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[Order before Nov 15th to receive before Thanksgiving!]
Nov 6, 2009 at 9:11 AM
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Be the first to comment on this postSweet as pie...
Problem: Thanksgiving is just around the corner and you haven't a clue how you will ‘dress up' your stuffing recipe this year, let alone what wines you should pair with the biggest feast of the year.
Solution: Cuvaison has an offer as sweet as pie, perfect for any spread that will not disappoint those discriminating palates at your table.
Pair your Thanksgiving feast with this exclusive lineup:
2008 Vin Gris of Pinot Noir
2007 ATS Chardonnay
2007 Pinot Noir Robert Nicol Vineyard
2006 Espiritu Dessert Wine
These 4 wines are offered at $100
or mix and match for your perfect pairing and save 25%!
Offer Ends Friday, October 30th!
Life as a Pinot Grape (Part 2)!
Watch this 1 min video for the part 2 of Life as a Pinot Grape!
Life as a Pinot Grape (Part 1)!
What happens to a pinot grape after it is picked you ask?
Watch this video for the answer!
Wine Notes for the September Club Sampler
2008 Sauvignon Blanc
From a single small parcel planted to the renowned “Musque” selection of Sauvignon Blanc, our Estate SB is a distinct expression of Carneros. The cool climate and limiting soils that typify Carneros temper the natural vigor of Sauvignon and produce intense flavors of honeydew, lichi, kiwi and lime. Chilled by morning fogs and buffeted by afternoon breezes the skins thicken and the berries concentrate producing a richly scented and densely packed SB. Tank fermented and sur lies aged, this wine is bottled shortly after harvest, without malo-lactic fermentation, to fully capture its aromatic intensity and bright acidity.
2008 Pinot Noir Carneros
An unusually cool spring gave way to a gorgeous Summer in ’08, with an even, temperate growing season. Crop size was quite small and when the heat finally did arrive, it got things jumping in the winery in a hurry as we rushed to pick the Pinot Noir before dehydration could set in. Once in the fermentation vats the pure fruit and lush flavors quickly began to reveal themselves. A classic Carneros Pinot, the 2008 is brimming with fresh berry and strawberry fruit, while the general coolness of the season is revealed in the intriguing lime and orange zest notes lurking in the background. Texturally the wine is quite focused with fine, firm acidity giving away to supple tannins and sappy fruit. This wine should drink beautifully over the next 3 to 8 years.
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Mount Veeder
Deep hued tones of mocha, coffee and boysenberry jam leap from the glass. The touch of Malbec intensifies the fruity/floral aroma as the wine warms your taste buds and the silky, plush tannins coat your mouth. The forbidding slopes and free-draining soils have done their work, concentrating the fruit and focusing the tannin of this mountain grown Cabernet. It showcases the best of Mount Veeder, dense, jammy fruit backed by fresh acidity and epic tannins.
Club members....Re-order any sampler wine at 25% savings
with the promo code: Sampler
Harvest 2009, Carnac predicts…
One of the occupational hazards of winemaking is being asked, repeatedly, what the vintage is like before it even happens. It’s like a college freshmen pretending to know what he’ll major in…hmmm, Electrical Engineering, only to matriculate with a degree in Abnormal Psychology 6 years later.
So, like Carnac I’ll try and get straight to your most burning questions:
Answer : When they are ready.
Question: When will you start picking the grapes?
A view of our 2009 Pinot noir, clone 115. The fruit has finally colored up and is uniformly dark, always a promising sign…
Actually, the other super cool omen that harvest is about to begin…
I snapped this photo of a Red Tail hawk diving through the Pinot this foggy morning and it reminded me of the other Red Tail that signals harvest…
Yes, it takes a lot of good beer to make good wine and this morning’s sighting of the Hawk foretells a pending harvest of excellent quality. The sparkling wine makers have begun pulling in the first loads of fruit, which typically start about two to three weeks before we get going. Pinot noir is coming on fast and we could start pulling that in as early as the 8th of September, though I suspect most of it will be the week or so after. Chardonnay will start in earnest the week after that and continue through most of October.
Of more interest will be the Brandlin harvest on Mount Veeder. Given the relatively cool growing season we would expect the Cabs off the mountain to be quite late, but some years, when the cool air settles into the valley at night, it stays warmer up in the hills and the vines push through a bit earlier. As I follow the weather forecasts, like a hawk (sorry, couldn’t resist), the early trends seem to be favoring this phenomenon, which could put the Cab fast on the heels of our Pinot Noir.
Next week the harvest interns start arriving from the four corners of the earth to scrub and polish the winery in preparation for harvest! I will be keeping you all updated via our amazing new blogosphere with even better photos then can be had from my cell phone…
Go Big Red!
Need to score some great wine for the next big game?
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Try our ’05 Merlot, ’07 Diablo Syrah, ’06 Zinfandel Bald Mountain, & ’06 Block F5 Pinot Noir! They are all 25% off any 4 bottles, 30% off any 8 bottles, or 35% off any 12 bottles! |
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The Perfect Pairing with Chardonnay!
Looking for something to pair with your Cuvaison Chardonnay? Try this Poached Salmon with Caper-Butter Sauce recipe, and let us know how it turned out!
Poached Salmon with Caper-Butter Sauce
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 medium shallots, very finely chopped
- 2 ¼ cups dry white wine
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 cups water
- Four 6- to 7-ounce skinless salmon fillets
- 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
- In a small skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the shallots and cook over low heat until softened, about 4 minutes. Add 1¾ cup of the wine and boil over high heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 7 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderate. Remove the skillet from the heat and whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, occasionally moving the pan back to the burner to keep the sauce very warm. Stir in the capers and season with salt and pepper.
- In a large skillet, combine the water with the remaining ½ cup of wine and bring to a boil. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper and add them to the skillet. Simmer very gently over low heat, turning once, until just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.
- When the salmon is almost done, gently reheat the butter sauce over moderate heat, whisking constantly just until hot; do not let it boil. Spread the shredded lettuce on plates. Using a slotted spatula, remove the salmon fillets from the skillet and quickly pat them dry with a paper towel, then set them on the lettuce. Pour the caper-butter sauce over the salmon fillets and serve.
Feature in Food & Wine Magazine
Pull out the July edition of Food & Wine magazine and look for a feature on Cuvaison’s 2007 Chardonnay, Carneros! If you don’t have the magazine in front of you, here is what Food & Wine’s expert panel had to say about our 07 Chardonnay.
The special offer ends on our 07 Chardonnay this Friday! >>
| In the Carneros region, characterized by a morning fog that keeps grapes from quickly heating up and afternoon breezes that lower leaf temperature and dry the morning dew, this cool- climate wine delivers clean and balanced flavors with pronounced fruit nuances. Light lemon curd aromas and a crisp citrus flavor produce a bright and penetrating acidity that elevates this wine from Chardonnay mediocrity. - Anthony Giglio |
| A lot of California wines billed as cool-climate styles don’t really deliver on that promise, coming off hot, fat and tropical regardless of their source vineyards. Not so with this clean, balanced, Carneros-grown bottling, which skews toward the citrus end of the vast Chardonnay flavor spectrum. Its aromas of lemon curd are bright and penetrating, as is the acidity, which really distinguishes this wine from the mass of flabby, buttery styles out there. – David Lynch |
| This sustainably made wine and solar powered winery will turn anyone into an earth-loving hippie. Cuvaison was one of the early pioneers in this cool climate corner of Napa Valley, planting its first grapes there in 1979. The ripe, peachy and flowery nose gives way to a medium-bodied and good textured wine. Juicy, frosty acidity holds it together. A wonderfully light summer wine that’s perfect to pair with a white- fleshed fish, such as cod or halibut. – Daniel Johnnes |
To read more about the expert panel go to: http://www.foodandwine.com/promo/classicwines/
Great Reviews on Chardonnay!
We've just recently learned of some great ratings on our Chardonnay!
Look for our 2007 Chardonnay Carneros in the August issue of Wine Enthusiast Magazine, 92 points and an Editors Choice rating. The August issue of Wine & Spirits Magazine will also give our ’07 Chardonnay 92 points and a Best Buy rating: “Slice a late summer Bosc pear over puff pastry and bake it, the tart will taste a lot like the scents and flavors of this chardonnay. Though tightly built, the wine broadens into the finish, refreshed by a bristle of acidity. Decant it for roast veal with chanterelles.” Yet another reason to Chill Out with Chardonnay!