Joe's Unique Boutique Wines
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Like our last Rita’s Earth Chardonnay,
this wine has New and Old World elements. Last year I thought the
domineering side of the wine was its dead ripe, New World fruit. While
this year the wine’s aroma is still like a fusion of white pear and
apple, its Old World expression and fresh minerality, definitely takes
center stage with the fruit. Why the difference? My guess is that this
bottling has a bunch of fruit from, if you can believe this, Sanford &
Benedict. You don’t make Chardonnay from this revered Sta. Rita Hills
vineyard without picking up an uncanny essence of mineral. The flavors
again have that mildly creamy, sweet-tart apple character that wants to
be both racy and rich at the same time. But with a bit less malolactic
this year, the focus is more on the apple and less on the cream. I can tell you what my Dad will say about this wine. He will say, “This is the best Rita’s Earth bottling you’ve ever done.” (He says it every year.) And you know, this year he might just be right. Our Estate Chardonnay blended with Sanford & Benedict fruit makes a sublime wine; and you don’t always find 60 tons of Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay available at the end of the season because all of Sanford’s tanks are full. When you consider the fact that the other major contributor to this blend is Gainey’s Evans Ranch, from a Chardonnay standpoint, Rita’s Earth doesn’t get much more hallowed than this. It probably won’t ever happen again; certainly not at this price. |
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Bright golden color with yellow and emerald highlights. Huge aromas of ripe melons, peaches, minerals, nectarines, honey, white flowers, icing sugar and lime zest. Floral notes and hints of talc emerge as the wine opens. In the mouth the wine is unctuous and has a wonderful texture balanced by ripe acidity that leads to and supports an outstanding long clean finish. |
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As an aperitif - most seafood - clam chowder - oysters |
| Reds |
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Hewitson Ned & Henry Shiraz |
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Jezebel Rouge |
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The color is a highly extracted dark violet, bordering on black. The nose is full of briary fruit and a minerally spice. The mouthfeel is filled with rich flavors of black raspberry, vanilla spice, leather and an earthiness intermingling with an intriguing sense of white pepper. This is our biggest, baddest Syrah to date. A natural for lamb and pork dishes. |
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This fruit forward Cabernet has subtle complexity. The aroma is what one might expect is a great Cabernet. Cherry and berries bring a pleasant mid-mouth flavor finishing with a rich, balanced, soft texture supported by a backbone of tannin. The Cabernet has a great long, velvet finish. |
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This will be the third release
of our 815 Cabernet, named in honor of our oldest daughter
Lucy, born on August 15, 2003. We believe the 815 Cabernet
and Lucy share a few traits; continue to thrive each year,
sweet with bold overtones and always engaging! The cooler temperatures during the 2005 harvest allowed for longer hang time on the vines, producing well structured and classic cabernet wines. The blend is unique since we make the wines from diverse vineyard sites, including high elevation rocky soil vineyards that produce concentrated wines as well as Napa Valley floor vineyards that produce wines with elegance and finesse. The color is purple, ruby red, with aromas of blueberry, cassis and mocha. The entry on the palette is rich and fruit forward, with jammy flavors, good structure, acidity, and sweet balanced tannins that leave an elegant finish. |
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The wine has a beautiful reddish/purple color as most good Malbecs do. The aromas are a mix of fresh crushed cherries and toasty/smoky oak—just enough to frame the exuberant fruit. On the palate, the flavors of cherries and spice are obvious, and the jammy fruit quality just keeps coming on strong, with hints of spice lurking in the background. This is a wine that you’ll want to buy by the case because it can be consumed at almost any occasion, whether at a fancy dinner party, or just curled up on the couch in front of a movie. Fun and delicious—what more can you ask for?! |
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With a deep, positively inky color with purple/garnet tones, the 2004 Rabid Red offers broad, ripe aromas of baked cherry, clove spice, and dark chocolate. On the palate, it is full-blooded and resonant without harshness. Flavors range from ripe cherry and blueberry, to coffee bean, cocoa, cedar and anise. This is a wine that is equally at home with home barbeque fare as well as with more elaborate preparations of red meat, poultry, and game. |
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Both the Paso Robles and Lake County components were very extracted, and very dark in color. The Paso component contributed ripe fig and plum fruit with lots of mocha tones, while the Lake County component was more classic: cassis, graphite, cedar and tobacco. The Lodi and Stanislaus County components, though somewhat lighter in color, contributed broad, generous texture and foursquare cherry fruit. All components, except the Lodi, saw time in oak (100% American): Paso and Lake for 6 months, Stanislaus for 4. Enjoy this wine with any grilled or roasted red meat, poultry in light or dark sauces, feathered game and all but the strongest soft-ripened cheeses. |
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This dark and delicious wine is unusual for Merlot by being equal in quality to its sibling Cabernet. Let's face it most Merlots are the runts of the litter. Not this one! It is different in build but not in strength. There is a rich almost syrupy quality to this wine that makes it very appealing even unaccompanied by food. |