The Heritage Club - June 2022
This month we feature two wines from an up-and-coming area of California. The region includes 40 AVAs including Paso Robles, Santa Cruz Mountains, Monterey, and Santa Barbara and each of these sub-regions specializes in distinct types and expressions of wine.
While the Central Coast may not have the same reputation as Napa Valley, it does happen to produce some of California’s most intriguing wines.
STOLPMAN LOVE YOU BUNCHES ROSE
PRODUCER: Stolpman Vineyards
REGION: Ballard Canyon, CA
WINEMAKER: Kyle Knapp and Matt Nocas
GRAPE VARIETAL: 80% Grenache, 10% Mouvedre, 10% Syrah
VITICULTURE: Active, youthful 2 million-year-old Limestone provides balancing acidity to all of our wines while the thin layer of dense clay topsoil above allows retention of moisture.
METHOD: Stainless Steel tanks for 3 months and then aged in stainless steel.
SERVING SUGGESTION: Serve cold with seafood or spicy Indian fare.
AGE: Enjoy now or throughout the summer.
TASTING NOTES: Tons of strawberry with hints of firm peach and fresh citrus.
WHY WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS WINE
When this wine was brought in for the glass list in the spring we were elated. Stolpman consistently creates excellent wines across the varietal spectrum. Their rose is no exception. This wine carries exceptional brightness and crushability.
Rose tends to get a bad wrap for being uninteresting and a summer-only beverage. While in some cases this is true, the Love You Bunches Rose is technically well made and is refreshing enough for the novice drinker while being complex enough for more experienced winos. More than anything, this wine is downright delicious and can be saved for a special meal or opened up and downed next to a pool on a hot day this summer. Regardless of the situation, you will love this wine.
DAOU PESSIMIST 2020
PRODUCER: Daou Vineyards
REGION: Paso Robles, CA
WINEMAKER: Daniel Daou
GRAPE VARIETAL: 62% Petite Sirah, 18% Zinfandel, 17% Syrah, 3% Lagrein
METHOD: Aged 10 months in 60% new French Oak.
AGE: Drink now or keep it stored well for up to 10 years.
SERVING SUGGESTION: Serve at room temperature with lamb or steak after at least an hour of decanting.
TASTING NOTES: Dense blueberry, cherry, and plum carry the fruit flavors while an underlying note of lavender, tobacco, and leather round out the palate.
WHY WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS WINE
We are excited about this wine because Daniel Daou makes an incredible line of wines. We have featured this wine as a club wine a couple of years ago and it may just be the most popular Heritage Club selection to date.
Petit Verdot is such a unique grape and its' wines have a wonderful structure that truly tests the palate. This wine will need to breathe a bit before one can enjoy it. Because Petit Verdot is such a bold wine, it is commonly added in less than 10% of most wine blends. This wine is over 60% Petit Verdot!
Daou's winemaking vision had one very singular focus-creating the highest possible quality Cabernet and Bordeaux wines. This mission had critical ingredient-the Calcareous Clay soil of Bordeaux. Petit Verdot hails from Bordeaux and is a highly desired blending grape in the region. Daou also created a proprietary phenolic system based on his palate that allows him to open some of the highest level phenolics in the world for Bordeaux varieties. This process has created some of the most intensely colored, age-worthy, and aromatic wines in the world, let alone California.