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This old vine Carignane vineyard from near the Mokelumne River is farmed to a tiny yield that allows the normally large diameter Carignane grape to develop beautiful varietal character. We pushed to extract all we could and were richly rewarded by this structured, aromatic Rhone styled wine. The perfumed nose reveals red delicious apples, rhubarb and pepper. The mouth is full and rich, with up-front tannin that resolves to chocolate, red apples and black pepper. Drink now or reserve for up to five years. Enjoy!

This wine is produced from the grapes of a small vineyard on the floor of the Livermore Valley. The vineyard team of Keith and Marilyn Fraser, their daughters and son in law, John and Julie Howard and Jennifer Fraser, are producing terrific Chardonnay fruit for us. The vines are planted in the vineyard soil just up the grade from the arroyo. Over the short history of the Big White House, we have been lucky to be the sole recipient of this wonderful fruit. The flavors are becoming more complex every year, starting at harvest with a beautiful Granny-Smith apple essence, and developing through fermentation a fresh fruit profile and broad mouth feel. The 2000 Fraser - Howard is everything we look for in a world class Chardonnay. The nose is fruit driven, with apples, nutty figs, tropical fruits, coconut and guava, cinnamon and vanilla. The mouth is rich and full with tasty hazel nut, fig, and lemon. The finish lingers. We recommend you serve this at cellar temperature to take advantage of the great fruity nose.

Our Lapsus has been a blend of Roussanne and Viognier, but, alas, the Roussanne scandal is upon us! Apparently a good fraction of the Roussanne in California was actually a clone of Viognier, and this was the case for our Roussanne. (Now replanted in true Roussanne.) We were surprised. Between the two Viognier clones, this one ripened fully three weeks later, had smaller bunches, deeper flavors and produced a more structured wine. Nonetheless, we'll go with the experts and call our Lapsus 100% Viognier, even though it's a blend of two very different wines. One clone provides a fruity bouquet to the wine and is fermented and aged in small stainless steel barrels. The second clone provides the backbone of this blend and is fermented and aged in Rousseau French oak barrels. We combined these into our special blend Lapsus, a word used in France as we use "Freudian slip", or a slip of the tongue. Serve slightly chilled.

The 2000 Mourvedre from Texiera's vineyard in Contra Costa County has a spicy fruit that continues to shine brightly through the extended aging. The Mourvedre spice reminds us of Northern Africa, cumin, cardamon and tumeric. This is distinct form the peppery spice character we often associated with Zinfandel. This Northern African spice character makes Mourvedre a popular choice as a blending element in Southern Rhone wines such as Chateau Neuf de Pape. The extended barrel aging, over four years in French oak barrels, has had a dramatic effect in softening the tannins. In the mouth our Mo has a beautifully round balance with lingering finish. Presented here as a single varietal, single vineyard, extended barrel-age release, we offer you a unique experience. Since this wine has already aged for over four years in the barrel, it is ready to drink now, or in the next several years.

Our Kurtzer Syrah was harvested late in the 2000 season and had a huge tannic mouth feel when it was young. How do we tame this delightful wine without robbing the fruit? Due to our unique circumstances, we were able to age this for over four years in new French oak barrels. Compared to bottle aging, barrel aging gives a much more rapid rounding and softening of the tannins. As a four year old, our Kurtzer retains its regal nose which is well supported by mature French Oak. The oak influence actually peaked in year three and is now calmed down to playing a supporting role to the rightful star - jammy berry fruit. One of the things we like best about making single varietal, single vineyard releases is that after a time we recognize specific characteristics of each vineyard. The smoky bacon element, typical of this vineyard from our earlier vintages is evident, but as a reserved element. We think this wine is remarkable, four years in barrel has given a wine of beautiful round character that typically only comes from a big wine that has aged for 15-20 years in the bottle. Unfiltered and unfined, the Kurtzer may still throw sediment.

Our Tawny is being released after four years of barrel aging, the minimum in Portugal for a Tawny. Of the four barrels we made, only one barrel is truly a Tawny at this stage, the other three are still turning, so we only bottled the single barrel. The difference between a Tawny and a Ruby or a Vintage Port, is that when aging a Tawny, a significant amount of air is introduced by under filling the barrels, allowing an air gap, which allows the wine to oxidize somewhat. The brick color and the nutty nose are a result of this treatment. Our Tawny is made from the traditional port varietals of Touriega Nacional, Tinto Cao, Saozoa, and Ardevelho from the vineyards of Richard Ripken in Lodi. The color is pure Tawny, deep brick. The nose has nuts, butter, maple and figs, elements that often show up in old Vintage Ports. The tannins are soft and mellow. We like this with pears and bleu cheese, pecans or walnuts, or good chocolate. We bottled these in 375 ml bottles so that they, as Fran Replogle says, "conveniently fit on the bed stand."

Our love affair with the Viognier grape continues with our 2000 offering from gentleman farmer Richard Ripken's vineyards near the Mokelumne River. It is always a pleasure to walk with Rip through his carefully tended vineyards, comparing flavors and sugar levels. In 2000 the eastern end of the vineyard was riper and the fruit had the peach, apricot, and melon flavors we seek. This Viognier presents you with apricots, pears, honeydew melon, lichi nuts, lime, coconut, mango and anise. Wow! In the mouth, this full-bodied Viognier has a peachy, citrus flavor, with a crisp racy finish. This wine is best around cellar temperature.

Harvest Brix 27° Residual Sugar 10% The Viognier for our Ice Wine comes from the carefully farmed vineyards of Richard Ripken near the Mokelumne River. We selected the ripest fruit, having the ripe peach characteristics we love in Viognier, to make our ice wine. In the nose, the peach, dried apricot, pineapple and pear flavors dominate. The buttery mouth precedes a lingering clove honey finish. Enjoy with dessert, or chilled as an aperitif.