LOV Letter

One Year Ends . . .

And a new one begins. I would like to start the new year by thanking everyone of you on behalf of all of us at Alexander & Wayne for your continued support into 2006. I know that Nancy and Alexis, Barbera, Brett, Kelsea and Dyann, and Dack and Jose are all grateful for your business. And I am too. We made a lot of progress on the transition to Alexander & Wayne in 2005 and will mostly complete it in 2006. We introduced some new wines of note and have more planned for 2006. Sometime in March our dearth of red wines will end and we will have a full complement of ruby delights for you to taste and to send in your shipments. There will be two new Pinot Noirs, Cabernet Franc, and new vintages to replace the others when they sell out. In addition, we will be introducing a completely new variety, Tempranillo. Tempranillo is the great Spanish grape that is the key ingredient in those fine Riojas and Riberas from northern Spain. We are fortunate to have some of it for at least a couple vintages to expand our offerings by just a little. All of these new wines will end up in a shipment at some point in time. The new year will start with a new vintage of Chardonnay and also see the return of our Botrytis Sauvignon Blanc dessert wine. This style of wine is unique and a special treat for those who like it. All in all, I think 2006 will be a special year for Alexander & Wayne, and, I hope, our best year yet. Best wishes for a happy and prosperous new year. Art White

This Month’s Wines

We do not send a lot of white wine in your shipments, but January is the month we send you Chardonnay. It is accompanied this month by our 2001 Valley View Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. This Cabernet is a personal favorite of mine. While it is true that Santa Barbara County will never be renowned for this variety, it is also true that we can produce some pretty darn good ones from certain vineyards in certain years. This wine is an example of the latter. Enjoy.

2001 ~ Valley View Vineyard ~ Santa Ynez Valley ~ Santa Barbara County

CABERNET SAUVIGNON

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the great red wine varieties native to the Bordeaux region of France. In its native region it is almost always blended, frequently 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. This wine is an example of how good Cabernet Sauvignon from Santa Barbara county can be. As you first experience the nose, then the palate and structure of this wine, you can see right away that it is a classic Cabernet. The twenty-two months of barrel aging and three plus years in the bottle have muted some of the individual flavors, while at the same time marrying them into a complexity of blended flavors from the grapes and vanilla from the oak. There is a richness to the flavors on the palate that makes this wine particularly inviting. 300 cases made.

Careaga Canyon Vineyard ~ Santa Barbara County

CHARDONNAY

The cool regions of Santa Barbara County are as good as any in the world for growing Chardonnay grapes. The challenge to the grower and the winemaker is to live up to this potential. We think this edition passes the test and hope that you will agree. The Careaga Canyon Chardonnay is always darker in color, which is something we choose not to remove from the wine. The nose reflects both the fruit of the grapes and the oak and spice notes from the barrels. The same combination dominates the palate, with the addition of sweet vanilla flavors also from the barrels. The result is a classic Chardonnay of richness, fruit and light brown spices. This wine is tasty and full-bodied enough to be enjoyed by itself as a cocktail, but not so big that it does not do wonderfully as a complement to food. This wine continues our tradition of Chardonnays that are not sweet and have bright acidity on the finish. About 240 cases made.