Elizabeth Spencer's Organically Grown Sauvignon Blanc Release Party - Saturday, June 29

Located in a charming brick building with a lovely courtyard for seated tastings, Elizabeth Spencer Wines will be hosting a release party with oysters, paella and its latest organically grown Sauvignon Blanc (sourced from Mendocino).

The action takes place 4-7 pm at the winery, just across from Rutherford Grill.

Tickets are $35 for wine club members and $55 for the general public.

Cowhorn 2011 Wine Releases

Cowhorn Wine celebrated the release of two of its new wines yesterday at a wine club party at the winery  (in southern Oregon).

You can order the 2011 Spiral 36 and the 2011 Sullivan Steele Sauvignon Blanc starting now. Both are highly recommended.

Spiral 36 ($28) - a white Rhone blend of Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne - tends to sell out, so be forewarned and belly up to the bar now if you want to be sure to get some. Food & Wine magazine called it one of Oregon's top wines.

In contrast to its famous, northern Pinot Noir cousins, southern Oregon doesn't get much attention and Cowhorn is one of the few to grow Rhone varietals. However the climate is California-like with hot, dry weather in the area near Jacksonville, an hour drive northeast of tourist mecca Ashland.

The Sauvignon Blanc ($22) is a collaboration with a grower/neighbor Terry Sullivan in nearby Talent, Oregon, who grows organically grown Sauvignon Blanc.

All Cowhorn wines are made from certified biodynamic grapes.

Like me, Wine Spectator wine critic Matt Kramer is a big fan of Cowhorn's wines.

For more on Cowhorn, check out this post from 2011 or visit their web site.

Attention-Getting Neal Sauvignon Blanc

Neal Family Vineyards is a quiet, tucked away, little-known, mountain winery above Napa Valley in Angwin - known among insiders for its Cabernet Sauvignon. 


But the winery is making a big play for its Sauvignon Blanc as well.

Steve Heimoff in Wine Enthusiast raves:

92 Points-Maybe it's the 100% certified organic grapes that make this wine so pure, or the fact that it never saw oak. Probably both. The fruit stands front and center with flavors of lemons, limes, Asian pears, lemongrass and gooseberries. A superior Sauvignon Blanc, at a great price, but production unfortunately was less than 1,000 cases.

The price: $18 a bottle. 

Learn more here (click) or sign up for emails on their site to be in the know going forward.

Listen to a radio show rave as well.

I am looking forward to visiting the winery up there sometime soon - it's always fun to explore new haunts away from the madding crowd and this is at the top of my to-visit list.

Super Good Organic Deal: Sale on Organically Grown Sauvignon Blanc

At the recent all Mendo winery tasting event, the Taste of Mendocino, Elizabeth Spencer's Sauvignon Blanc was my favorite wine of the evening.

And now it's on sale!

15 bottles for $240 - and free shipping...so that works out to be about $16 a bottle. It's all sourced from grower Norma Gibson, whose photo I posted from the event.

To order, or see Spencer's tasting notes, click here.

Tasting with Grower Norma Gibson At "A Taste of Mendocino"

Norma Gibson with the
Elizabeth Spencer 2010 Sauvignon Blanc
made from Nora's grapes

Elizabeth Spencer Wines, a Rutherford based winery housed in a historic brick building (that once was the local post office) participated in the Taste of Mendocino event at Fort Mason yesterday, showcasing three wines sourced from Mendocino vineyards. All three are made with organic grapes and vinified in an organic winery, enabling them to state "Made with Organic Grapes" on the label.

It was a rare pleasure indeed to taste the Sauvignon Blanc with the wine grape grower Norma Gibson herself pouring the wine. I look forward to the day when all vineyards get their names on the bottle - and when more tastings include the growers.

Nora's vineyards are just north of the Buddhist temple in Talmage, near Ukiah. She also raises other varietals which are sold to other wineries.

The Elizabeth Spencer Petite Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon come from other Mendo vineyards.

Both Napa and Mendocino county each have 4,000+ acres of wine grapes that are certified organic.

Perusing the Supermarket Aisle OR Why You Should Join a Wine Club

You know the feeling - it's 4 pm or 5 or 7 or 9 pm (or whatever) and you've got to run to the store to pick up something for dinner and you think you just might take a little amble down the wine aisle, just to see, if, perhaps, perchance, some miracle has occurred and there's more to choose from than 50 kinds of Gallo (labeled Barefoot, or whatever) or something more than Mondavi Woodbridge or something else you might even later be ashamed to cook with. All that lies before you at every single level of shelving is a vote with your dollars for a huge corporation that practices total monoculture, uses pesticides, isn't known to take good care of field workers, uses precious water resources to grow crops where they normally wouldn't grow, and denudes the landscape of any remaining biodiversity.

Aside from this bleak set of hundreds of "choices," there may be the occasional Italian Pinot Grigio or other European import (organic status unknown but unlikely to be organic in any way) in a heavy glass bottle that traveled on a ship halfway around the globe to arrive at your neighborhood market.

Is it time to consider stocking up on a supply of good "house wine"? Join a local wine club from an organic and biodynamic winery and you can drink fabulously well for as little as $12 a bottle.

Keeping it simple, here are two wine club suggestions to get you started: Yorkville Cellars (all organic) and Ceago (all biodynamic). Both feature nothing but organic or biodynamic wines so there's no confusion over which bottle to get. Both have been in business for 20 years or more and both are unlikely to be found on your supermarket's shelves (alas). So just go direct.

I visited both this weekend and I have to say you can't go wrong with the full lineup of either of these wineries. Both are set amidst landscapes of biodiversity in exceptionally scenic spots, too, so you could definitely skip the shipping by visiting and buying in person.

Best of all, prices are a steal for wine club members.

Yorkville Cellars


• Located at the southern end of Anderson Valley
• Run by an English woman and her American husband (they both lived in France and their brand is heavily oriented to Bordeaux, er, Aquitaine, one and the same place, the latter name being the one the English gave to the area when they ruled it).
• Hillside and flatland vineyards
• 100% organically grown; CCOF certified since 1986


Yorkville Cellars Wine Club: 3 bottles per quarter. About $60 to $75 per shipment, including shipping and applicable sales taxes. Annual costs = $180-225 at the minimum wine club level. 20% off on all wines for the case a year club; 30% for case a quarter members.

So for the same price that you would spend on a stupid supermarket wine (if you succumbed), you could get (all prices at the 30% off price):

• A Sauvignon Blanc raised on a beautiful hillside surrounded by biodiversity, birds, wild grasses, and trees for $12.60
• A Rose (just in time for summer) of Cabernet Franc (unique) for $12.60
• A Cabernet Sauvignon rated as a Best Buy by Wine & Spirits magazine for $19.60
• A Bordeaux blend of all six noble grapes (called Richard the Lion Heart) for $26.60.
• List of all wines here

They also make a lovely white Graves blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc called Eleanor of Aquitaine.

While I am not in love with the way Yorkshire Cellars markets its wines (the list of awards on its web site is not my cuppa), just get beyond the web site and marketing and get your nose into a glass of their wine.

I do like the product - see if you do, too.

Ceago


• Located in Lake County in the small lakefront town of Nice (Route 20)

• A gorgeous Spanish style estate with scenic grounds and lakefront boat dock

• Elegant tasting area with umbrellas in a picture perfect courtyard

• Vineyards in Mendocino and Lake County

• Started and run by Jim Fetzer in 1993

• Demeter (biodynamic) certified since 1996

Ceago Wine Club: 4 bottles three times a year. About $115 per shipment, all inclusive. Annual costs = $345 at the minimum wine club level. 20% off on all wines for all wine club members.

While Ceago's wines are priced very reasonably without any discounts, but with a club membership you could get (all prices at the 20% off price):

• A Sauvignon Blanc from Kathleen's Vineyard (named for Jim Fetzer's famous mom) for $12.80 (it was on special at the winery this week for an additional 10% off)
• A lovely Lake County Chardonnay for $12.80
• A Muscat Canelli (a little on the sweet side) rated People's Choice in Lake County for $12.80
• A Syrah for $20.60
• A white dessert wine (I'm a sucker for a biodynamic dessert wine, of which there are very few) of late harvest Semillon for $17.60
• List of all wines here

All this - and these wineries are farming at the highest levels of viticultural practices, with experienced hands in the cellars, and exuding natural goodness - all without pesticides, herbicides, or other odious practices - and in settings of lush biodiversity and surrounding intact landscapes. Not to mention the wines' myriad beautiful flavors.

So tonight - don't go for the Italian Pinot Grigio at the supermarket. Get online (or in the car) and toodle over to these web sites to check out the wares and order yourself up some house wine that properly honors the grapes and the land on which they were grown. At everyday prices.