Wine Club 2009
Cheers to 2009! As we look to what lies ahead in the year we can't help but hope that the worst is behind us. Maybe our optimism has to do with the fact that we are excited to be working with winemaker Kirk Venge, or it could be the weather. The weather has been all over the place showing many personalities. January was filled with temps in the mid to high 70's while February and March have brought substantial amounts of rain. While the weather has us somewhat enthused and quite puzzled, this year will also bring many positive changes and renewed energy to our line up of wines we have to offer you in the club.
In collaboration with Kirk, we have made the decision to focus on producing the finest and most unique wines our estate is capable of. As such, we will be creating more 'one off' wines each vintage. These wines will be made in very small batches exclusively for those in our wine club. While we are adding wines we also be taking a few out of our portfolio of offerings. Beginning with the 2006 vintage we will no longer produce the Lupine Hill wines.Also very important for the 2006 vintage is lot selection. We believe that the 2006 vintage will mark a great stride in the evolution of Frazier Estate wines. We have worked very closely with Kirk to create the most dynamic blends, utilizing an incredibly selective process where only the most interesting barrels of the best lots of wine will make it into the final blend. On top of this we are also working very hard in the vineyard to fully realize the potential of under utilized blocks of vines and plant new ones. Those of you who have visited in the last year or so may also be aware that we have planted Chardonnay in our vineyard. After consulting with top viticulturalists and 'Dirt Doctors' we believe that the selection of Chardonnay clones in our vineyard in tandem with the unique Coombsville terroir will enable us to create some truly amazing wines in the years to come.
In the meantime we have created a very special wine for our club members. This wine has been slowly developing in barrel for the last few years. I am referring to our 2004 Petit Verdot Dessert Wine. We literally made 1 barrel of this wine. The whole Port style wine concept began as Bill's pet project. As a big fan of Port and Port like wines, Bill had always wanted to create something he could share with friends that harkened back to memories of fine vintage Port but was entrenched in the California style. Those of you who were fortunate to taste our 100 case production of Petit Verdot dry wine from the 2004 vintage know that those grapes are a very special treat, and this wine is just that and then some. Due to limited availability of the 2004 Dessert Wine we have bottled it in 375ml half bottles. We have had many requests for this wine from members and non-members alike but we have decided to reserve this wine exclusively for club members and it will constitute the second shipment in 2009 in early May. As production for this wine was limited, the allocation will be 1 bottle per person. If you would like to receive additional amounts of this wine please let me know no later than April 20th and we will do our best to fulfill all orders.
Last, I am very happy to announce that active club members will now receive a 15% discount on Memento shipments and re-orders throughout the year. Active member status mans that you have received all of the club shipments in a given year up to the point of the Memento shipment.
The wine club schedule for 2009:
March: 2006 Frazier Merlot
May: 2004 Frazier Petit Verdot Dessert Wine
October: 2006 Frazier Cabernet Sauvignon
December: 2006 Memento Cabernet Sauvignon
All shipments depart Napa the second week of the month.
Your comments and club questions are welcome and encouraged. Please email adam@frazierwinery.com with your thoughts or updates.
Best wishes for a prosperous 2009,
Adam
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Odds & Ends...Around the Ranch
It seems like our friends from out of town are always curious as to what we do during the winter months. The vines are dormant and the newly fermented wine is resting peacefully in barrel. Many of you know that the late spring through mid-fall in the Valley is a very busy time but it is the winter that folks can't seem to wrap their head around. No we are not drinking through the library or putting together 'trial blends' every day, actually quite a lot has been going on since the first of the year. Last month we hosted a wonderful Valentine's Day dinner in the cave, bottled wines from our 2006 vintage, not to mention all the work going on in the vineyard in between rain showers.
Speaking of the vineyard, we are just entering a phase in the Napa Valley which is an early indicator of the grape yield to come in the fall. This period, which generally starts in early March is referred to as 'frost season ' in the Valley. This is the time of year when the giant vineyard fans are in use, the smoke pots fired up, and in our case, the overhead sprinklers turned on. All of this in an attempt to protect the sensitive vines in their earliest stages of grape development. Thankfully frost is only something we need to worry about through the middle of May.
On the winery front we are pretty excited to be hitting the road with private wine parties and tastings. So far we have visited friends in several states including Texas, Florida, and Southern California. At a few stops in the Dallas area we managed to introduce our small brand to 100 or so new wine friends and are looking forward to doing more events soon. We will also be taking the wine on the road with upcoming stops in Southern California and Louisiana. Contact Kim@frazierwinery.com if you would like to discuss having us come to you for a private tasting or wine dinner.
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