Winter Brings No Rest For The Weary…
02/07/2014
Our new lineup of Single Vineyard Pinot Noirs...
This first month of the New Year is definitely a busy time here at R2 Wine Company! It used to be that January was almost a sleeper month for winemakers. Aside from making sure those last lots from the just-past harvest were at long last done with fermentation, there wasn’t much else to do. When I was working at Punch Down Cellars and then again at Copain, January was known as “soccer month.”
Oh, my salad days.
Things have been pretty madcap around here this past month. Roger and I have been getting out to the market as much as possible to sell some wine, and thankfully, the reaction to the 2012 Black Pine has been tremendous. Countless places from Florida to California are now pouring our hard work by the glass! I won’t lie; it feels good to know other people like our handiwork as much as we do.
Single Vineyard Pinots Released
But every bit as impressive, but perhaps on a different level, I’m thrilled that our new 2012 single vineyard Pinot Noirs are now being released. I wrote about these wines in our year-end wine musing here.
Well, while it feels like just yesterday that we bottled those wines, even though it’s been six months now. Those initial bottling “jitters” are over, the wines have settled down and they taste great! So great in fact, that we’ve decided to set them free!
We’ve just sent them out to our R2 Wine Club, and while we recommend that people wait a little more time for these wines to develop, those who just couldn’t have already called to order more. For more information on our R2 Wine Club options, click here.
And so, on the heels of this initial offering to our wine club, we’re now set to release these wines to the general public. We’re going to get things started with a release party on Friday, February 7, at the R2 Wine Company tasting room in Sonoma. If you’re in this neck of the woods, please stop by and have a taste!
The Great White Rhones
While clearly all this talk about the 2012 Pinots has been at the forefront of my mind, one of the things I am really excited about this month traces its heritage from a place far away from Sonoma in southern France. This is our Grenache Blanc. We source ours from a great site in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County: The Camp 4 Vineyard. Two things have me excited about this wine. First, after a painstakingly slow fermentation, the 2013 Grenache Blanc finally finished fermentation this week. While still in barrel, the wine already tastes fantastic, just brimming with vibrancy and flavors of white pear and early season melon.
Second, the 2012 Grenache Blanc has been in bottle for six months now and is truly a special bottle. Roger declared it might be his favorite wine of the year, which is high praise indeed considering how much he loves the 2012 Pinots, especially the 2012 Sanford and Benedict!
With regards to both the 2012 and the 2013 Grenache Blanc, what excites me about both of these wines is the crisp minerality that runs right down the center palate like a knife’s edge. For those of you who might tend to shy away from new-world Rhone wines, I think our Camp 4 Grenache Blanc will change some minds.
Cheers!
Drew Huffine
Winemaker
Post By:
Drew Huffine