Cases Produced: 200

Alcohol	14.7%
pH	3.50
TA	.58
RS	.80

It has always been difficult for us to find exceptional Viognier grapes to purchase because growers have a hard time getting an economically viable crop. Twice we had found a source, only to have the grower either pull it out or graft it over because they hated working with the grape. In 2000 we hit the jackpot when we found out that Lolonis had two acres of Viognier, and we have been buying the fruit ever since. In 2006 the grapes were whole cluster pressed, then moved to a stainless steel tank where it was fermented at 50 degrees in order to retain the fruit and esters of the grape. After 2 months, when fermentation was nearly complete, the wine was transferred to seasoned oak barrels. This aging in neutral oak barrels, along with stirring the lies, increases the body and texture, and contributes to complexity. The wine was not allowed to undergo ML fermentation in order to retain the natural acidity. This is what Viognier is all about! A floral bouquet of peach, apricot and honey follows through in the intense flavors, which are crisp and dry. A touch of earthiness from the Redwood Valley terroir and a viscous mouth feel round out the wine.

$18

Awards—2006 Claudia Springs Viognier, Lolonis Vineyard, Redwood Valley

Best of Class for Region

2007 California State Fair

Gold

2008 Pacific Rim International Wine Competition

Silver Medal

2007 West Coast Wine Competition

2008 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

Cases Produced: 425

Alcohol	14.6%
pH	3.59
TA	.57
RS	.37

This is the fifth release of Pinot Gris from our own vineyard which was planted in 1998. 2006 was a breakout year for our Pinot Gris planting as we harvested nearly 4 ton an acre. This above average size crop was typical for Anderson Valley vineyards in 2006. The grapes were de-stemmed, pressed and cold settled before being transferred to a stainless steel tank for fermentation. Fermentation temperature was held at 50°F in order to retain the fruitiness of the wine. After several months of slow fermentation, the wine finished at .37 residual sugar. The result is a very concentrated wine with aromas of spice and stone fruit. Apricot with a hint of earthiness predominate in the flavors. This is a creamy, mouth-filling wine that is fun to drink by itself as an aperitif, or with spicy oriental dishes.

Awards—2006 Claudia Springs Estate Pinot Gris, Klindt Vineyard, Anderson Valley

Gold Medal

2008 New World International Wine Competition

Silver Medal

	2008 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
	2008 Grand Harvest Awards

Cases Produced: 78

Alcohol	14.1%
pH	3.65
TA	.6

Sometimes you have to do something just because you like it, not because it's smart! Why else would we take $3,200/ton grapes and make a Rose‘ that sells for $15? That's just what we did. We picked the grapes for this wine a little earlier to keep the alcohol down and the acid up. The grapes were de-stemmed and allowed to soak on the skins for 24 hours before pressing. Our press doesn't work well on unfermented grapes so we only got about 120 gallons to the ton instead of 150 as we do for the red Pinot Noir. Since the amount was small the wine was fermented in neutral barrels rather than stainless steel. The advantage of this is that it gives a nice supple mouth feel to the wine. As it fermented we topped the barrels with small amounts of sañee, the wine ``bled'' off fermenting red grapes early to concentrate the color and flavor. (I can't remember how to spell sañee and I can't find any books with the correct one!) Finally just before bottling we added 3% Viognier to supplement the aromatics. The result is a fruity, crisp wine with enough structure to hold up well with a variety of foods.

Cases Produced: 295

Alcohol	14.6%
pH	3.59
TA	.57

91% of this wine is from the Anderson Valley, primarily the Klindt Vineyard at the cool end of the valley.  The balance of the wine is from the Wilder Creek Vineyard in Santa Cruz County.  Because we had a big harvest in 2004 and 2006 but a small one in 2005, we decided to bottle a Mendocino Pinot Noir with some grapes other than our Estate's in it and sell it at a lower price.  Big mistake - this wine is really good.  So, we will keep it at the $20 price for club members until the end of February 15 at which time we will raise the price to $24 (minus your 20% discount of course).  It will be released in our tasting room next week at the $24 price.  This is a well structured wine with aromas of vanilla, earth and black fruits.  This full bodied wine has flavors of black cherry, cola, licorice and earth.  The finish is long and rewarding. 

Awards—2005 Mendocino Pinot Noir, 100% Pinot Noir

Gold Medal

2008 Grand Harvest Awards

Silver Medal

2007 Mendocino County Fair Wine Competition

Cases Produced: 165

Alcohol	15.9%
pH	3.75
TA	.57

The Ricetti Bench is arguably the most famous Zinfandel growing area of Mendocino County.  It is one of the vineyards that helped make Fetzer famous in the 80's when they were making vineyard designated wines.  Part of this bench top is now owned by Fife Vineyards, but John Ricetti owns a small parcel.  John, still young in his 90's, cares for this one acre vineyard himself.  This is a full bodied wine with white pepper, dark chocolate, plum and blackberry fruit.  Not to be missed. 

Awards—2005 John Ricetti Zinfandel

Gold

2008 Pacific Rim International Wine Competition

Silver Medal

2008 Grand Harvest Awards

Bronze Medal

2008 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

2008 New World International Wine Competition

Cases Produced: 165

Alcohol	15.8%
pH	3.65
TA	.59

This has been one of our favorites since 1996.  Initially the owners, John and Dorothy Vassar, advised us that all their grapes were under contract so none were available.  After shameless begging and promising to put their name on the label, John said, "Be here Thursday at 6:00 AM and we will load a couple ton on your truck.  Just be out of here before their winemaker arrives."   We've been begging for their grapes ever since. This vineyard of about 25 acres was planted one block at a time beginning in the 70's.  After tasting grapes from all the blocks we settled on one that turned out to be the very first they planted, using bud wood from some old vines on the property rather than nursery stock.  The Vassar's have reserved that special block of unique Zinfandel for our exclusive use.  In its youth this is our most dense and structured wine.  With age it reveals its true nature of plum, dried cherry, coffee and spice.  It is just reaching that stage now.

Awards—2005 Vassar Vineyard Zinfandel

Gold Medal

2008 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

2008 Grand Harvest Awards

Cases Produced: 270

Alcohol	16.1%
pH	3.50
TA	.68

The Mendocino Ridge Appellation is one of the nation's newest, and certainly the most unique. Usually an appellation is an area within a defined border that possesses special growing conditions, or "terroir", that produce wines of distinctive character. This appellation is further defined by elevation! The vineyards must be in the Mendocino Coast ridge, and at an elevation of at least 1200 feet. It consists only of the ridge tops within the range, and is often referred to as "islands in the sky". The Zinfandels here develop rich, broad, jammy flavors that are highly sought after. In addition, the altitude and cold nights results in higher natural acids which keep the fruit flavors fresh and crisp.

The Valenti Ranch is our first Mendocino Ridge wine. The Zinfandel clone selected for this vineyard was the Deaver clone, propagated from a famous vineyard in the Sierra Foothills. Grown in this appellation, the resulting wine shows some of the foothills black pepper character, but with higher acid to provide better balance. The pepper is overshadowed by red fruit flavors of raspberry and completed with hints of cherry, dark chocolate and a touch of oak. A Zinfandel of power and finesse!

The wine was released in the summer of 2007 and immediately won 2 gold medals in national competitions. This vineyard has been made a permanent part of our portfolio of fine Zinfandels, and is sure to become a household name among Zinfandel lovers.

$28

Awards—2005 Claudia Springs Zinfandel, Valenti Ranch, Mendocino Ridges

Gold Medal

2007 California Zinfandel Championships - One of only eight Gold or Double Golds awarded

2007 North of the Gate Wine Competition

Silver Medal

2008 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

Bronze Medal

2008 Grand Harvest Awards

Cases Produced: 300

Alcohol	14.7%
pH	3.79
TA	.57

Before I wrote this I re-read the newsletter from Winter, 2005 in which I described the 2004 harvest. What a crazy frantic harvest it was. A heat spike in September pushed the grapes to ripeness early, and everyone in the valley was scrambling to get the fruit in. With persistence and a little bribery of the picking crew, we got the job done. Claudia and I were nearly overwhelmed with the task of destemming, punching down, pressing and barreling all this wine at in a short time (we even had Zinfandel coming in at the same time). That year I decided to do a trial on some of the wine by doing some whole cluster fermentation-About 10-15% of the grapes were placed intact into the bottom of the fermenters, and the rest de-stemmed on top. The idea is to get more bright fruit flavors from the carbonic maceration of the uncrushed grapes as well as a hint of spiciness from the stems. The rewards of that harvest are abundant in this bottle of wine.

The aromas of black cherry and blackberry carry through into the mid palate. Black fruit, spice and licorice complete the flavors and the finish is long and silky. This may be our best one yet!

Awards—2004 Pinot Noir, Klindt Vineyard

Gold Medal

2007 Grand Harvest Awards

Silver Medal

2007 Pacific Rim International

Cases Produced: 200

Alcohol	14.9%
pH	3.65
TA	.6

It has always been difficult for us to find exceptional Viognier grapes to purchase because growers have a hard time getting an economically viable crop. Twice we had found a source, only to have the grower either pull it out or graft it over because they hated working with the grape. In 2000 we hit the jackpot when we found out that Lolonis had two acres of Viognier, and we have been buying the fruit ever since. In 2005 the grapes were whole cluster pressed, then moved to a stainless steel tank where it was fermented at 50 degrees in order to retain the fruit and esters of the grape. After 2 months, when fermentation was nearly complete, a portion of the wine was transferred to seasoned oak barrels. This aging in neutral oak barrels, along with stirring the lies, increases the body and texture, and contributes to complexity. The wine was not allowed to undergo ML fermentation in order to retain the natural acidity. This is what Viognier is all about! A floral bouquet of peach, apricot and honey follows through in the intense flavors, which are crisp and dry. A touch of earthiness from the Redwood Valley terroir and a viscous mouth feel round out the wine.

Awards—2005 Claudia Springs Viognier, Lolonis Vineyard, Redwood Valley

Silver Medal

2007 Grand Harvest Awards in Sonoma

Cases Produced: 98

Alcohol	15.1%
pH	3.7
TA	.61

Harvested September 14, 2004. Brix at harvest was 24 with a small amount of shriveled berries which brought the sugar level up somewhat after soaking. The wine was hand punched in small fermentors for 11 days before pressing. It was then aged 20 months in barrels, 20% of which were new French oak. Bottled August 6, 2006.

This is our second Zinfandel from one of the best known growers in Mendocino County. Ulysses was the farmer of the 3 brothers that operate the Lolonis Vineyard and Winery. In 2004 Ulysses passed away. He was a highly respected member of our community, both as a pioneer in organic farming, and as a teacher in a local high school. We were fortunate to get these grapes from the vineyard which Ulysses' wife Jofred and son Greg continue to farm. Rather than just muscle, this wine possesses elegance and finesse which showcase the beauty of Zinfandel. This wine opens with milk chocolate, then moves into wild strawberry and red cherry flavors, with a hint of vanilla.

Awards—2004 Claudia Springs Zinfandel, Ulysses Lolonis Vnyd, Redwood Valley

Silver Medal

2007 Grand Harvest Awards

Bronze Medal

2007 Riverside International Wine Competition

Cases Produced: 160

Alcohol	14.7%
pH	3.7
TA	.61

The Ricetti Bench is arguably the most famous Zinfandel growing area of Mendocino County. It is one of the vineyards that helped make Fetzer famous in the 80's when they were making vineyard designated wines. Part of this benchtop is now owned by Fift Vineyards, but Steve and his uncle John Ricetti still own their share. We stumbled onto it when another big winery cancelled their purchase on the day before picking, and we jumped enthusiastically into the void. This is a massive wine with white pepper, dark chocolate, plum and blackberry fruit. Not to be missed.

Awards—2004 Claudia Springs Zinfandel, Steve Ricetti Vineyard

Silver Medal

	2007 Grand Harvest Awards
	2007 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
	2007 West Coast Wine Competition