$12 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

Drew and I were immediately smitten when we tasted this wine for the first time at Carpe Vino’s world headquarters office on Court Street in Auburn.  One of our most trusted and productive wine brokers just smiled, because he knew we were gonna love this juice.   When he told us the price, we couldn’t believe it.

Our smiles faded quickly, however, when he told us the story behind the wine:  It was made by Pietra Santa Winery, located in the Gabilan Mountains, about 25 miles east of Monterey Bay, as a private label project.  The deal did not materialize as planned, so a limited amount of this fabulous pinot was available.

The very sad news is it will not be made again, so if crave more after opening your bottle, better move quickly if you hope to score any more.  When this stuff is gone, there is no mas.

Winery Tasting Notes:  “Easy-drinking flavor profile with forward fruit; shows flavors of wild strawberries and raspberries with a subtle earthiness. Just a hint of toasty oak.  Its medium body makes it easy to pair with a variety of food, including grilled salmon, roast chicken or pasta.”

$30 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

Wine making is actually the secondary occupation of Andrew Jones. . .his main occupation is working as a viticulturist, planning and planting vineyards all over California.  What’s important about his day job is that he has the inside skinny on the best vineyards in the Golden State, and he is able to tap into small quantities of outstanding fruit.

We’ve featured his wine before, and this latest entry is something very special.  Grapes are sourced from the Happy Canyon near Santa Ynez from an elevation of about 650 feet, and vineyard yield in 2011 was just 1.8 tons per acre.  Aged on 75% new oak (75% French/25% American) for 18 months.  Jones did no tinkering with this juice. . .no filtering or fining.  You get what you get, enhanced with some magic in the blending.

Winery Tasting Notes:  Layered with notes of red currant, spearmint, bacon and smoked cedar planks, this wine seems to change almost by the second.  It is plush, both in aromatics and mouthfeel, with black cherry, violets, kirsch and crème de casis, joining notes of pipe tobacco and cola.  Truly California Bordeaux.  Cellar recommendation:  drink now through 2020; decant one hour.

$60 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

Bacio Divino Cellars is a Rutherford-based winery featuring five labels, at least one of which may be familiar to Carpe Vino regulars:  the “Pazzo,” a.k.a., ‘Call Me Crazy,” a tasty, mostly sangiovese blend with a psychedelic label.  Now comes the “Vagabond,” a pure syrah that Robert Parker awarded 92 points.

Made by one of Napa’s young rockers, Kurt Venge, there is just a smidge on the market priced at $60 per bottle (though Parker shows inaccurate pricing of $45 per pop).  The winery is owned by Claus and Diane Janzen.  Swiss by birth, Claus brought his family to Napa via Winnipeg, Canada, and he spent 12 years at Caymus working in international marketing.  His first wine under the Bacio Divino label was produced in 1993.

Winery Tasting Notes:  “Vagabond syrah is dense and delectable: it possesses the traditional depth, complexity and longevity of this varietal. The flavor is balanced with a richness of dark fruit, and spicy oak nuances. While it is wonderful to enjoy now, there will still be life in this Vagabond for many years.”

The Wine Advocate Review, 92 points:  “The 2008 Vagabond Syrah exhibits a dense purple color along with notes of tar, camphor, and smoky barbecued meats. With its wonderfully dense, rich, full-bodied flavors and loads of fruit and opulence, it should drink well for 4-5 years.  Bacio Divino’s proprietor, Claus Janzen, continues to turn out one of the best values in Napa.”  –Robert Parker

$30 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

Wine making is actually the secondary occupation of Andrew Jones. . .his main occupation is working as a viticulturist, planning and planting vineyards all over California.  What’s important about his day job is that he has the inside skinny on the best vineyards in the Golden State, and he is able to tap into small quantities of outstanding fruit.

We’ve featured his wine before, and this latest entry is something very special.  Grapes are sourced from the Happy Canyon near Santa Ynez from an elevation of about 650 feet, and vineyard yield in 2011 was just 1.8 tons per acre.  Aged on 75% new oak (75% French/25% American) for 18 months.  Jones did no tinkering with this juice. . .no filtering or fining.  You get what you get, enhanced with some magic in the blending.

Winery Tasting Notes:  Layered with notes of red currant, spearmint, bacon and smoked cedar planks, this wine seems to change almost by the second.  It is plush, both in aromatics and mouthfeel, with black cherry, violets, kirsch and crème de casis, joining notes of pipe tobacco and cola.  Truly California Bordeaux.  Cellar recommendation:  drink now through 2020; decant one hour.

$49.95 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

Last year, we presented the 2010 vintage of this wine, and Drew likes the new offering so much, he decided to offer the 2011 this month.  Here’s what we said about the winery last time:

“Interesting story behind this label.  It is owned by Nikki and Jeff Nelson of Los Angeles, both of whom have a background in the wine industry.  Jeff works for a French champagne house and Nikki, who earned a degree in wine and viticulture from Cal Poly, earned her chops at a wine distributor before departing in 2011 to oversee the launch of the first vintage of Liquid Farm.  The pair has always preferred Old World wines, so when they decided to develop their own brand, they focused on low-alcohol, cool-climate chardonnays with minerality and nice acidity.  Today they make three chards and a Bandol-inspired rosé. “

Grapes were sourced in Santa Rita Hills from two vineyards:  Rita’s Crown and Clos Pepe & Zotovich.  Wine was aged for 14 months in mostly neutral barrels.  It is unfined and unfiltered.

Winery Tasting Notes:  “The richer of the two bottlings, with a small amount of new barrel to add warmer tones and a more voluptuous texture, all the while maintaining restraint and intense structure.  Flavors of tamarind, orange pith, mineral, macadamia nut, spiced pear, ginger tea and fresh almond croissant.”

$30 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

We’ve done some business with this Paso Robles-based winery owned by Curt Schalchlin, whose other label you may recognize:  Groundwork Wines, which we’ve featured with at least one Wine Club selection.

One trip to Curt’s web site, and you’ll quickly conclude he operates a bit on the dark side (as you can also deduce reading his notes below).  He quotes Dante’s Inferno on the site, which is a bit creepy, especially since I’m in the middle of Dan Brown’s new thriller, Inferno.

While I don’t exactly get where Curt is coming from, I do understand his wines.  You will, too. . .and it won’t take a trip to the seventh circle of the underworld.

Winery Tasting Notes:  “Along the craggy coast there stands a lighthouse, seemingly carved from air, on a lush prominence. While the ocean scrapes the shore, seeking to steal the beacon, the land is slowly covered entire with white flowers and sunlight. On those first spring days, the lighthouse keeper – his spirit renewed after months of bone cold, begins to prepare a luxurious breakfast, the scents of Belgian waffle, Meyer lemon, warm apple compote and clove mist mingle with the awakening herbs and flowers: jasmine, young limes, sage and wintergreen. The sea continues to rise and yell, spitting spray onto the rocks and releasing heaps of soft chalk from the earth, while the keeper cautiously munches on brioche.”

$12 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

This wine is produced by a family that has been farming in Lodi since the early 1950s, now headed by Rodeny and Cayla Schatz.  In 2002, the family built a winery that was at first used for custom crushes.  In 2005, the Schatz’s created their own flagship label, Peltier Station, a nod to the fruit sheds that formerly dominated the area and the trains that hauled fruit east to wineries and home winemakers.

hybrid Chardonnay is a second label of wines intended to be immensely affordable, employing sustainable growing practices.  All of the wines under this label are varietals that have been tinkered with slightly. . .all enhanced with a smidge of something else by blending wizard and winemaker JC van Staden, a native of South Africa who worked in France and at Michael-David Winery in Lodi before signing on at Peltier Station.

Winery Tasting Notes:  “Our “naked,” unoaked style Chardonnay is enhanced with a brush of viognier to showcase the tropical notes of fresh pineapple and kiwi. A short smooth mid-palate is complimented with a clean, slightly acidic finish.”

$30 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

Wine making is actually the secondary occupation of Andrew Jones. . .his main occupation is working as a viticulturist, planning and planting vineyards all over California.  What’s important about his day job is that he has the inside skinny on the best vineyards in the Golden State, and he is able to tap into small quantities of outstanding fruit.

We’ve featured his wine before, and this latest entry is something very special.  Grapes are sourced from the Happy Canyon near Santa Ynez from an elevation of about 650 feet, and vineyard yield in 2011 was just 1.8 tons per acre.  Aged on 75% new oak (75% French/25% American) for 18 months.  Jones did no tinkering with this juice. . .no filtering or fining.  You get what you get, enhanced with some magic in the blending.

Winery Tasting Notes:  Layered with notes of red currant, spearmint, bacon and smoked cedar planks, this wine seems to change almost by the second.  It is plush, both in aromatics and mouthfeel, with black cherry, violets, kirsch and crème de casis, joining notes of pipe tobacco and cola.  Truly California Bordeaux.  Cellar recommendation:  drink now through 2020; decant one hour.

$49.95 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

Last year, we presented the 2010 vintage of this wine, and Drew likes the new offering so much, he decided to offer the 2011 this month.  Here’s what we said about the winery last time:

“Interesting story behind this label.  It is owned by Nikki and Jeff Nelson of Los Angeles, both of whom have a background in the wine industry.  Jeff works for a French champagne house and Nikki, who earned a degree in wine and viticulture from Cal Poly, earned her chops at a wine distributor before departing in 2011 to oversee the launch of the first vintage of Liquid Farm.  The pair has always preferred Old World wines, so when they decided to develop their own brand, they focused on low-alcohol, cool-climate chardonnays with minerality and nice acidity.  Today they make three chards and a Bandol-inspired rosé. “

Grapes were sourced in Santa Rita Hills from two vineyards:  Rita’s Crown and Clos Pepe & Zotovich.  Wine was aged for 14 months in mostly neutral barrels.  It is unfined and unfiltered.

Winery Tasting Notes:  “The richer of the two bottlings, with a small amount of new barrel to add warmer tones and a more voluptuous texture, all the while maintaining restraint and intense structure.  Flavors of tamarind, orange pith, mineral, macadamia nut, spiced pear, ginger tea and fresh almond croissant.”

$30 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

Wine making is actually the secondary occupation of Andrew Jones. . .his main occupation is working as a viticulturist, planning and planting vineyards all over California.  What’s important about his day job is that he has the inside skinny on the best vineyards in the Golden State, and he is able to tap into small quantities of outstanding fruit.

We’ve featured his wine before, and this latest entry is something very special.  Grapes are sourced from the Happy Canyon near Santa Ynez from an elevation of about 650 feet, and vineyard yield in 2011 was just 1.8 tons per acre.  Aged on 75% new oak (75% French/25% American) for 18 months.  Jones did no tinkering with this juice. . .no filtering or fining.  You get what you get, enhanced with some magic in the blending.

Winery Tasting Notes:  Layered with notes of red currant, spearmint, bacon and smoked cedar planks, this wine seems to change almost by the second.  It is plush, both in aromatics and mouthfeel, with black cherry, violets, kirsch and crème de casis, joining notes of pipe tobacco and cola.  Truly California Bordeaux.  Cellar recommendation:  drink now through 2020; decant one hour.