Opening Weekend with the San Francisco Giants

Can you believe the season our beloved Orange and Black had last year?! Well, spring has sprung, and it's just about time to start cheering on your 2012 World Series Champions, the San Francisco Giants. As you know, tickets for opening weekend are the hardest to obtain each year. So we made a few calls, pulled a few strings and secured a limited number of lower box tickets for the game on Saturday, April 6th, 2013, when the Giants take on the St. Louis Cardinals. Here is your chance to personally welcome back the Giants to AT&T Park as the World Series Champions!

Our event will include more of everything; we'll have our own VIP entrance at Triples Alley, where Caymus Vineyards will again join us, along with food, great wine and quality cocktails before the game. We'll also be on the field during the pregame ceremony. Triples Alley is located between right and center field below the bleachers, where the fences are pushed in, and we actually watch the pregame ceremony where Buster Posey will receive his 2012 NL MVP Award from the field. Your feet will be in the outfield dirt! After the pregame ceremony, we'll be escorted along the field to our seats in Lower Box 103. Make sure to bring your glove – it's foul ball territory.

Along with this incredible Giants game experience, you'll receive a limited-edition commemorative etched bottle of 2010 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon ($125 value) delivered with your game tickets, as well as the Limited Edition Buster Posey 2012 NL MVP Bobblehead. Give us a call today and secure your San Francisco Giants opening weekend tickets at 800-943-9463. You’ll be glad you did!

Some of our hottest sellers of 2012!

2010 Carne Humana Proprietary Red Napa Valley
Napa Valley meets the Walking Dead.

Price: $34.95 btl.
$31.45 btl./mixed case

2010 Casarena "Sinergy" Reserva Mendoza
Tasted blind, we guessed this would be in the $40-$50 range.

Price: $19.95 btl.
$17.95 btl./mixed case

2010 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
You're going to do back flips over this vintage.
92-points Wine Spectator

Price: $69.95 btl.
Net item - no discounts apply

2010 Waypoint "Donum" Chardonnay Carneros
White Burgundy fans take notice!

Price: $39.95 btl.
$35.95 btl./mixed case

2007 Col Solare Proprietary Red Columbia Valley
Piero Antinori's global vision reigns supreme!
94 points Wine Enthusiast

Regular Price: $79.95 btl. / Sale Price: $39.95 btl.
Net item - no discounts apply
Save 50%

2011 Belle Glos "Meiomi" Pinot Noir
The absolute elite of Pinot Noir values.
92 points Wine Spectator

Price: $17.95 btl.
$16.15 btl./mixed case

2005 Casanuova Delle Cerbaie Brunello di Montalcino
One taste was all it took...
92-points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Regular Price: $65.95 btl. / Sale Price: $32.95 btl.
Net item - no discounts apply
Save 50%

2009 Ridge Runner Cabernet Sauvignon California
You'll find your happy place here.

Price: $17.95 btl.
$16.15 btl./mixed case

2005 Joseph Phelps "Insignia" Proprietary Red Napa Valley
A Napa Valley legend is now re-released!
95-points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Price: $174.95
Net item - no discounts apply

2008 Franciscan "Magnificat" Proprietary Red Napa Valley
A go-to selection for top steakhouse wine lists.

Regular Price: $49.95 / Sale Price: $29.95 btl.
Net item - no discounts apply
Save 40%

Justice has been served... with a couple of 95-point scores!

Justice has officially been served with a trio of eye-popping scores! Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate slammed down a pair of 95-point ratings (and a 94-pointer) and wrote, "Winemaker Timothy Milos delivers the goods with these fabulous 2009s and 2010s. The top wines, which are made from To Kalon and Dr. Crane fruit, are aged in 100% new oak barrels. From top to bottom, this is an impressive set of wines that deserves serious attention." We are officially down to tiny amounts left, and this will certainly be our last offering. If you want in, the time is now.
$399.95/trio Net item - no discounts apply
From the first vintage back in '04, we knew we had a tiger on our hands. Then our customers started trying them and were not shy about sharing their enthusiasm. Utilizing fruit from two of Napa Valley's most heralded vineyards – Andy Beckstoffer's To Kalon and Dr. Crane properties – and working with the undeniable talents of Tim Milos in the cellar, the Justice Series wines are three individual expressions of the finest fruit Napa can deliver. The jury has come back, the verdict is in and Justice is served!

Justice Cellars 2009 Trio - Rated 94+ Points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

In addition to our Justice scores, 2010 Pursuit is on fire!
For our Pursuit label, we tap into our deep connections in the wine business and source incredible juice from top houses. We start early in the process so that we can guide the finished product and ensure that it's up to our exacting standards. While confidentiality agreements are involved, we can assure you that the vineyard sources at our disposal are some of the absolute best in California (it's good to have friends). You probably wouldn't believe where this stuff was born, even if we could tell you. This lineup is the result of countless hours of tasting, blending, haggling and arm wrestling... in that order. We have delivered what we know to be substantial "taste-per-dollar" by aggressively chasing select lots from growers and producers whose track records are beyond reproach. You don't have to pay major league money to play with this lineup. The wines just taste really expensive...

Pursuit 2010 Napa Valley Syrah - Rated 93 Points, Wine Advocate

2010 Pursuit Syrah Napa Valley
$32.95 btl.
$29.65 btl./mixed case
93-points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Our notes: It's good to have incriminating photos, or there's no way this wine ever happens. A mere six barrels of a "you owe me one" favor, it's what you want on the table when the weather gets chilly. Black fruits, hickory wood, smoked bacon and black pepper...yep, it tastes Syrah!

In the Cellar

So you’ve seen the pastoral pictures of fruit on the vine, but what happens after the fruit is picked? We transition from the word “harvest” to the word “crush.” The crush season is the busiest time of the year for most wineries – bringing in the fruit that represents the entire year’s work in a few short weeks. It’s like finals – it took all year to grow exemplary fruit and now the proof will be in the pudding if you can get through this last cram session before the proverbial board exams.

Let me just toss any romantic notions out the window before I go any further. Winery work is not always (or even most often) glamorous. And if you’re working in a winery cellar during the months of September through December, expect to be cold, wet, sticky, sore and exhausted. ‘Tis the season of the “cellar rat.”
A cellar rat, if you don’t already know, is a person who toils away in the cellar. These are the people who make all those delicious wines possible. They receive the fruit at the winery, sort and de-stem it, crush and press it, pump or press the juice over the cap to extract flavor and color and then barrel it down to its intended storage vessel. Then they babysit it; stirring, topping, and generally keeping it from getting messed up all year round. If there is a manual labor job to be performed, it’s likely that these folks are doing it. A winemaker is only as good as his or her team and these are the All-Star players.

The origins of the title “cellar rat” are a bit nebulous, but I’ve got some ideas; it’s a term for someone always hanging around the cellar and who may exude a somewhat bedraggled appearance (long shaggy hair, unkempt look, stained and torn clothes perhaps mended with duct tape). For many cellar rats, the title and their stained hands are a badge of honor.

Working in a cellar is not for the faint of heart. You will get dirty. You will get wet. You will be hungry and tired. You will ache, and eventually, as harvest wears on for weeks on end without a day off, you will begin to go a bit crazy. Why would anybody torture their body with this kind of work?
It’s a labor of love. And while there’s little room for romance this time of year, there is a lot of passion. Passionate people working towards the same goal of making great wine – no matter the sacrifice, whatever it takes. We give a bit of ourselves so that each bottle is a little bit better and of course we sleep well, knowing that we gave it our all.
--Katy Long
Content Manager

Happy Thanksgiving

My mother called me up and asked me to pick out a case of wine to send back East for Thanksgiving, and it put me in a bit of a quandary. While most of my family will enthusiastically guzzle whatever is placed in front of them, a few are a bit more sophisticated in their wine appreciation. I suspect this not an unusual circumstance as families gather around the country for the ultimate hedonist’s holiday. For every uncle with a serious wine collection, there’s a cousin or three who are more interested in taking the edge off their losing wager on the Lions’ game. Then there’s the meal itself, no small wine pairing feat given the sheer array of flavors on the table. Alas, this is why my family turns to me for guidance.
To my thinking, the selection process can be broken down into three basic camps: crowd pleasers, food pairings and wine geek specials.
Crowd Pleasers: Cabernet and Chardonnay are the two most popular varietals for a reason. For a lot of wine lovers, they get the job done. Chardonnay is certainly a little more natural dancing partner with turkey, whether you go the full, rich and tropical route à la Mer Soleil or opt for something with a little more pop and acidity like the gorgeous Etude, you’ll be in great shape. If you have your heels dug in on Cabernet, it’s important to have something with at least a year or two in bottle so the tannins don’t completely overwhelm the meal. Either something lush and sophisticated like the ’09 Chappellet or an inexpensive quaffer like the ’09 Ridge Runner would fit the bill.
Food Pairings: Forget the Pilgrims and Indians… it’s about food and wine! This is the holiday where Pinot Noir shows its true versatility on the table, able to handle everything from deep-fried bird to sweet potato casserole. A bright and lively selection like the ’10 Alta Maria or one packing serious Burgundian pedigree like the ’09 Louis Jadot Pommard is in order. In the world of whites, something crisp and complex like the ultra-rare ’10 Caravaglio Bianco from the Aeolian Islands or a basso profundo white Burgundy from Marius Delarche in the form of Corton-Charlemagne will play just fine.
The Geek Squad: The stuff that the pros drink based on versatility and sheer enjoyment for the world-weary palate. A couple of the wines I include in the care package for my own consumption included the Durdilly Beaujolais from the legendary ’09 vintage and the laser-like Wachau Grüner-Veltliner Federspiel. Tell your favorite sommelier that those were on your Thanksgiving table, and you’re guaranteed to be treated a little better on your next restaurant visit. There you have it… a user’s guide to a very broad range of styles, at least one of which is going to hit the mark for every wine lover in the room. Cheers to Thanksgiving 2012!
--Rhett Gadke
Wine Director

The Prisoner

Today marks the release of Orin Swift’s 2011 “The Prisoner”. We have a small allocation of this wine and wanted to share some with you today because we have a longstanding connection to this unique red blend. This wine has become a cultural phenomenon and we like to think that we helped play a small role in the success.

Our Napa wine bar carried this wine in 2007 when it was still largely unknown. It was a treat to share it with our guests and watch their reactions before it took the wine world by storm. Luckily we still have a few bottles this year with your name on them! It pays to get in the game early.

The 2011 vintage’s hedonistic blend is made up of 51% Zinfandel, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah, 12% Petite Sirah, 2% Charbono and 1% Grenache. Order yours today before it flies off into the night!

Cheers and Happy Halloween!

2012 Harvest Update Continued

We've made it… after months of watching our grapes slowly mature, the time has come to turn off the oven and get to the fun part. I was up in Oakville and St. Helena late last week with our winemaker Tim checking out our rows of Cabernet, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and things look remarkable. As in textbook, this is how you draw up the anatomy of an ideal vintage remarkable. Big, beautiful clusters that are densely packed with berries dripping with sweet juice.
Grapes like Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir have mostly long-since been picked, but our Bordeaux varietals made the most out of sunshine, maxed out their flavor potential and were picked this weekend. Now that all our fruit is in, we’re looking at some seriously promising raw materials.

What I find most fascinating about the last stages before harvest are the differences that varietals – and even clones within those varietals - show late in the game. It’s where you can really see the variations in skin thickness, juice ratio and cluster size. Even seed maturation, one of the hallmarks of ripeness, varies among clones within a vineyard where they’re planted just a few rows apart. It gives you a sense of the sheer amount of decisions that go into the growing process and the staggering number of subtle variables to consider.
From our point of view, 2012 is likely going to be the rare combination of a big crop with exceptional quality. We’ll take it!
--Rhett Gadke
Wine Director