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HALL Wines

Hall Wines
Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon and HALL T Bar T Ranch Sauvignon Blanc. Click here for tasting notes. 

HALL Wines

Kathryn Walt Hall has a most impressive curriculum vitae. To touch on just a few of the high points, she is the proprietor of HALL Wines and WALT Wines [family businesses she has been involved with for over thirty years], was assistant city attorney in Berkeley, California, worked as an attorney and businesswoman in Dallas, Texas, and has served on numerous non-profit and institutional boards, with an emphasis on issues related to social care and mental health. From 1997 to July 2001, Ms. Hall served as the United States Ambassador to Austria. In the midst of this, together with her husband Craig she has raised four children.

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Partida Tequila

Partida Tequila

Partida Tequila is one of only a few remaining authentic estate-produced and estate-bottled tequilas, made in the heart of Mexico’s historic Tequila region.

Partida uses only 100% pure blue agave, which is far less common than many realize. The agave plants see seven to ten years from seedling to harvest, so that they mature fully. (Some tequila brands are content with half that time.) After the agave is slow-cooked, the resulting liquid is distilled twice.

Partida Blanco goes directly to the bottle from the still. It features aromas of grilled pineapple and plums. The taste continues with pineapple, plus toasted coconut and black pepper.  It inishes with agave and fresh herbs.

Partida Reposado is aged for six months, making for a pale golden color and a taste with hints of spicy oak and vanilla. The medium body has cocoa and dried cherry notes. Finishes with a long mineral fade. Great vitality and balance, and my favorite of the three.

Partida Añejo sees 18 months in barrel (rare even among premium brands). It is golden amber in color, with aromas of almonds, dried cherries, and spices. The dryish medium body delivers soft honey, delicate herbs, cocoa, and clove. Finishes with a touch of wood and toffee.

For the extremely well-heeled, Partida Elegante Extra Anejo is also available.

It would be criminal to slam any of these tequilas as shots (although you can do that if you insist). Savoring them in a brandy snifter would be far more appropriate. Arriba! Andalay!

www.partidatequila.com

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Sanford Winery

Sanford Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Sanford Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Click here for tasting notes.

Sanford Winery 

Sanford, the first winery in Santa Barbara wine country, was established when the Sanford & Benedict vineyard was planted in 1971. Botanist Michael Benedict and his friend Richard Sanford were committed to finding a cool-climate location with just enough heat accumulation to ripen, but not over ripen, wine grapes. A place where they could plant and grow grapes and craft wines, where they hoped the quality might equal the best of Europe.

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Dry Creek Vineyard

Dry Creek Vineyard

Dry Creek Vineyard

Dry Creek Vineyard was the first winery established in the Dry Creek Valley after Prohibition. It was founded in 1972 by David Stare, who came with an early vision to plant Sauvignon Blanc. Before his arrival, the valley was little more than a few family farms and prune orchards, but Stare was determined to start a winery inspired by those in the Loire Valley, which led to a viticultural reawakening in northern Sonoma County.

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Chateau Montelena

Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 and Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay 2008. Click here for tasting notes.
Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay. Click here for tasting notes.

Chateau Montelena

Steven Spurrier was an Englishman who once owned a wine shop in Paris that catered to the English-speaking expatriate community. In 1976, in order to drum up interest in his business, he hit upon the idea of holding a blind tasting pitting ten of France’s and California’s best producers against one another. He was able to enlist nine esteemed French wine experts as judges, among them Odette Kahn, editor of the influential Revue du Vin de France; and Christian Vannequé, sommelier of the three-star Parisian restaurant La Tour d’Argent. The French wines included the 1970 Haut-Brion, the 1970 Mouton Rothschild, and the 1973 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles.

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Bonterra Vineyards

Bonterra VineyardsBonterra Vineyards has been a pioneer in organic farming in California. The vines were planted in 1987, and the first wines were released in 1992, long before organic products were widely available in America. Bonterra believes that organic grapes produce the purest expressions of the varietals and land on which they are farmed.

Bonterra’s three estates (Blue Heron, McNab, and Butler) are certified Biodynamic® by Demeter, a not-for-profit with the mission of enabling successful farming in accordance with Biodynamic practices and principles.  These are simply to create and oversee a living organism which is self-contained, self-sustaining, and follows the cycles of nature. Biodynamic farming harkens back to how farms functioned centuries ago. It is a holistic view of agriculture with a high awareness of the interconnectivity among earth, plants, animals, humans, and even the moon.

There are nine Demeter-certified preparations made from herbs, minerals, and manures. These are applied to the soil and vineyards in very small doses to enhance soil fertility with increased micro-organism development and photosynthetic activity.

Yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettle, oak bark, dandelion, and valerian each play a role in strengthening, and in some cases remedying, weaknesses in the vineyards. Teas and tinctures are made from fresh or dried plants, and are sprayed to increase active regeneration on the farm.

In addition, animal “partners” play an essential role in the ecosystem. The vineyards provide chemical-free sanctuaries for bees, supported by native plants which bloom throughout the seasons. Chickens roam the rows, eating weeds and insects that can harm the vines. Their scratching and pecking aerate the soil and provide additional nutrients to the vines. December through March, around 2,000 sheep snack on the cover crops and weeds as they “landscape” the vineyards, adding beneficial fertilizer to the soil as they graze.

Bonterra  Mendocino Chardonnay 2014

This wine opens with a hint of crème brulee, followed by aromas of pineapple and citrusy lemon. The palate features flavors of green apples, pears, and citrus, supported by a clean minerality. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in previously-used or neutral oak in order for its fresh fruit characteristics to shine through. New oak was used for just 16% of the wine to provide a vanilla note.

Enjoy this best-buy wine with seared swordfish with avocado relish and roasted broccoli, or crunchy pecan chicken with lemon ginger sauce.

Bonterra  Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

This red is very much in the European style, with relatively subtle flavors of cherries and currants. Those are present on the nose as, well, with the addition of a bit of toasted oak. The wine finishes with astringent tannins and a lingering finish.

Serve this up with grilled chicken on rosemary skewers, lamb chops with juniper berry marinade, or sirloin tips Quasimodo.

www.bonterra.com/

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La Merika Wines

La Merika Wines
La Merika Cabernet Sauvignon and La Merika Chardonnay. Click here for tasting notes.

La Merika Wines

There is a theory among some historians that America was discovered by Europeans decades, or even centuries, before Christopher Columbus by a little-known explorer named Henry Sinclair, who may have been a member of the Knights Templar. In Templar symbology ‘Merika’ is a western star toward which their ships would sail, or mounted knights would ride. It is suggested that the name La Merika (The Star) is what led to the naming of the continent America, rather than after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer who is credited with describing the New World.

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Mike Ditka Wine

The Coach Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 and The Hall of Famer Chardonnay 2012
The Coach Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 and The Hall of Famer Chardonnay 2012. Click here for tasting notes.

Mike Ditka Wine

Sports fan or not, you perhaps  have heard of Mike Ditka, immortalized as Da Coach in the “Bill Swerski’s Chicago Superfans” sketches that were a staple of the 1991 – ‘92 season of Saturday Night Live. After a career as a Hall-of-Fame NFL player, and a Super Bowl Champion coach, Ditka went on to become a restaurateur (four locations), ESPN commentator, cigar purveyor, and celebrity spokesman.

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Lockwood Vineyard

Lockwood Monterey Chardonnay 2004 and Lockwood Monterey Merlot 2002,
Lockwood Monterey Chardonnay 2004 and Lockwood Monterey Merlot 2002, Click here for tasting notes.

Lockwood Vineyard

Lockwood was founded in 1989 by Paul Toeppen, Phil Johnson, and Butch Lindley as a single, contiguous, 1,850-acre vineyard (one of the largest premium estate vineyards in the world) located in southern Monterey County, not far from Monterey Bay. Lockwood exclusively produces “estate” wines. This means that all of their wines come from grapes grown in their own vineyards, and are then fermented, matured, and bottled at the winery on-site.

Nestled at the base of the Santa Lucia mountains, the vineyard soil consists of “shaly loam,” a well-drained, calcareous “chalk-rock” found in only two small areas of Central California. Because the soil has a low nutrient and mineral content, the vines must work hard for survival. In the hands of a skilled winemaker, this struggle of the vines can result in some of the best and most interesting wines.

Such a winemaker is Thane Knutson, who was born and raised on the plains of Oklahoma. He took a degree in International Business from the University of Oklahoma, while he made wine in his dorm room closet and worked in the cellar of a local winery in Slaughterville, Oklahoma.

Thane Knutson
Thane Knutson

After college, Knutson moved out to Napa Valley and interned at Cakebread Cellars.  He then spent two years at Hess Collection Winery as the laboratory technician before joining Raymond Vineyards just two weeks before current Lockwood Vineyard owner Jean-Charles Boisset made his entrance.  At Boisset Collection, Knutson was promoted from Laboratory Technician, to Enologist, and finally to Lockwood Winemaker.

Knutson’s experience with Hess and Raymond inspired his passion for cool weather varietals and innovative winemaking.

Lockwood Monterey Merlot 2002

Sideways notwithstanding, this wine shows that a well-made Merlot can be flavorful and satisfying. This one opens with aromas of strawberry, raspberry and cherry.  It features plenty of concentrated fruit supported by touches of  mint, spice, pepper, and soft tannins.  It is deep purple in color and has a moderately long finish.

Pair with not-too-spicy pork or poultry dishes.

Lockwood Monterey Chardonnay 2004

Looks can be deceiving; although very pale in the glass, this wine greets you with aromas of green apple, citrus, and mineral notes.  It is extremely well balanced on the palate, with flavors of honeysuckle and passion fruit. That hint of initial sweetness quickly yields to a firm acidity and a restrained French oak backbone.

lockwoodvineyard.com/

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Yatir Winery

Yatir Mt. Amasa White and Yatir Creek Red.
Yatir Mt. Amasa White and Yatir Creek Red. Click here for tasting notes.

Yatir Mt. Amasa White Blend 2017 and Yatir Creek Red Blend 2016

The Yatir region in the Judean Hills has produced grapes for winemaking since the ancient days of the Judean kingdom.  A large Jewish settlement existed in this region between the periods of the destruction of the Second Temple to the inception of the Islamic period.

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Amapola Creek Winery

Click here for tasting notes.

Amapola Creek Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay

After a legendary career of over 45 years toiling in the vineyards of Sonoma County, Richard Arrowood opened his final winery, Amapola Creek, in 2005. Amapola is Spanish for “poppy,” and the creek that bears the name runs through the estate. When in bloom, the golden poppies line the creek and offer a lovely sight with the vineyards and mountains in the background.

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