LOV Letter
Ready for Harvest
It is the
end of August and we are waiting for grapes, and waiting and waiting. We are two to four weeks behind last year
after a very pleasant (not hot) summer and still not much in the immediate
future will be ripe. This is more like
the harvests of the early and mid-1990s but unlike any I have seen lately. One of the scions of the local wine industry
recently told me he thinks this harvest may be the best in ten years. Anyway, enough speculating, the grapes will
get ripe, and we will make wine from them, and in a year or two we will know if
it turns out as well as we expect it to.
Perhaps the big news of this harvest is that we have a new source for
our Pinot Noir that we are really excited about. The grapes look good and we have very high hopes for the
wine. With the harvest upon us, that
means that our fall events cannot be far behind. The Santa Barbara County Vintners Association sponsored
Celebration of Harvest will be held on October 8th and if you are
not familiar with this event you can get more information by calling
800-218-0881. That same weekend we will
hold the fall version of our Barbecue in the Winery for the second time on
Friday evening the 7th. This very
popular spring event is catching on in the fall too. Because of the harvest we can only handle half as many people
this time of year, and we are almost sold out already, so if you want to come,
call right away. If those two events
are not enough, the Santa Ynez Valley Wine Country Association is having a
barbecue dinner and dancing on Saturday evening, so you can see it is a great
weekend to visit the valley. Art
White
This Month’s Wines
Last
August we sent you two Burgundy wines to enjoy. Just to keep things interesting, this year we are sending two of
the great Bordeaux varieties. The
Cabernet Franc is a wine that I personally enjoy very much. Unfortunately, it sometimes gets overlooked
in the mix with Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The Santa Ynez Valley is one of the best places
on earth to grow this variety, so give this wine a try. The second bottle is the Santa Ynez Valley
designated Cabernet Sauvignon. We are
sending you this wine because it is just about gone. Enjoy!
2001 ~ Valley View Vineyard ~ Santa Ynez Valley
~ Santa Barbara County
CABERNET FRANC
Cabernet Franc is one of the three most
prominent French Bordeaux varieties; Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are the
others. Always blended in Bordeaux, it
is often bottled as a primary grape in California, especially in Santa Barbara
County which produces many fine examples.
You are first struck by the beautiful, very dark color of this wine,
which would normally be associated with a wine such as zinfandel or syrah. On the palate there is lots of dark fruit
with just the right amount of tannins, yet the wine is smooth and soft. It has excellent body with a certain
richness, almost sweetness, that can be attributed to the glycerine and alcohol
in the wine. This is an interesting
wine to warm up in your mouth before swallowing. It will intensify most of the flavors that you might otherwise
miss, including the chocolate on the finish.
I suggest serving this wine warmer than cellar temperature or you may
miss most of the joy. 250 cases made.
2000 ~ Santa Ynez Valley ~ Santa Barbara County
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Cabernet
Sauvignon is another of the great red wine varieties native to the Bordeaux
region of France. In its native region
it is almost always blended, often with Cabernet Franc and sometimes with
Merlot or both. In California, it is
more common to find wines, such as this one, which are one hundred percent
Cabernet Sauvignon. It is our style to
produce big, full-bodied wines, and the deep ruby color of this wine, which
runs all the way to the edge, is the first indication that we were
successful. The wine has a pleasant
nose with spicy and woody aromas from the oak barrels and hints of cherry. On the palate it is smooth and full flavored. It starts out fruity and rich and follows
through with good acid balance on the finish.
It is very drinkable at the time of release. 360 cases made.