Wine Reviews

The winery’s first Sauv Blanc from Alexander Valley is a glistening beauty. Aged in stainless steel, 40% French oak, and one percent in a small tank that Winemaker Greg Morthole refers to as a “sideways concrete egg.”
The enhancement of a split of six percent Viognier and Semillon adds volume and aromatics, and the Sauvignon Musqué clone only intensifies the exotic nature of this complex white. Lemon sorbet and salinity whisper on first sip. Honeysuckle develops mid-way, lengthening the well-rounded palate feel. A squeeze of white grapefruit and ripe melon captivate on the finish. Sancerre-like with a dollop of California sun.

Lime zest, tarragon, and wet stone field a racy acid structure. Italian herbs season mid-palate, with a splash of white grapefruit on the finish.

This white comes from precious stock: old Wente Chardonnay clone and Hyde Vineyards budwood, for example. This is Rowen Wine Company’s first vintage of this variety, aged in half French oak and half stainless-steel egg, the fruit is borne off a vineyard at 1800 feet in elevation off the ruggedly steep, red-soiled Cooley Ranch in unincorporated Sonoma County. Feather light, with a sleek mouthfeel, notes of lemon sorbet and white flower petals melt across the palate, while marzipan and peach blossom persist aromatically. You can smell and taste the salty air that blows through the vines.

A study in contrast, there is fresh fruit and savory earth: heft that remains buoyant. This is a wine of elegance and substance that beckons for food, yet with a flutter of playful zip lest we forget this is rosé.

Perky passionfruit and ripe juicy honeydew peak the senses. On the palate is a fruity mélange of guava, juicy pear and a whisper of white pepper. This white is vibrant and refreshing with a chef’s pinch of satisfying salinity.

Black plum and black cherry mingle with caramel, new leather, and sandalwood on the nose and palate of this medium-bodied Cabernet, which is relatively (and likably) soft though textured by juicy acidity and coffee-ground tannins.

The senses are awakened by flavors that are brooding, sultry and obviously…dark. Teeming with cherry pie, leather and mocha, this blend is flagrantly seductive. Composed of Petit Sirah, Petite Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon and aged in 50% New Oak, it is supple and firm and sinfully satisfying.

A nectar of peach and lychee maintains weight on the palate for this medium-sweet white. A low abv of under 10% makes it an easy drinker, and its frame of stony minerality bathes in a generous wash of Key lime and crisp apple. There’s a hint of beeswax on the honeyed finish.