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theCompass mobile application is a winery, brewery, and distillery locator for North America. |
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Shannon Ridge Winery
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We both grew up in California's wine country: Clay in the Healdsburg area in Sonoma County, and Margarita in St. Helena in Napa County. We met when we were both working at a Napa Valley winery. From there, we went on to build a vineyard management and development company.
We’ve grown fruit for many wonderful people and we've enjoyed tasting what our grapes have contributed to their wines. Still, we wondered how our wine grapes would stand up on their own. For us, the challenge was to take our grapes from spring bud break all the way to the bottle. Our goal was to make really enjoyable wines that taste like perfectly ripe grapes on the day you harvest them.
In the late 1980's we began working with wine grapes from Lake County and recognized the area's potential to grow great mountain fruit. Then, in 1995, we visited a magnificent mountain property about 35 miles north of the Napa county line. At altitudes of 2,100 to 2,400 feet above sea level these steep mountain ridges are cooled by steady winds off Clear Lake and from the higher peaks just north of us. The lean, rocky volcanic soils promised to make the vines produce small berries with concentrated flavors.
There was also the stunning beauty of the ridge. To the south, you see the deep blue waters of Clear Lake sheltered by Mount Konocti. To the north, snow capped mountains loom above, and all around us brick-red rocky soils. The landscape is rugged and wild and so are our neighbors -- we're surrounded by wildlife. In addition to the ducks, geese, deer, raccoons, quail, golden eagles, wild turkey, chipmunks and bobcats that visit us regularly, we've spotted bald eagles, a mother bear and her cubs and mountain lion tracks! Everything about this land screamed out to us, and we answered with an enthusiastic “yes!”
Our first vineyard on the ridge was Terre Vermeille, which is planted to Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Barbera and Sauvignon Blanc. Since then, we've developed several additional vineyards and have put down roots here. For the first three years we lived in a small cabin on the Caldwell Ranch. We've recently moved into a more accommodating home with magnificent views of the vineyards and mountain ridges.
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Barbera
Bright, juicy, tangy and mouth-filling. Sour cherry and sweet candied fruit combine with boysenberry and blueberry to tantalize your taste buds. Barbera ripens late in the season and prolonged heat spell in 2003 allowed us to let the fruit hang on the vine for a slow and complete maturation. Our very ripe fruit balances Barbera's naturally high acidity creating a soft, lush wine. Fruit-driven you can drink it now or cellar it for up to five years. Grown on steep, north facing slopes, the vineyards yielded approximately 4 tons per acre. The juice spent 15 days on the skins and was fermented with native yeasts. The wine was pressed-off into barrels, using only 20% new oak to preserve its delicate fruit character. Aged for nine months in French barrels.
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Cabernet Sauvignon
Red fruits, spice and fine inviting tannins. An approachable and direct wine. Wild raspberry, plums and the tart-sweetness of cherry pie, blend with rich spice for added depth. This is a food-friendly Cabernet, easy to enjoy and ready for drinking now.Cabernet is a slow ripening varietal and 2002's warm, temperate conditions provided the fruit time to fully ripen on the vine. Grown along high mountain ridge tops, each small block has been carefully planted to maximize its exposure to the sun. Clay and Marco monitored each vineyard block, identifying specific fruit characteristics and continuously fine-tuning the wine through meticulous vineyard management.
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Petite Sirah
A core of ripe, juicy blueberry fruit backed by sturdy tannins typical of Petite Sirah. Reflecting balance in the vineyard and gentle handling at the winery, the 2002 Petite Sirah is huge, yet accessible. The wine will be ready to drink upon release, but will also benefit from cellaring. The 2002 vintage was warm and temperate. In general, the vintage has the potential to yield wines with considerable depth, structure and fully expressed fruit characteristics.
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Sauvignon Blanc
The 2004 Shannon Ridge High Valley Sauvignon Blanc offers lively aromas that are lean, lively, and crisp. The 2004 Sauvignon Blanc has a very crisp, refreshing palate, with flavors of ripe grapefruit, key lime, and kiwi fruit. On the finish, hints of tangerine and mandarin orange are also met with star fruit and a touch of white pepper, while the finish is silky and lingering. Marco DiGuilio’s minimalist winemaking style preserved the fresh, fruit-forward qualities of this wine. There's no malolactic fermentation; therefore, there’s no masking the varietal character of this Sauvignon Blanc.
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Syrah
The 2003 Shannon Ridge High Valley Syrah offers impressive dark color, with aromatics that lean toward dusty rose, mulberry, and a controlled, vanilla scented toast. On the palate, this Syrah continues with the flavors expressed on the nose, and segues into ripe boysenberry, plum, brown sugar, coffee, and cedar.
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Zinfandel
Uniquely spicy and lush. While Zinfandel often shows pronounced black pepper notes and angular tannins, this wine is characterized by brown spice, ripe fruit and warm jamminess - calling to mind an unexpectedly warm fall afternoon. With evident yet approachable tannins, the wine will develop further in bottle and will continue to age well through the end of this decade. Due to the warm and temperate growing season, Celestino, Clay and Marco closely monitored the vineyards to ensure that the fruit did not over-ripen. The vineyard was thinned to approximately three tons per acre. Grapes were harvested during four separate passes at an average of 27.0 degrees Brix, fermented in stainless steel tanks, the aged for 15 months in a combination of new French oak barrels (40%) and one- to three-year old French and American oak (60%).
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