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It's amazing how fruity, strawberry and bubblegum-like a red wine can be if it is pressed off the skins before fermentation and fermented very cold. In fact, these aromas, technically called 'esters', prevail in the wine only if the yeast is struggling with cold temperatures during fermentation. Unlike Pinot Grigio, when Cabernet is left on its skins for about a day before it is pressed, the resulting light pink color doesn't easily oxidize. In fact, it yields an aroma and texture that are fruity and soft. This is such an appealing, fun sipper that it is one of the most popular in our tasting room.

You may not realize that winemakers in the US are not permitted to use a varietal name such as Cabernet on a bottle unless it contains at least 75% of that wine. Designed to protect the consumer, it also imposes limitation on our choices. (Meanwhile, the French, for example, are free to blend up to several different grapes in any amount for red Bordeaux.) To overcome this creative constraint, I produced a blend containing 73% Cabernet and 27% Merlot. I felt that the 2001 wine benefited from a larger component of Cabernet, but we will have the freedom in the future to make free-wheeling choices on the respective percentages used. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are two classic reds used in Bordeaux and each brings its own strengths to the blend, building a whole superior to the sum of its parts. Merlot contributes fresh blackberry fruit and Cabernet brings density and richness. The blend spent about ten months in oak. This wine is new to our portfolio and has already won gold medals in all three of the competitions in which it was entered!

Ultimately, I decided to use lots from our White Hills Vineyard for about half of this 2002 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay. Its mouthfeel is highly structured, with concentrated flavors of lemon and orange blossom. About 15% of the blend came from Cat Canyon, contributing delicious ripe summer peach and pippin apple flavors to the blend. Another 10% came from Riverbench, delivering rich, tropical taste and a wonderful honeyed texture. North Canyon finished it off, bringing a mango and melon nuance that I think rounds it out the finished wine nicely.

I have such appreciation for the superb quality of White Hills Gewürztraminer that I elected to make a Limited Release blend with this vintage. White Hills Gewürztraminer portrays the classic lychee flavors and spice characters of the varietal. Its warm notes of ginger, nutmeg and allspice make it the quintessential Gewürztraminer. These characteristics are only enhanced and enriched when the juice is given special treatment in barrels. Midway through a cold fermentation, I moved this wine from a stainless steel tank to one-year old French oak barrels. In the barrels, it fermented to dryness, without any residual sugar. This gave the wine a richer texture, and highlighted aromas of vanilla and jasmine. Before bottling, I blended in a slight percentage of Chardonnay for richer body, and to complement the sweet and spicy character of the Gewürztraminer.

Crème Brulee, pineapple, floral and vanilla combine with sweet, tropical aromas and a touch of ginger. The texture is full, round and has a good length and depth.

Blueberry jam from the Shiraz and chocolate from the Cabernet combine with essences of cherry liqueur and black pepper for a complex, fruity wine with textured fruit and a long, jammy finish.

This 2001 Merlot is bursting with berry-cherry fruit and just a whiff of fresh mint, framed by a lightly toasted oak character. The wine is distinctly fruity with a soft, supple texture and a round mouth-filling body.

As soon as we got the fruit to the winery, we destemmed the grapes and put them directly into our open-top fermentors for a five-day cold soak. Once fermentation began, the cap was gently submerged three times a day, to distribute the solids and create fuller flavors in the wine. It then went to barrels for eight months of aging. For Pinot Noir, I choose small French oak barrels from a variety of forests – primarily Bourgogne, Center of France and Never. These barrels have a tight grain, and impart only a touch of nutty flavor. The medium toast level I request gently suggests a light toasty component in the finished wine.

Ultimately, I decided to use lots from our White Hills Vineyard for about half of this 2002 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay. Its mouthfeel is highly structured, with concentrated flavors of lemon and orange blossom. About 15% of the blend came from Cat Canyon, contributing delicious ripe summer peach and pippin apple flavors to the blend. Another 10% came from Riverbench, delivering rich, tropical taste and a wonderful honeyed texture. North Canyon finished it off, bringing a mango and melon nuance that I think rounds it out the finished wine nicely.

A ripe, generous style, with creamy oak leading to ripe black cherry and plummy fruit that hold the focus and finish with a gentle, supple aftertaste.

After resting, the cap is quickly and gently flooded with the juice as it returns using a pump-over tool. The cap percolates up through the juice, encouraging color and flavor extraction without harshness. After fermentation, the wine aged in small, French oak barrels for 14 months.

Plum and blueberry jam flavors intertwined with a touch of anise and supported by soft tannins, finishing with a round and silky texture.

The wine has a light, brilliant straw color, and aromas and flavors of grapefruit, honeydew melon, lemon and green apple. It is a refreshing and delicious companion to Caesar and cobb salads, chicken piccata and sole meuniere.

The finished wine has forward flavors of melon and lemon, and a whiff of just-cut green grass – a distinctive characteristic of this varietal. It has a refreshing acidity and tastes like a fresh, ripe Sauvignon Blanc grape, right off the vine.

I make these two wines in exactly the same manner. After crush and fermentation, I age them in small French oak barrels for a little over a year. The two finished wines end up distinctly different. The Dusi Zinfandel grapes make a bold wine rich in raspberry and cranberry, with a hint of black pepper and anise. The Mastan Zinfandel is intense and lively, with blackberry and blueberry jam in the mouth and a whiff of black pepper in the nose. The differences between these two wines are truly from terroir, not my winemaking techniques.