Caves - The 2021 Fall Shipment

Caves. There is something about a cave that draws you in: dark, damp, cool, anticipation, unknown. Pair that experience with a great winery and you know something great is about to occur. To find one just around the corner, well, that is just plain exciting.

Our first wine cave experience took place on our first trip to France a few years into our marriage. It was a trip where our eyes were opened to a wonderful culture where they appreciated food, wine, cheese & dessert unlike anything we had yet experienced in our young lives. Our travel agent booked us at the charming and historic Chateau de Chissay in the Loire Valley. Mary loves castles and this was a much-anticipated lodging choice. What we didn’t expect was how this experience would change our view of food, wine and travel. Dinners were dressed affairs with 5 course, wine paired meals - nothing like we had ever experienced before. The French staff took a shine to these two kids and walked us through our meals. Fromage cart? Sure! Which one? Uhhhh…Here sir, try these twenty! We were hooked on cheese for life! Would you like to visit the caves and see the wine? You bet! Natural limestone caves originally carved for safety, escape, cool food storage and wine. Lots of dusty bottles of wine! Not sure we could afford any of those bottles, but the idea was planted that something special was to be stored in the earth.

Jump forward a couple decades - a new life & business in wine country and remembrances of one thing that makes wine special - caves. We recently had the opportunity to partake in a special tasting at Star Lane Winery, located in the Eastern part of Santa Barbara wine country’s Happy Canyon AVA. It was a surprisingly storied piece of property that gained its name during prohibition when you could purchase a bottle of special “olive oil” which was code for booze or “hooch” as it was called. The winery is a magnificent multistory building that is a gateway to some wonderful, modern caves! When considering building their wine business, the owners, Jim and Mary Dierberg, set about a 250 year plan for their wines and that included proper cave storage. Diving deep into the San Rafael mountainside, these caves have only begun to store wonderful wines from the adjacent vineyards of Star Lane, some of which we will be including in your Fall shipment. The Dierberg tasting room and vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA are home to their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay varietals.

We start with a beautifully bright, balanced Sauvignon Blanc. In a white Bordeaux style, Tyler added a bit of Semillon to give the wine added dimension. I think this also increases the variety of food you can pair with it. Fresh, palate-cleansing citrus combines synergistically with clean minerality. This is one of our favorite Sauvignon Blancs from the Santa Ynez Valley!

Next up is a classic Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir from the Drum Canyon vineyard which is at the Dierberg tasting room, right off the 246 on the way to Lompoc. Due to the warm weather, a bit of stem inclusion was used to balance out the dark red fruit notes. This is followed by some nice earthy spiciness, wrapping up with a smooth, elegant finish.

We think Star Lane is producing some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon in Santa Barbara County – a thought echoed by our friends in the wine business. We really like how the Happy Canyon Cabs take a different approach to Napa Cabs, and let the grapes shine through without overwhelming oak notes. Tyler incorporated some minor quantities of Bordeaux varietals into the 2017 Star Lane Cabernet Sauvignon to increase the complexity, including Cabernet Franc (5%), Petite Verdot (5%), Merlot (4%), and Malbec (1%). Like the Pinot Noir, this vintage is a bit more fruit-forward given the warm 2017 season, and showcases red and blueberry fruit with “cool coastal sage” notes of complexity as well as elements of cocoa and some earthiness. With 35% new French oak, tannins are present just enough for that balanced, lasting finish. Tasting beautifully now with the power to last 10-15 years or more.

Please enjoy these wonderful wines with our best wishes!

Cheers,

Mike and Mary

2020 Revisit Wine Co. Spring Shipment

Greetings members and subscribers! We are pleased to bring you another offering of amazing boutique wines from the Central Coast. We are honored to be able to find hidden gems just for you, and it is so rewarding to learn more with every experience. If you have any favorites from previous shipments and want to “revisit” them, just let us know – we still have a few in stock!

Reminder – if you are looking for a great thank-you gift for your business clients, we can put together a nice wine package for you!

Grimm’s Bluff 2015 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
• Owner: Rick Grimm
• Winemaker: Paul Lato
• Happy Canyon AVA

Grimm’s Bluff 2016 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc

• Owner: Rick Grimm
• Winemaker: Paul Lato
• Happy Canyon AVA

Flying Goat 2013 Pinot Noir, Bassi Ranch Vineyard
• Owner: Norm Yost and Kate Griffith
• Winemaker: Norm Yost
• San Luis Obispo AVA

Happy Canyon is an up and coming AVA in Santa Barbara County. You may remember our Fall 2019 Shipment of Grassini Vineyard? We heard so much great feedback from you about those wines that we decided to feature a neighbor of theirs, Grimm’s Bluff! We were lucky enough to spend a few hours with Rick Grimm and Jeff Chaney out at the breathtaking ranch (just check out the photos!) So many things about this vineyard impressed us. The Grimms bought a beautiful piece of land and wanted to do everything top-notch. They have a top French biodynamic consultant, Phillipe Coderey, who not only ensures that their grapes are planted to perfection, but also helped them create an organic, certified biodynamic estate vineyard, with no chemicals used on their vines. I’ll explain more about this in a future blog post. They also hired Paul Lato as their winemaker, who has a stellar reputation in California winemaking. You can really see, smell, and taste this attention to detail in these wonderful wines. They are still very small production, so we were really lucky to get these for you.

The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon received 92 pts. from Matt Kettemen, who specializes in Central Coast wines at Wine Enthusiast. His tasting notes: “Rich but subtle aromas of red fruit are lifted by ample baking spice and a rocky minerality on the nose of this bottling. There is solid grip to the sip, where more lush purple and red-fruit flavors meet with touches of crushed graphite, roasted coffee bean and fine oak. Chalky tannins carry into the finish.”

Winemaker Notes on the 2016 Sauvignon Blanc: “Light straw yellow with a greenish hue. Now is complex and nuanced, with notes of grapefruit, melon, and gooseberry. Evolving after a little time in the glass, it is clean, refreshing and delicious on the palate. The wine is fine and complex, with gentle notes of lemon grass, lime zest and a touch of flintiness. The wine finishes clean and long, asking you to have another sip.”

Our third wine features a producer from the Lompoc Wine Ghetto. Have you heard of it? Lompoc is of course home to the famous Sta. Rita Hills, and the “Ghetto” is an industrial park full of great winery tasting rooms! Many of these are very small producers you will not have heard of.

One of these special producers is Flying Goat Cellars. Flying Goat specializes in Pinot Noir and Sparkling Wine (sparkling wine is rare in Santa Barbara!) and when a winery puts all their efforts into just a couple varietals, the result is delicious! Norm Yost is one of the pioneers of Sta. Rita Hills winemaking, launching Flying Goat Cellars in 2000. Norm sources his grapes from a variety of excellent vineyards to create many different Pinots. The grapes for this wine were sourced from Bassi Ranch Vineyard near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, where the coastal climate and conditions are very similar to the Sta. Rita Hills. We found this wine to have a delicious balance of smooth, rich fruit with gentle tannins and some nice complexity. For food pairing, Norm suggests, “The texture with layers of this wine pairs well with pork and a Pinot reduction sauce or turkey with homemade cranberry sauce. Enjoy the flavors that linger on the palate with this full-bodied wine.”

Thank you for your support, and we wish you the best in 2020!

Cheers! Mike and Mary

2019 Fall Shipment - Rare Opportunity

Greetings members and subscribers! We hope that you have had a wonderful summer and enjoyed some delicious wines! We’ve been hard at work figuring out our Fall shipment and have some amazing selections for you. We’re working on some great info for you, including a “Locals’ Guide to Wine-Tasting in the Santa Ynez Valley” which you will all receive when it is complete. If there is any other wine-related topic you’re interested in, let us know – we are here as a resource for you!

Reminders – If you would like to buy a particular wine varietal from us outside of our club shipments, let us know and we’ll see if we can source a great wine at a value for you!

Grassini Family Sauvignon Blanc
• Owner: Grassini Family, Winemaker: Bradley Long
• Happy Canyon AVA
Grassini Family 2015 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
• Owner: Grassini Family, Winemaker: Bradley Long
• Happy Canyon AVA
Lumen Wines 2015 Pinot Noir – Santa Barbara County
• Owners: Lane Tanner/Will Henry; Winemaker: Lane Tanner
• Sierra Madre Vineyard (61%), Santa Maria Valley (39%)

We are honored that two renown families in Santa Barbara have partnered with us to bring you fabulous wines for the Fall Season. The first is the Grassini Family – and it is a true family business. The Grassini Vineyard and Winery is one of the most beautiful settings in the County, with acres of vineyards, a pond and a world-class wine facility. Although they are probably best known for their Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc, they generously offered to share their Reserve SB with Revisit Wine Club members. Happy Canyon is an up-and-coming AVA for Cab – it is one of the few places that gets hot enough to ripen Cabernet grapes – and the Grassinis were one of the first to realize the potential. Bradley Long, winemaker, came to Grassini after spending time at Nickel & Nickel and Fantesca in Napa Valley.

• Winemaker Notes: The Grassini 2016 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc matured for in a combination of new and neutral French Oak. The bright acid helps showcase flavors of pineapple and stone fruit, which are varietally "Sauvignon Blanc," while the barrel aging adds complexities of caramel and toasted coconut. The finish is soft and round, yet clean and refreshing, inviting another sip. While the oak influence is subtler in this 2016 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc than in previous vintages, the signature notes of crème brûlée will still shine through. 406 cases produced.

• Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Winemaker Notes: Bold, balanced and refined, this wine opens with aromas of dark fruit, cinnamon, and green tea, followed by a touch of smoke and espresso. Notes of blackberry and black currant greet the palate, along with a hint of cocoa. Flavors of rich dark chocolate, caramel, and vanilla are prominent in the smooth, lingering finish. 690 cases produced. 93 Points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous.

We also have the great pleasure of meeting and working with Lane Tanner, aka the “Czarina” of Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir. Lane started making wine in SBC in and has worked with a number of wineries before focusing on her own label, Lumen Wines. She co-owns the label with Will Henry, who is also well know in the wine business with his restaurant “Pico” in Los Alamos, and his wine business, “Henry Wine Group”. Lane specializes in handcrafted Pinot Noir and carefully selects her grapes from the best certified sustainably-farmed and biodynamic vineyards in the area, using the minimal amount of sulfites possible. They also pick their grapes earlier in the harvest season, resulting in wine that is livelier on the palate, deeper in complexity, and lower in alcohol. We have so enjoyed getting to know Lane and her husband Riki (winemaker, Labyrinth Wines). Note: 1% of Lumen Wine sales are donated to environmental causes.

Winemaker Tasting Notes: Wonderfully vibrant and energetic, with penetrating raspberry and rose petal on the nose, followed by undulating flavors of strawberry, thyme and sandalwood on the palate – all wrapped in a firm yet velvety texture. Long, vibrant finish with lingering fruit and minerality, accented by cardamom and anise notes. Well-matched with any wild game, salmon or bird dish, with power enough to cut through any hot curry or Szechuan fare. 1300 cases produced.

Cheers!
Mike and Mary

Revisiting Wine Tasting - Shokrian Vineyard & Winery

At Revisit Wine Co., part of our mission is to share wine-related experiences with you as we explore wine country. We’re even going to attempt some video! Stay tuned!

About a year ago, we were driving around and saw a small sign on Cat Canyon Road (a very isolated road near Los Alamos) which said, “Shokrian” and looked to be a vineyard. We made a note to check it out later. We discovered that part of it used to be Melville’s “Verna’s” vineyard, an excellent Syrah we enjoyed as members of Melville’s wine club. We also found that there were some renown area winemakers involved with the project, including Drake Whitcraft (Whitcraft Wines, Santa Barbara) and Morgan Clendenen (Cold Heaven Wine).

On a beautiful January day, we decided to venture back out to explore Shokrian. The gate was closed and the sign said, “Appointment Only.” Not to be deterred, we called the number to see if we could stop by. After some effort, we were able to get in touch with Babak Shokrian, the owner, who happened to be there with his estate winemaker, Alice, and his beautiful dog, Cocoa. The tasting room is tiny, funky, and cool - The property is spectacular. Babak has been working on the project since 2013. We tasted a number of wines, including Viognier (Clendenen’s specialty), a young, dry Rose’ of Grenache, Pinot Noir, a Syrah, and a GSM (Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre) blend. While tasting, we had a wonderful chat with Babak and Alice about the vineyard and the wines. Babak has a house on the property with a few goats, sheep, and chickens (and maybe 1 cow) that we saw grazing from a distance. We explained our project and agreed it would be a perfect winery to feature in one of our shipments.

We enjoyed every wine, and walked away with a Pinot Noir and a Syrah. The Pinot is described by Matt Kettman of Wine Enthusiast (92 pts) as “lush and think with boysenberry paste, clove, star anise, and vanilla” – yes, it is one of those fuller-body richer Pinots that are sometimes found in this area.

The 2015 Syrah was somewhat known to us as Melville Verna’s which we always enjoyed. It is described by Clendenen as having velvety tannins with hints of blueberry, pepper, tobacco, spiced meat, and plum. We definitely tasted the complexity of the wine, but it was also very smooth.

What most impressed us was the feeling of ease about the entire place. From the welcoming of the team for an unplanned tasting visit, to the casual talk about our mutual love of the area and of future collaboration, we thoroughly enjoyed the visit and look forward to featuring these wines in our Club shipment and in our soon-to-launch online store!

2018 Revisit Wine Co Winter Shipment

Greetings members! Since the holidays are such a popular time to share wine with friends and family, we are sending you a holiday shipment! Our next shipment is not planned until late February or early March so this will have to last you until then. Of course, you can re-order any of our wines at a discount while supplies last. And, we’ve included a special gift in this shipment as a thank you for being members.

For this shipment, we’ve selected wines from a very special winemaker, Clarissa Nagy. Clarissa is a well-known winemaker in the Central Coast with an extensive pedigree, starting in 1995. She worked her way through a variety of wineries you may know: Firestone Vineyard, Curtis Winery, Byron Vineyard and Winery, Longoria Wines, Rancho Arroyo Grande Winery, Bonaccorsi Wine Company, honing her skills throughout the years. She is currently the winemaker for Riverbench Vineyard and Winery, a favorite stop along the Foxen Wine Trail, specializing in beautifully-crafted Pinot Noir and Sparkling Wines. We’ve included a 2015 Riverbench Cork Jumper Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine in your shipment to kick-off your holiday celebration. If you’re not a sparkling wine fan, it’s the perfect gift to share with friends! Riverbench is an award-winning, beautiful, boutique winery at the top of Foxen Canyon Road in the Santa Maria Valley. Clarissa recently launched her own wine label, CNagy Wines. The tasting room is in quaint Old Town Orcutt near Santa Maria. Clarissa sources her grapes from some of the best vineyards in the area. In this shipment, we’re sharing her 2013 CNagy Garey Ranch Pinot Noir and 2013 CNagy White Hawk Syrah – something for the Pinot-lovers in the group and a bolder wine for those who enjoy the big reds. Syrah is one of the most common Rhone varietals. Last shipment, it was part of a cuvee’, and in this shipment it stands alone. Clarissa’s wines are very polished and smooth, artfully combining primary fruit characteristics with secondary aromas and flavors. Tasting notes are included below.

Clarissa was kind enough to invite us up to see her in action, processing one of her 2018 grape selections. What amazed us is the amount of work that goes in to making the wine. We observed the press, and the measurement of sugar (brix) in the wine. Also, the meticulous cleaning and sanitization that ensures no unwanted bacteria gets in the mix. The larger wineries with names you’ve heard of have teams of people and large equipment to process their wines, but Clarissa and many of the small wineries we’re featuring in the Club do it all themselves with minimal assistance, and pay very close attention to every detail, sorting the grapes by hand. This is what ensures that the wines you receive are the very best.

Have a wonderful holiday season.

Cheers!

Mike and Mary

THE DETAILS

Riverbench Cork Jumper Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine: This sparkling wine is crafted using the traditional French Champenoise method, like the great French Champagnes. This wine is deep, complex, and suitable for the most elegant occasions. This vintage is full of deep rich tones of pear mixed with a hint of tangerine and orange zest. It’s clean and refreshing with zippy acidity and triple crème brie on the finish. Pair this wine with…almost anything! One of our family favorites is to have sparkling wine on Christmas morning while opening presents, and transitioning to my Mom’s favorite eggs benedict – cuts right through that rich, yummy hollandaise sauce!

CNagy 2013 Garey Ranch Vineyard Pinot Noir – only 91 cases were made of this special wine and you are lucky enough to have some! Look for notes of potpourri, blueberry, hints of blackberry, raspberry, and cranberry aromas lend to chalky, mineral, and spicy notes on the nose. Brown spices, smoky, toasty, and silk tannins finish with hints of walnuts. Great to drink on its own, or pair with lighter meats or heavier fish – Clarissa suggests pork loin with balsamic vinegar reduction and carmelized onions, or barbecued salmon.

CNagy 2013 White Hawk Vineyard Syrah - Black and white pepper, purple violets, with blackberry and black cherry notes. Silky and savory, with touches of coastal sage and crushed wet stone on the finish. Only 192 cases produced. We drink Syrah on its own sometimes, but it’s best with heavier meats. Clarissa’s ideas are rack of lamb, steak with blue cheese sauce, or scallops wrapped in bacon!