Dark fruit, brooding with black olive, toasted oak, and black licorice. A touch of violet opens to an energetic lift on the mid palate – stewed cherries and roasted capsicum – with tapering tannins and great acid structure. A meal eater’s wine, sure to pair perfectly with almost any braised short rib or grilled tri-tip that’s worth setting a fine table and inviting friends.
This bold red begins heady, dark, opulent and vinuous from the start. The nose lifts with ripe plums, a touch of soy, salt shoreline and dried cloves. The feel of this brooding black mass of a wine hits your mouth like a mixing bowl full of chocolate dipped cherries with outside edges of caramels, toffees, and French Oak vanillin. The mouthfeel is large and slippery and while certainly drinking incredibly in the most youthful stage of its life, the sense the tannins will melt and smooth nicely over the next 5 years is eminent. Cellared correctly this will be a 15-year wine or more.
2020 Sauvignon Blanc, Rutherford + 2020 Rosé, Petaluma Gap + 2019 Chardonnay, Petaluma Gap
Soak in a perfect summer day with these three stunners in hand. The 2020 Sauvignon Blanc emanates assorted white flowers, Freestone peach, pear, honeydew melon and freshly cut lemongrass, and saturates the palate with lemon curd, lime zest and underripe pineapple all mix, with a touch of friendly tart salinity eagerly demanding another sip to quench. The 2020 Rosé wafts cherry skin, strawberry purée and red hard candy pique the nose, while layers of lavender oil and sea salt slip over the tongue. The 2019 Chardonnay whisks the nose away with lemon tart, crème brûlée and tangerine skins and takes the palate on a deep journey filled with tropical pineapple and sliced green apples.
A breezy and bright rosé reflective of its origins on those sunny windswept slopes of the Calesa Vineyard in Petaluma Gap. Wafts of cherry skin, strawberry purée, and red hard candy pique the nose, while layers of lavender oil and sea salt slip over the tongue. Some wines have grip, this one has charge… it’s almost electric.
This Sauvignon Blanc is absolutely shining. Not just the beautiful, clean pale straw color, but the vibrant, cool lift of assorted white flowers, Freestone peach, pear, honeydew melon and freshly cut lemongrass in the nose. While the wine works up with both time in glass, and rising temperature, further swirls invite those oh-so-classic white Bordeaux notes of struck stones, flint, and graphite. The palate is clean and racy and dances on the tongue. Lemon curd, lime zest and underripe pineapple all mix, and zing, and exit the palate with a touch of friendly tart salinity eagerly demanding another sip to quench. This is certainly a fresh Sauvignon Blanc that joyfully walks the line of Bordeaux meets Napa Valley.
The 2019 Mirror Chardonnay catches the sun with beautiful straw-like hues that recall the rolling hills of Petaluma Gap from which it comes. A perfect expression of the varietal’s potential on the Sonoma Coast, it’s nose dances with lemon tart, crème brûlée, and tangerine skins. Generous depth and hydraulic mouthfeel leave a lasting impression of tropical pineapple and sliced green apple on the palate.
