Late last month I sat down with a distinguished group of tasters to put together the final blends for what hasn't been bottled from Vintage '09. This group included myself, my father, another winemaker in the valley with a solid reputation for many years achieving amazing results as a winemaker, the wine buyer for a prominent retail wine shop/wine bar in the tri-valley, and people from our tasting room staff and sales team. I bring in these extra pallets because they are distinguished and can often times tell me something about my wines that I haven't even noticed yet.
I go into these tastings with a group of people I select with a solid baseline of my over all program - start from the top of our line and work down. At the beginning I have a fairly good understanding of how the overall program is going to go, so this group helps me elevate the program from wines that are somewhere between good and great to wines that are exceptional.
People that have met me in the tasting room know that sometimes I am too honest. I have had wines come out that I was not so proud of - and I where my emotions on my shoulder so anyone who is around when these wines are showing can tell I am not satisfied. I will even come out and tell you sometimes and kill a sale.
What you can expect from this vintage is a fantastic line up. Already bottled from our 2009 Vintage are the following award winners:
2009 Chardonnay - This wine was fermented in stainless steel with no malo-lactic and without any oak influence to showcase the tropical fruit and bright acidity in its purest form. Double Gold - San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
2009 Reserve Chardonnay - We took the same marvelous Del Arroyo Vineyard fruit and barrel fermented. The wine was aged sur lies for 9 months in 100% new French Oak Barrels. Silver Medal - San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
2009 Malbec - Aguirre Vineyard - Bottled after only 14 months of oak aging to showcase the rich ripe red fruit and exceptional creaminess. 9% Cabernet Sauvignon was blended in to extend the finish and provide some nice complexity. Our first stand alone Malbec, this wine will be release in July. Only 50 Cases were produced. Silver Medal - Finger Lakes Intl. Wine Competition
2009 Petite Sirah - Casa De Vinas - An absolutely wonderful wine. Varietal character, depth, dark jammy black fruit with subtle toasty undertones. I can go on and on about this wine and its big brother. We have literally had people come in and say this is the best PS they have ever had. Double Gold - Finger Lakes Intl. Wine Competition
2009 Petite Sirah Reserve - Casa De Vinas - At first I wondered how the little sister out-shined this beast at Finger Lakes. Then I really started thinking about how this wine is truly built for PS enthusiasts, not just wine lovers. An absolute monster - loads and loads of dark chocolate and candied fruit integrated with a tremendous tannin structure. If you like big extraction - tons of oak and fruit - and if you like chewing on your wines then this is a winner. Only 75 cases were produced. Gold Medal - Finger Lakes Intl. Wine Competition
With a solid foundation of award winning wines - its hard to believe that we can have more on the horizon, right? Think again, the best is yet to come. Here is a little insight from the Winemaker on whats still in the barrel.
2009 Supremacy - Livermore Valley - How can we talk about the 2009 when the 2008 hasn't even been released? Well - it will be hard to compare the two because chances are you haven't tasted and in most cases heard of this wine. 2008 is the inaugural vintage. Our Supremacy is essentially our Meritage Blend. We use all five of the Noble Bordeaux Varietals for a wine that is extremely complex. We can talk more about this wine when the time is right - It will sit for two years in bottle before we release it to ensure that it is showing exceptionally well.
Introducing the Vineyard Designate Cabernet Series:
In 2009 we sourced Cabernet from 4 vineyards. 3 of the 4 turned into such wonderful distinctly different wines that we decided to do a micro-lot offering of them to showcase the influence of terroir.
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Casa De Vinas - Deep, dark black Cabernet Sauvignon loaded with rich chocolate, ripe black fruit, and an integrated tannin structure. Again another huge wine produced from the vineyard that is quickly gaining notoriety in the Livermore wine community. The biggest and boldest of the three vineyard designates - this wine would play the bass if it were in a band.
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Del Arroyo Vineyard - In line with the Cabernet Sauvignon's we have produced in the past - that's because we sourced our Cabernet exclusively from this vineyard in our first two vintages. Loads of ripe red fruit, raspberry and dried dark cherry integrated with a solid tannin structure. The brightest of the three vineyard designates - look for it to shred your face off with an insane guitar solo.
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Wisner Vineyard - On its own one could argue that this Cabernet is the most balanced. The fruit came in with bulletproof lab results and transcended into a marvelous Cabernet espressive of the vineyard it was grown. Somewhere in between the Casa and the Del Arroyo - this vineyard expression will provide the rhythm on the drums.
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - We took a barrel of each of the Vineyard designates mentioned above and put the band together. Lots going on here. Tremendous balance of fruit and oak integration. Only 75 Cases were produced.
2009 Ralphi's Red Blend - Again we blended 60% Cabernet Sauvignon with 40% Merlot to give you a nice easy drinking red with tons of fruit. We experimented with Petite Sirah to see if it would improve the nice rich round red we have produced in the past - but it was clear that the blend is in place. I almost wanted it to change, but the 60/40 blend just showed so well we couldn't get away.
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon - Del Arroyo Vineyard Cabernet provided the base of this fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon. We also blended in small amounts of Wisner Vyd, and Casa De Vinas Cabernets, as well Petite Sirah and Merlot to provide complexity depth and length. This wine will provide tremendous value for those who want to enjoy a great bottle of Cabernet on any budget.
The wines were blended and barreled back down for extended aging post blending for its last two - three months. This will allow the blended components to integrate with each other. These wines are scheduled to be bottled between now and August depending on the Lot and you can expect to see perhaps a few by the end of the year - but don't count on it. We still have several exceptional reds bottle aging anticipating release. Look for the 2009 Malbec to hit the Room in July, the PS Reserve in October, and the Supremacy sometime this year - we can't tell you everything.
Getting these wines in bottle in the coming months is truly inspiration for me to take the 2011 vintage to the next level. My goal is to continue to produce rich round Cabernet's and other big red varietals from the Livermore Valley for you to enjoy, vintage after vintage.
