2014 Amador Cellars “Farmhouse Red” ($27)
Amador Cellars, located in Plymouth California (Amador County) is truly a family-run winery. It showcases Mediterranean wines, Tuscan architecture and a friendly tasting room staff that includes the family. The winery produces estate-grown Zinfandel and Italian, Spanish and Rhone Valley varietals.
It was the Amador Cellars Barbera that was my “Ah ha” moment several years ago.
This Farmhouse Red is yet another outstanding wine from Amador Cellars. I purchased this bottle during my 2018 visit to the winery where I got to meet the Long family, including owners Larry and Linda.
The Farmhouse Red is a blend of 53% Zinfandel, 20% Petite Sirah, 20% Barbera and 7% Aglianico. It’s medium ruby in color. On the nose it has great aromas including red fruit, black cherry and oak. On the palate it got great depth and wonderful complexity, moderate tannin and a very nice finish.
Every bottle that I’ve had from Amador Cellars is a winner and this is no exception - a worthy Behind the Cork™ Exceptional Wine. If you are in Amador County California, definitely stop by and visit them and check out all their great wines on https://amadorcellars.com
Cheers!
2013 Barton Family Wines “The Dance” Red Blend ($50)
The Barton Family Wines is located in Paso Robles, California and Joe Barton is the Proprietor of “The Dance” red blend. He makes this wine in remembrance of Joseph Barton Sr., his father.
In 1994, the Barton Family established Grey Wolf Cellars with sights of running a boutique, craft winery focusing on small lot, high quality wines. Winemaker, Joe Barton has been doing just that ever since. Keeping with tradition, the Grey Wolf wines still entail small lot, creatively blended wines made from high quality grapes grown locally. In 2011 Joe released two new and exciting brands. One being the Barton label which entails a line of white wines and reserve reds. Joe's philosophy with the Barton brand is clean, dry, acidic and floral whites and best of the best red wines.
And “The Dance” is certainly in the ‘best of the best’ category. From Happy Canyon of Santa Barbera, this blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Malbec is outstanding. With only seven barrels being made, this is certainly ‘small lot.’
“The Dance” is medium ruby in color, with notes of plum and black currant and just a hint of oak. On the palate this one has great bold flavors, depth of character and wonderful complexity. Its tannins are soft and the finish is long and smooth.
This one’s a real winner and well worth being called a Behind the Cork™ Exceptional Wine.
If you are in Paso Robles, stop by and visit Barton Family Wines and Grey Wolf Cellars. Or check out their line of fine wines at www.bartonfamilywines.com
Cheers!
2016 Rockpile Winery Zinfandel ($47)
This Rockpile Zinfandel is produced by Mauritson wines in Heldsburg CA.
The Rockpile Ridge Vineyard is located at nearly 1,200 feet in elevation in the Rockpile appellation. This vineyard has sweeping sun exposures from southeast to northwest and consists of nine distinctly different blocks of Zinfandel. The blocks are harvested at different times and fermented separately to ensure the integrity and uniqueness of the individual blocks. The winery’s notes state “Working with the different sun exposures, soil compositions, slopes and drainages is a winemaking dream come true.”
This Rockpile Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel gets a bit of a boost from the addition of 5% Petite Sirah.
It’s pale ruby in color with aromas of blue berry, blackberry and boysenberry jam. It’s easy on the palate with soft tannin and a light, peppery finish. This is truly an outstanding wine that deserves to be included in the Behind the Cork™ “Exceptional Wines” feature.
Checkout all the Mauriton Family wines on www.mauritsonwines.com or visit the Mauritson Family Winery at 2859 Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg California. Cheers!
2014 Vines on the Marycrest Mourvèdre ($40)
Vines on the Marycrest is located on 26 acres of steep hills in the Adelaida district of westside Paso Robles in California. Originally their land was an almond orchard with some old Zinfandel vines. It is now planted with Zinfandel, Tempranillo, and Rhône varieties such as Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Viognier. All these do extremely well in the Paso Robles area.
The westside of Paso Robles experiences hot, summer days with cool nights due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean. This large temperature difference, called a diurnal shift, along with the rocky, limestone soils is perfect for growing wine grapes.
This Vines on the Marycrest Mourvèdre is produced from 100% Mourvèdre grapes. On the nose you get nice aromas of cherry and plum with a bit of earthiness. On the palate you get a wonderfully smooth wine with candied cherry, raspberry, dried fig and fresh violets. It has bright acidity and an easy finish.
Check out the wines of Vines on the Marycrest on https://vinesonthemarycrest.com/ or visit them in Paso Robles. Cheers!
2015 Derange ($100)
I was familiar with The Prisoner Wine Company and the amazing works of Dave Phinney but had not heard of the Derange Red Blend. And, maybe that was a good thing. Because when I opened this bottle I had no idea what I was getting into. And, wow, was I in for something very special!
But then I realized that Dave Phinney is no longer involved with the Prisoner that made him famous. The Prisoner is now the property of beverage giant Constellation Brands. Nonetheless, this is an amazing wine.
This Derange Red Blend is composed of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Merlot, Syrah and Zinfandel (proportions are not listed in their on-line tasting notes).
The fruit was pumped over twice per day to extract maximum color with balanced tannins. After 15–25 days on skins, the grapes were pressed off, keeping any hard press separate. The new wines were barreled down into French oak (50% new) where they went through 100% Malolactic conversion and then were aged for 18 months.
This red blend is chock full of black cherry, clove spice, blackberry cobbler, and vanilla toast. The mouthfeel is full-bodied but the ultra-soft tannins and balanced acidity are simply an amazingly delicious combination!
This truly a great one! Cheers!