cream or cheese. 

Piper Sonoma Brut is made in the the traditional manner of the Champagne region in France. The grapes, a classic blend of 60% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir and 25% Pinot Meunier, are hand-harvested early in the season in order to ensure high acidity and low potential alcohol. Lots from vineyards in Sonoma, Carneros and Dry Creek Valley are fermented separately in stainless steel. In early winter, the wines are tasted and painstakingly blended in order to create a cuvée that maintains consistency with earlier vintages. The final blend is bottled with bit of yeast and sweetness to kick off the second fermentation inside each bottle. After 18 months of aging on the lees and further blending with 20 – 25% reserve wines (hence, the non-vintage dating), this delightful sparkling wine is ready to drink. Combining the sophistication and elegance of fine Champagne with the sunshine and bright fruit of California, Piper Sonoma offers value that says “no special occasion necessary!”  

All it takes to smash a preconception is to taste the wine you think you know. The word that many use to describe tasting Rombauer’s relatively new (2017 is the fourth vintage) Sauvignon Blanc is: SURPRISED. It’s a surprise to find how surprisingly fresh, crisp, complex, and textured it is and to find these qualities not only in a Napa Valley Sauvignon but from the makers of the ever popular (and surprisingly delicious) Rombauer Chardonnay. The fruit is sourced from four Napa Valley vineyards with 90% fermented in stainless steel and 10% fermented and aged for three months in neutral French oak. The barrel fermentation adds texture without imparting “oakiness.” The surprise starts with lively aromatics on the nose (mango, papaya, ripe citrus) and continues through the mouthwatering midpalate and long finish where flavors of citrus and green apple evolve into secondary notes of lemon-lime and saline minerality. This is an excellent food wine. Seared scallops, cauliflower soup, linguine with clams or swordfish steaks all come to mind. 

After a six-year hiatus, Castle Rock has again produced a Napa Valley Cabernet. While almost three dozen grape varieties grow in the Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon is clearly king, accounting for 40% of Napa’s grape production. Today, “Napa Cab” suggests a style of wine that is deep, rich, luxurious, hedonistic…. and pricey. However, Castle Rock avoids the pricey part by focusing exclusively on sourcing excellent fruit and making fine wine and avoiding such costly ancillaries as a fancy winery, visitor’s center, or art collection. Sourced from three vineyards, the wine impresses with its dark black purple color, aromas of black cherry, spice and chocolate, and a palate that’s rich and mouthwatering. A Napa Cab that doesn’t require a special occasion to enjoy it. 

Most of us would only open a 20-year old California Chardonnay with trepidation, but the 1995 is the current release of Kalin’s Cuvée D. Unlike almost all California winemakers, Terry Leighton prefers to hold his wines back until they show the nuances of aroma and flavor that develop over time. “D” refers to Dutton Ranch, one of the earliest vineyards planted on the Sonoma Coast. The cool and foggy coastal climate, combined with limestone and shale sub-soil, results in low yields of exceptional fruit. Despite 23 years of bottle age, the nose is intense, with notes of apple tart, butterscotch, ground cinnamon, and roasted almonds. On the palate, it feels fresh and energetic, full with crisp acidity that carries the flavors long into the finish. Pair this wine with savory dishes, such as grilled or seared shellfish, roast chicken or dishes that include wild mushrooms. 

Hotei Wines is thrilled to offer this lovely rosé that Flowers Winery has been making in limited quantities for just a couple years. If you have been less than impressed with the ever-more-popular rosé wines, finding them indistinguishable or a bit sweet, give this one a try. Sourced from the same, small vineyards along the wild Sonoma Coast as Flowers’ other impeccable wines, this is a serious rosé, elegant, distinct and 100% Pinot Noir. It delights with a salmon hue, lifted aromas of red berries, grapefruit, and rose petals and a complex palate of raspberry, orange marmalade and orange and lemon zest. While the price is higher than what you might expect to pay for rosé, it’s less costly than the winery’s other offerings but stands out and wows in all the ways you expect from Flowers. Could be one of California’s best rosé wines. 

While Gary Farrell Winery remains largely focused on vineyard-designated wines, the RRV Selection allows the winemaker to fashion an expression of the entire appellation from such premier resources as Westside Farms, Bacigalupi Vineyard– Goddard Ranch, Olivet Lane Vineyard, Rochioli Vineyard, Allen Vineyard, Lazy W Vineyard, Martinelli Vineyard– Parnell Ranch, and Pratt’s Cornerstone Vineyard. 2016 was an exceptional vintage. Winter rains nursed stressed vines back to health after some years of drought; excellent summer and fall weather allowed grapes to develop balance, structure and complexity. The many vineyards contributed to produce a wine with excellent acidity and structure and a dizzying array of zesty citrus, herbal and spice aromas and flavors. 

Several kilometers west of bustling Santa Rosa, Olivet Lane looks untouched by the 21st century, a narrow road running between old vineyards planted on a gentle slope. Robert Pellegrini, whose family had long been involved in Sonoma County viticulture and winemaking, bought the property in 1973 and had the foresight to plant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir - long before those varieties became the powerhouses they are today. Located in a sweet spot where summer days start out cool and foggy but end warm and sunny, the Olivet Lane vineyard has long been acknowledged as an excellent source of Chardonnay. Indeed, Gary Farrell has produced an Olivet Lane bottling since the 1990s. According to the winery, this Chardonnay “is a pure expression of penetrating acidity moderated by layers of rich, velvety baking spices with crisp apple and citrus notes throughout.” 

By sourcing Pinot Noir from seven vineyards around and just outside the Russian River AVA, the winemaker could work with grapes that matured in a range of summertime-in-Sonoma conditions, from cool but sunny, to foggy and cool to extremely foggy and cold. The result is a classic expression of California Pinot Noir that’s rich, pure and elegant, that tantalizes with bright red fruit and notes of pepper, cola, rosemary and wild mushrooms. This is a seductive wine with crisp acidity and layers of flavor that will accompany a wide range of fine meals - grilled quail, seared salmon or tuna or dishes that include cherries or figs come to mind.

Les Larmes is an Anderson Valley appellation wine that is blended from de-classified barrels and press wine from such vineyards as Cerise, Savoy, Wendling and One Acre. In French, Les Larmes means "the tears." Those tears were shed in 2005, when the One Acre Vineyard succumbed to phylloxera, and the vines had to be ripped out. At first, Les Larmes was made from the fruit of the new vines in the replanted One Acre vineyard. Like Littorai’s Sonoma Coast appellation wine, Les Larmes is made to be enjoyed young. While it’s a vibrant, mouthwatering wine with aromas of raspberry and cranberry, it nevertheless impresses with power and earthiness.