Here’s an extract from a letter to April ‘06
Decanter magazine (www.Decanter.com) from
a Mr. James Turnbull, Maule, France.
This could just as easily have been expressed by Gideon Beinstock,
our Winemaker since 1993.
“Great wine should
not be immediately irresistible. Great
wine is great because it comes from a great site, endowing it with
reserves of character and dimension that take time to develop, and
require a degree of know-how on the part of the consumer to bring it
to blossom on the palate. If it’s not drinkable from day one, tough- that’s nature’s
way. Great wine should make demands on those who consume it, requiring
curiosity, patience, some intellectual effort, like many other great
things in life: art, music, literature...If 95% of the world’s
wine drinkers today want smooth, fleshy wines for quaffing young, so
be it- New World producers are happily providing them with it. But
one day they just might get more interested, and if by then we’ve
let the more serious, ‘terroir-driven’ wines go all chubby
and bland by giving free rein to the oenology potentates of this world,
then we’ll have done wine drinkers of the future an incalculable
disservice, and the world of gastronomy will be an infinitely poorer
place.”
Santa
Rosa Wine Club Visit |
As Alder Yarrow http://www.vinography.com stated, "The Sierra foothills is one of California's most underexplored, and perhaps, underappreciated winegrowing regions."
Late October, we
were graced with a visit by some intrepid members of one of the
oldest West Coast community (non-commercial) wine clubs, founded
just over 25 years ago. A group of 28 fun but serious wine connoisseurs mostly based in Napa & Sonoma
counties courageously ventured beyond their esteemed home appellations to visit
the Renaissance estate in North Yuba. Just as much as we enjoyed hosting the
SRWC for a garden tour, wine tasting with Gideon, then picnic lunch overlooking
the potager kitchen garden, they certainly appreciated our wines, gardens, and
the perfect weather. Club secretary Norm Blackburn wrote in his thank-you, "Your
wines were very well received as evidenced by the amount purchased. We had a
great time and hope to return sometime soon."
To find out
more about joining the Santa Rosa Wine Club and the events that they hold contact:
President Cheri Johnson
Email: CheriJohnson@mchsi.com
Telephone: (707)
987-3685
Here are their five favorites, rated
by best selling in the selection of seven wines we served:
‘99 Semillon Late Harvest $30
select Dessert Wine
tab
‘99 Cabernet Sauvignon $27 select
Estate Wine tab
‘05 ‘Viognier Vin Terroir’ $30 select
New Release tab
‘99 Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Vin de
Terroir’ $49 select
New Release tab
‘00 Granite Crown $40 select
New Release tab
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Fireside
Tasting Room
OPEN
every Saturday 9am
to 3pm from now until December 30th... Sundays also by appointment.
Great wine gift selections. Call 1.800.655-3277 for
details and reservations. Carmina and/or Valentina host your
wine tasting for five wines, $15 fee.
Corporate Gift Program
and
Gift shipping to 46 states
Consider our Pre-Release Club or sample packs as an elegant holiday
season solution.
Last Call!
Thanks
for your great response. We sold out of all six Double Magnum 1997
Cabernet Sauvignon Vin de Terroir.
This
Month's Find 1985
Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve $63 per 750
ml bottle to the first customers, limit two per person. Gideon’s
Tasting Notes: One of Karl Werner's
best-balanced red wines from that era, the ‘85
has evolved beautifully with nearly 2 decades in the bottle. Its
tannins are well integrated and resolved, the flavor is alive,
open, complex, and pure - an archetypal fully mature Cabernet Sauvignon,
with excellent texture and proportion. The wine is in no danger
of fading any time soon, but has now reached its plateau of full
maturity. Filet Mignon, roast beef, veal, rabbit, wild mushrooms.
Our favorite local restaurant
CAFE
COLLAGE is open
for evening dining from 5:00 pm. Cozy lunches for parties of
eight or more.
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