Cellar Management

Pick My Next Bottle – 2012 Syrah

The January Installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on Syrah from the 2012 vintage.  As I mentioned in the first installment, the purpose of this series is to provide insight into specific wines or producers you may currently have in your cellar. The winning bottle will be opened this Saturday and a Bottle Note will be published shortly thereafter.…

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Bottle Notes

2015 Sandlands Mataro San Benito County – Bottle Notes

Sandlands is the personal project of Tegan and Olivia Passalacqua. Tegan is the Winemaker and Vineyard Manager at Turley. The line-up encompasses some of the forgotten classic California varieties, primarily grown in decomposed granite from regions and vineyards that have been farmed for many generations but have remained the outliers of California viticulture. The wines made at Sandlands include Syrah,…

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Random Musings

The Week in Zinfandel (1/13/20)

Welcome to the latest installment of The Week in Zinfandel. If I missed your post or story please send me a link and I will be sure to include it next week. Meg Maker reviews the 2015 Quivira Zinfandel Anderson Ranch Dry Creek Valley. Visit Calistoga writes 15 Wineries in Calistoga Where You Can Enjoy Zinfandel. Esther Mobley writes “I’m…

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Bottle Notes

2000 Argiano Solengo – Bottle Notes

Argiano dates back to the 16th century. The nearly 120 acres of vineyards are planted to Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Syrah. The wines, both Brunello di Montalcino and Super Tuscans, have routinely received outstanding scores. In 1992 Argiano was acquired by the Countess Noemi Marone Cinzano. Solengo, which is Tuscan for “lone wild boar”, is the product…

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Bottle Notes

2017 Syncline Mourvedre Heart of the Hill Vineyard – Bottle Notes

Syncline Winery was founded in 1999 by James and Poppie Mantone. Syncline’s first vintage in 1999, consisted of 76 cases of Celilo Vineyards Pinot Noir from vines planted in 1973. The next year, production was increased to include Columbia Valley Syrah and Grenache. At the same time they began working with vineyards to plant Mourvedre, Cinsault, Counoise and Carignan. They have…

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Bottle Notes, Syrah

2012 Lillian Syrah – Bottle Notes

Maggie Harrison was assistant winemaker to Manfred Krankl of Sine Qua Non for eight years before moving to Oregon to take over the wine making position at Antica Terra. Lillian Winery, founded in 2004, represents Maggie’s personal project and reflects everything that she learned during her time at Sine Qua Non. The fruit for the Lillian Syrah comes from the…

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Bottle Notes, Zinfandel

2014 Ridge Geyserville – Bottle Notes

Ridge Vineyards was founded in 1959 when three Stanford Research Institute engineers bought an abandoned winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The vineyards had been planted in the late 19th century by a San Francisco physician who produced his first vintage in the original winery, called Monte Bello, in 1892. The first Ridge vintage was in 1962. Paul Draper recently retired…

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Bottle Notes, Pinot Noir

2010 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Koplen Vineyard – Bottle Notes

Kosta Browne was founded in the late nineties by Dan Kosta and Michael Browne. In 2009 controlling interest was sold to Vincraft for close to $40 million. In 2015 J.W. Childs Associates, a Boston-based private equity firm, bought out Vincraft. Most recently Kosta Browne was purchased by Duckhorn Wine Company. With these investments have come numerous changes including a new Winery (Gallery)…

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Random Musings

The Week in Zinfandel (1/6/20)

Welcome to the latest installment of The Week in Zinfandel. If I missed your post or story please send me a link and I will be sure to include it next week. Randy Caparoso writes Marking 10 Years of lodiwine.com Blogs With Our 10 Most Revealing Posts. Dallas Wine Chick writes Ushering out the Decade with Stellar Holiday Samples. On…

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Bottle Notes, Zinfandel

2014 Bedrock Wine Co. Heritage Wine Papera Ranch – Bottle Notes

Bedrock Wine Co. was founded by Morgan Twain-Peterson in 2007 and focuses on small production wines from many of California’ s most treasured and historic vineyards. The lineup of wines at Bedrock is expanding rapidly, but I think the best of the best are the ancient vineyard Zinfandels, Morgan is clearly passionate about. Papera Vineyard is situated in the Russian…

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