March 1999

Some fall rain and a very dry early winter are being followed by much rain (and some snow) in late winter. The vines (and vintners) are happy.

Our 1996 Chardonnay and 1997 Sauvignon Blanc are now ready to be shipped wherever they are needed.

The 1996 Chardonnay created a bit of controversy here at the winery. While virtually all of our staff agreed it had considerable citrus-like character in the mouth, a consensus on exactly which kind of citrus could not be reached. Votes varied from lemon to orange to tangerine to lime and back to lemon. As usual, descriptions are not to be taken too literally, they just suggest hints of subtle similarity. But you will just have to decide which is the most accurate one for you. And, we do agree here that the wine is tart, clean, crisp, and well balanced. The vintage of 1996 yielded many high quality wines with the structure to age well. We feel our Chardonnay fits that mold. Highly enjoyable now, it will improve for several more years and hold at or near its best until at least 2008 to 2010.

Our 1997 Sauvignon Blanc is bursting with bright, lively fruit. Round and rich, it also has the acidity to improve for at least 2 or 3 more years and hold for several after that. An amazingly versatile food wine, we find it enjoyable with almost any dish, and excellent as an aperitif.

We still have some of our 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon available. Its intense black cherry and blackberry-like character is just beginning to yield to the benefits of time, but considerable additional bottle aging will be handsomely rewarded. If consumed in the next few years, we recommend it be opened at least an hour or two ahead of time.

The many aromas and flavors of wine are a large part of its appeal and can be likened to the many colors of a tapestry, which, when woven together with skill, can provide a memorable experience. And that, in turn, reminds us of the old man sitting on the park bench. A young man with a very prominent spike hairdo walks up and sits down on the the other end of the bench. His hair is bright with orange, green, red, black, white, and other streaks and splashes. His face, too, is ornamented with various colors. The old man just sits and stares. Finally, the youngster says to him, "Tell me old man, didn't you ever do anything wild and foolish when you were young" After a brief pause the old man answers, "Why yes, as a matter of fact I did. I once got quite intoxicated and made love to a parrot, and I was just wondering if you were my son."