In Photos: McFadden Wine Club (and Public) Party

The 2013 McFadden Wine Club (and open to the public) Party was again a wonderful event at one of my favorite vineyards.  While the tasting room is open all the time, in Hopland, the vineyard is only open this one day of the year.

This was my second year attending - and this time I stuck around for the overnight camping followed by picnicking in the grass and swimming in the river (with a bunch of enthusiastic SF hipsters) on Sunday. 

What a great way to enjoy this beautiful spot - 200 acres of organic grapes. Many of McFadden's grapes go into famous fine wines - including Napa's. (For instance, the Chateau Montelena Riesling comes 100% from McFadden Vineyards.) But at such prices. If you want to find a way to indulge your organic hedonistic side while not breaking the bank, you can do no better than McFadden's:

Everyday White

• If you're looking for everyday wine, must trys include the 2011 Chardonnay (Double Gold winner in SF Chronicle Wine Competition) - currently $16 a bottle for wine club members. (The other Double Golds are way more than that.)

Dessert or Aperitif Wine

• For dessert or a sweet aperitif sipper, get your hands on their Late Harvest Riesling. (And be glad that there is still some left!)

Celebrate

• For bubbleheads, celebrate every day with Bruts - where else can you get local, organically grown top quality sparkling wine for $16-7 a bottle (wine club sale prices) or $25 list? (It ties with Roederer Estate in competitions). McFadden also now has a Reserve Brut, too.

Break your convenient-but-bad-voting-with-your-dollars addiction to TJ's and support great organic viticulture and vintners in California.

Join this wine club and consider it your "wine box" - like the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm box - only it's your wine farmer/maker.

And like McFadden on Facebook, Yelp and Trip Advisor to spread the news.

(And forgive the strange irregular white background in the photo display below - God only knows what Google's Blogger thinks it's doing.)

Tasting Room Manager and Wine Club Director John Cesano at the registration
table armed with a bunch of lottery goodies for the giveaway

The wine table...and when they say Welcome to the Farm, they mean it:
McFadden's really IS a farm complete with grass fed cattle, organic herbs, corn and other veggies.

A selection of McFadden's white wines
ranged from the original Pinot Gris to
their 2011 Chardonnay - which won
Double Gold at the SF Wine Competition

Fontaine McFadden, Guinnness' daughter, catered the
dinner. Fontaine runs StrongTableSF.com catering in SF,
a paleo food service serving 6 SF gyms.

Kelly McFarling and her band provided entertainment.

Proprietor (and New York native) Guinness McFadden celebrated his 75th birthday
in June; he's grown wine grapes organically here for 41 years,
settling in Potter Valley after returning from Vietnam.
To the crowd's delight, he blew his mess whistle to announce dinner.

Sipping the McFadden Brut before the main meal

Fontaine's spicy slaw

The 2011 Chardonnay

After dinner, dancing under the stars to the beat of DJ Hal Wagenet
(formerly in the band It's a Beautiful Day)
That's the Magruders (lady in the orange dress dancing with partner), who
raise grass fed beef and lamb, as well as a unique breed of pig
on their nearby 5,000 acre Potter Valley farm. You may see the Magruder
name on your next trip to Chez Panisse or Oliveto as they have long been a
staple supplier there and at Berkeley's Local Butcher Shop.

Here's what it's all about...

McFadden Wine Sale! As Low as $11 a Bottle (25-30% Off)

Guinness McFadden is having a St. Patrick's Day Sale 

Free shipping and discounts of 25-30% off on some of my favorite everyday wines - jump on this one.

One of my pet peeves is people who buy their wine at Trader Joe's. Not only is 99.9% of it not organically grown, it's also mostly imported. It is not locally grown and if it is, it usually represents some poor grower's near bankruptcy.

Support your native ecosystem - buy wine from wineries that don't dump toxic chemicals into local lands and wine that doesn't require massive infusions of carbon to ship halfway around the globe.

The feel good alternative is buying great local organically grown wine - like these - when they're on sale (like now).

McFadden is one of my go-to wineries for fantastic affordable wines. This year they've done extremely well in the Chronicle wine competition for their Chardonnay as well a new wine - a Late Harvest Riesling (dessert wine). And a wine that I've bought at least 6-8 cases of is also on sale - their NV Sparkling Brut.

From Monday March 11 through Sunday, March 17 (St. Patrick's Day), order a minimum of 6 bottles and receive free shipping and 25% off the normal prices. Order 12 bottles and receive 30% off.

WHITE WINES

• 2011 Chardonnay (Double Gold winner in Chronicle competition)
Regular price: $16
Sale price: $11.20-12

McFadden is one of the few organic sources for these two German varietals:

• 2011 Riesling (dry)
Regular price: $18
Sale price: $12.60-13.50

• 2011 Gewurztraminer
Regular price: $16
Sale price: $11.20-12

Organically grown dessert wines are also hard to find. Here's theirs, a new entry in the field:

• Late Harvest Riesling (Best of Class in Chronicle competition)
Regular price: $24
Sale price: $16.80-18.00

BRUT

My go to Brut (and my friends all love it when I serve it to them) also makes a great birthday gift. (Friend turning 50? 60? At these prices you can afford to gift them their decades in bottles - i.e. 5 or 6 bottles - one for each decade).

• NV Sparkling Brut
Regular price: $25
Sale price: $17.50-18.75

RED WINES

And if you're looking for a red, here's the one:

• 2010 Old Vine Zinfandel
Regular price: $24
Sale price: $16.80-$18

Or get a sampler of all the wines.

Free shipping just makes this an unbeatable deal.

If you are in the area, stop by on St. Patrick's Day to enjoy some good old-fashioned Corned Beef and Cabbage and a free tasting.

Order some cases and tell your friends. And A Happy-A-Saving-of-the-Green to You. Sales like this don't come very often, so don't hold back, don't be shy, and don't wait too long.

You can reach their sales/tasting room maven extraordinaire John 10-5 daily (707.744.8463)
or 24/7 via email to john@mcfaddenfarm.com.

New Wines From McFadden: A Dessert Riesling and a SuperBrut! On Sale Friday Only!

Sneak Preview of New Wines from McFadden - And Everything Is 20% Off This Friday Night

I'm happy to pass along news of the McFadden Wines Toys for Tots event this Friday from 4-7 pm at their Hopland tasting room. The winery will be collecting toys and offering raffle tickets for toy donors for a great assortment of their wines. Best of all - they will be pouring 2011 wines not yet on the market, and two brand new wines.

The two new wines are a Late Harvest Dessert Riesling and a Reserve Brut - which differs from their regular award-winning Brut (my regular go-to bubbly! We drink it by the case here) in that it sits on yeast for 18 extra months. As a diehard sparkling lover, I am looking forward to trying it! Alas, the price is not the same incredibly affordable deal for the regular Brut. The "SuperBrut" will retail for $40 and the dessert wine for $24, with the usual wine club discounts applying for wine club members.

This is one winery where I definitely recommend becoming a wine club member. If you ask nicely, it's very likely you can pick which wines you want in your club membership if you want to opt out of the winery's picks. But the best reason to join are the fabulous price points for members on what is already very affordable wine. And you're supporting a vineyard that has been organically certified for 40 years, making it one of the oldest in the country.

Their famous grass fed beef and herb products as well as all tasting room merchandise will also be on sale during the event for 20% off. If I were you, I would hotfoot it over there or see if you can place an order on the phone.

All the More Reason to Celebrate: Sparkling Wines Going Green

Terra Savia's Blanc de Blanc, $23

Tis the season to raise a glass of the bubbly, so I am rerunning this post (originally published in the spring of 2011).

Celebrating with a glass of "green champagne" is getting easier.

I counted up the number of producers offering organic bubbly this week and came up with 8 current vintages (with more on the way).

Mendocino, the greenest wine region, currently leads the pack with a total of six - count 'em - six CCOF certified "made with organic grapes" sparkling wines:

Sparkling Whites

1. 2006 Blanc de Blanc, Terra
Savia, organic, $23 (usually available at Whole Foods)
2. Brut, McFadden, $25

3. NV Brut, Paul Dolan, organic, $27.99
4. 2005 Brut, Jeriko Estate, organic, $38.95

Sparkling Rose's

5. 2005 Brut Rose, Jeriko Estate, organic, $48.95
6. 2006 Brut Rose, Handley Cellars, $40

Russian River and Napa

Other organic sparkling wines from California include:

1. Organic Brut, Korbel, organic,  $15 (Russian River)
2. 2007 Rose Cuvee de la Pompadour, Domaine Carneros, organic, $36 (Carneros)

Newer vintages from Domaine Carneros (starting with 2010) will be organic.