Yorkville Cellars: Vertical Cab Tasting Saturday May 18

Yorkville Cellars, just south of Anderson Valley in Mendocino, will be holding a vertical tasting of its Cabernets this Saturday from noon to 4 pm at the winery.

It's a beautiful site and picnicking is available in the shade of a lovely tree outside the tasting room.

Details here (scroll down to the events section on that link).

Dessert Wine for Your Valentine - Part 1

Got dessert wine? I've just returned from Europe where they are so much more common, and am trying to get into thinking about them as part of a meal once a week.

Surprisingly, there are quite of few of them out there from the organic vintners. Here are some of my favorites:

1. For the Lover Who Likes Pretty Labels with Grapes 
*Frey Vineyards - Late Harvest Zinfandel ($24)

I don't write that much about Frey Vineyards' wine as they are no added sulfite, a category that is not of very much interest to me as the wines can be unstable. On the other hand, when it comes to dessert wines (where stability is not such an issue), Frey Vineyards has a lovely Late Harvest Zinfandel that is a sweet dessert wine.

It's grown in beautiful Redwood Valley (Mendocino County).

It comes in an elegant bottle and I think any Valentine would be happy to receive this along with some chocolate.







2. For the Lover Who Likes Strange Bottle Art
Bonny Doon - Vinferno ($20/$216)

Zinferno is a white dessert wine from Bonny Doon's biodynamic vineyards in Arroyo Seco. Made from grenache blanc and roussanne (two white Rhone varietals) it's certified biodynamic.











3. For the Lover Who Has Everything or For the Wine Geek
Wilridge Winery Estate Vintage Dessert Red ($20/$216)




For something really different, varietal wise, turn to Northwest producer Wilridge for a port made from Portuguese varietals Zweigeist, Tourega Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Cao and Souzao.









4. Ceago Soul of Syrah Port ($28)

This is a combination of Syrah, Colombard, and Viognier from a biodynamic vintner in Lake County who is one of the Fetzer clan.

Ceago sits on the shores of Clear Lake. It's a beautiful destination winery with a gorgeous tasting area, beautiful estate, and stunning lakeside views - well worth a visit.

They used to also have a Late Harvest Semillon dessert wine but I couldn't find it any more.

5. Yorkville Cellars Sweet Malbec ($22)

This was invented in Mendocino by this iconoclastic, wonderful winery where they grow all seven of the noble varieties of Bordeaux, including Malbec, and sell them as Bordeaux blends but also as single varietals, so you can get to know each one.

This is a semi sweet effervescent rose and should be served chilled. (Personally I think it's sweet.) Previous vintages won Double Gold at the Mendocino Wine Competition.

6. Bonterra Muscat ($14)

Mendo organic powerhouse Bonterra makes a pretty sweet Muscat which can serve as an aperitif or with dessert. It's not a dessert wine per se, so it's not in the "contemplation wine" category, but it is a sweet way to end a meal.

*7. McFadden Vineyard is coming out with a new dessert wine this year - a late harvest Riesling which did very well at the SF Chronicle Competition, getting Best in Class last month. I'll post more about it when I receive a bottle (coming soon). If you want to go ahead and order it yourself, get in touch with McFadden Vineyards where John Cesano will get you all connected.

* = Pam's picks

The Real Wine Crush: 2013 SF Chronicle Public Wine Tasting (Feb. 16)

The annual, largest wine tasting of American wine in the country takes place Sunday, Feb. 16 in San Francisco at Fort Mason.

If you'd like to try some of the 5,500 wines entered, this is your chance.

Tickets are $70 in advance or $85 at the door. Food tibits from top chefs are also part of the scene and are included with your ticket. Details here.

Note this is not as prestigious an award as it may sound, since many, many top wineries choose not to participate. However among those who enter, there are some who truly are high quality.

The organic wineries taking best in class this year include:

• Yorkville Cellars for its Bordeaux blend

• Lucas Winery for its Chardonnay - this was a hotly contested category

• McFadden Vineyards for its new Dessert Riesling (I look forward to trying it; it hasn't hit the market yet) which was a category with surprisingly stiff competition

McFadden also scored a Double Gold for their 2011 Chardonnay - most impressive.

Congratulations to these winners!

Mendo Wine Winners: Listed By Varietal

REDS

Bordeaux Blend (2)
Bonterra's flagship wine over the new/old Testa, which has been growing for decades, but bottling under their own name only recently.
Double Gold
Bonterra McNab, 2006
Bronze
Testa, Black (blend with Cabernet)

Cabernet Sauvignon (4)
Gold
Paul Dolan, 2010
Bronze
Barra, 2009
Bonterra, 2010
Terra Savia, 2009

Carignane (2)
This is an impressive debut for Testa's Carignane.
Double Gold
Testa, 2010
Bronze
Frey (NSA), NV

Charbono (1)
An old Italian varietal showcased.
Double Gold
Testa, 2010

Italian Varietals (2)
Chiarito's dry farmed, organic vineyard produced high quality deep flavors.
Double Gold
Chiarito, 2009 Nero D'Avola (not certified but organic)
Silver
Chiarito, 2009 Negramoro

Malbec (1)
A boutique, small production of 100% Malbec.
Silver
Saracina, 2010

Merlot (1)
Bronze
Bonterra, 2010

Petite Sirah (1)
Silver
Chiarito, 2009

Pinot Noir (8)
A surprising "Gold" for Girasole.
Double Gold
Handley - Anderson Valley (Estate), 2009
Gold
Girasole, 2010
Silver
Barra, 2009
Bonterra, 2010
Paul Dolan - Filigreen, 2007
Paul Dolan - Potter Valley, 2009
Bronze
McFadden, 2007
Naughty Boy, 2009

Red Blends (3)
Silver
Paul Dolan, Deep Red, 2008 (Petit Sirah, Primativo, Syrah, Grenache)
Bronze
Bonterra, The Butler, 2007 (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre)
Testa, Black, 2009

Rose (4)
Yorkville Cellars' rose is on the sweet side; the others are relatively dry.
Gold
Testa (Carignane), 2011
Silver
Barra, 2011
Naughty Boy, 2011
Yorkville Cellars, 2011

Zinfandel (3)
It's surprising that Zins haven't done better in Mendo.
Silver
Bonterra, 2009
Patianna, 2009
Paul Dolan, 2010

WHITES

Chardonnay (7)
More surprises - Bonterra's takes the top spot; and McFadden takes a silver, as high as benchmark Chardonnay producer Handley.
Double Gold
Bonterra, 2010
Silver
Barra, 2010
Frey, 2010
Handley Cellars, 2010
McFadden, 2010
Bronze
Girasole, 2010
Paul Dolan, 2010

Gewurztraminer (1)
Silver
McFadden, 2009

Muscat (1)
Warning: This one's way too sweet for my taste. (Girasole's sister wine, Barra, has a muscat that is better.)
Silver
Girasole, 2011

Pinot Blanc (1)
A notable achievement.
Gold
Girasole, 2010

Pinot Gris (1) 
Silver
McFadden, 2011

Riesling (1)
Silver
McFadden, 2010

Sauvignon Blanc (6)
All three top winners are very different - you might enjoy a taste-off comparison tasting.
Gold
Patianna, 2010
Paul Dolan, 2011
Saracina, 2011
Silver
Bink, 2011
McFadden, 2009
Yorkville Cellars, 2011

Viognier (2)
The Bonterra is a personal favorite of mine - particularly in the summer.
Gold
Bonterra
Bronze
Campovida

Sparkling (2)
My favorite go to sparkling wine is the McFadden, of course. (I have never seen the Patianna for sale anywhere, but would like to try it.)
Double Gold
McFadden Brut (NV)
Silver
Patianna, 2008

$18 Bottle Sale - Yorkville Cellars (Secret Website)

Yorkville Cellars is celebrating its 18th birthday on April 18. You can celebrate with $18 a bottle wine now through April 18.

Or get the assortment of 6 bottles for $108 - $67 off.

You'll save more than $10 a bottle, including on shipping.

Check out the secret url here.

Better Than Black Friday - Half Price Sale at Yorkville Cellars through 12/5!!

You can't go wrong with wine for holiday gifting (not to mention celebrating) and wineries where every single wine is organically grown make shopping super simple - and that would be a good thing.

That's why the Half Price sale at Yorkville Cellars promises to be a great way to buy wine - to celebrate the end of Prohibition, which took place on Dec. 5, the winery is offering half off on wines purchased online through 12/5. By entering the code "nomorepro", all prices will be halved when you check out.

If you prefer not to use the internet, you may purchase wine at the winery or over the phone on Dec. 5 only.

This bit of Bordelais in California is the only winery that grows all six of the red noble grapes of Bordeaux - (pictured above) - both in blended form and as single varietals. That sounds like a great gift - something truly unique - for the wine lovers in your life.

The winery's owners lived in Bordeaux and when they got into the wine world in Mendocino decided to bring Bordeaux's traditions along with them in the New World. The winery is located at the very southern end of Anderson Valley, just north of Cloverdale.

Twenty five years later, their winery is one of the few that offers only organically grown wines, a trend that's worth repeating, and the kind of wineries we like to see.

Mendocino Wine Competition - Organic Winners! (Gold and Double Gold)

Mendocino's annual wine competition was held last week with a distinguished panel of judges including: Linda Murphy, wine editor for the SF Chronicle, Virginie Boone, Dan Berger, Peggie Christiansen, wine buyer for Whole Foods, and many others.

The organically grown contenders made a very strong showing in the pack of all the wines, winning a number of double golds and golds in addition to the silver and bronze categories.

Here's a list of all the winners on the competition web site. My own list of the organic-only double gold and gold winners is below.

DOUBLE GOLD


Cabernet Sauvignon
Paul Dolan, $25

Where else can you find a double gold Cab for $25? Only in Mendocino. Paul Dolan is such an industry veteran. It's nice to find quality and value together in the same bottle - and at this price. One more reason to pay a lot of attention to Mendocino's wines.

GOLDS

SPARKLING

• Terra Savia Blanc de Blanc, $23

[TIED with French powerhouse Roederer Estate]

This is nothing short of astonishing.

Last year, another "local yokel" (I exaggerate), McFadden Vineyard (a 3,000-case winery) TIED the multimillion-dollar, French-owned Roederer Estate (100,000 cases a year) in the  sparkling wine category. This year humble McFadden scored a silver (more on that in a later post).

I have thought for awhile that Terra Savia's sparkler was hot (in previous posts) but this confirms it. Being tied with French giant Roederer must really be something for Terra Savia's Jim Milone to celebrate.

WHITES

• Blended White
Atrea The Choir, $20

This wine, on a number of top tier restaurant wine lists, keeps proving itself over and over to be a great bargain. It's a white Rhone blend. And affordable!
• Sauvignon Blanc
Patianna, $15.99

Year after year, Patianna keeps getting critical acclaim for their SB. This year is no exception. Hmmm...wonder what they are doing right over there? Is it the vineyard? The winemaking? Or both? Also, nice to see another affordable wine top the list.

REDS

• Blended Red

Testa Black, $20

Paul Dolan - Deep Red, $45

Atrea Old Soul Red, $25

The Testa win here is a surprising and exciting story. This little newcomer, ranking right up there with the likes of veterans Paul Dolan and John Fetzer (Atrea)? A real human interest story there. (You've heard about Testa's story in previous posts here...)

• Cabernet Sauvignon
Barra of Mendocino (2004), $42

Barra put its best foot forward and got the recognition it deserves. This was Charlie Barra's 59th Harvest wine.

• Petite Syrah

Frey Wines, $14 (Sulfite free)

Frey took the gold last year in this category, so they must be doing something right, too, to win gold year over year on this wine.

• Pinot Noir
Masut, $40

Already a heavyweight winner in several other competitions, it's nice to see this wine getting local recognition in a region where there are more than a few powerhouses in Pinot. There were nine Pinot Noir golds this year. Masut was the only organic one. In fact, this is not only organic, but also biodynamic.

• Italian Reds

Chiarito Nero d'Avola, $32 (not CCOF but practicing organic)

I have to say this is one of my personal favorite wines. Join the wine club and get it for $25 a bottle! It's also on some prestigious restaurants' wine lists.


DESSERT

• Yorkville Cellars Sweet Malbec, $22

Yorkville Cellars won a number of silvers and bronzes - but this one took the gold. It was a one-off experiment of a wine, since this is a pretty unusual sweet wine to make. See more about it in this video.

I will post the silver and bronze winners in a separate post.

I just, for reference, checked the Sonoma Wine Competition winners from 2010 to get a feeling for how many organically grown wines were entered and won. One gets the feeling in reviewing the lists of winners in Sonoma that many of the best wineries do not participate in the county competition and are not represented. Only about 1-2 percent of the winners are from organic wineries, mostly Imagery with the occasional wine from Hawley or Michel-Schlumberger.

As for Napa, I searched online for a Napa wine competition, but didn't find one. Does one exist? If you know, let me know.

The Mendocino County Competition appears to have broader participation among the region's wineries, which makes these winners all the more outstanding in their field.

Photos from a Taste of Mendo: 19 Wineries with Organically Grown Wines Participated

It was a warm, breezy evening when hundreds filled Fort Mason to taste wines from Mendocino's three main areas: Ukiah/Hopland, Redwood Valley and Anderson Valley. More than 19 wineries offering organically grown wines participated.

Here are some photo highlights of the event.

It was a warm summery evening...

The exhibit hall was broken down into geographical
sections with Hopland/Ukiah in the front, Anderson Valley
on the left, and Redwood/Potter Valley in the back

Only a small map up high by the bathrooms
gave visitors an overview of the region
and its wineries; it would be nice to see
something more elaborate in future events

Here's the Ukiah Hopland section; there was no labeling for organic producers

Parducci poured

Fetzer poured a number of its wines, including its Coro

Paul Dolan booth

Yorkville Cellars is one of the few organic wineries in Anderson Valley
I was glad to meet the owners after visiting last month

Guinness McFadden (in the turquoise shirt) was on hand to pour
McFadden Wines; many of his organically grown grapes also
go into prestigious wines from Napa's Paris-tasting winner
Chateau Montelena and other wineries

Martha Barra of Barra and Girasole, affordably priced wines 

I finally got a chance to meet Maria Testa of Testa Wines; she makes
a natural, organic "Black" wine, which is 89% Cabernet ($20)

The event is great for bringing together all of Mendo's producers in one hall - a chance you won't find if you visit the region. However if you do want to visit the region, next weekend would be a good time to visit - it's the annual Taste of Redwood Valley, when 9 participating wineries open their doors. One fee gets you a two day pass in to see all of them. More than half are organic and some (small premium Cab producer Oster) open their doors only for visits on this day.

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.