Friday Snippets

Cloudy Weather at Ghielmetti

The 2010 Harvest is beginning to take on a little shape, finally. Walking through the Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blocks this week, the flavors in the SB are really wonderful. Seriously considering picking a couple of tons early in the week (about 22 sugar) and then a couple more about a week to ten day later (depending on weather) to get closer to the sugars we have had in the past (about 24). Check out the video for more observations.

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Our Sales Manager, Gregory Peebles, made his first Southern California tour for Steven Kent and found a very enthusiastic audience. In the next couple of weeks, Southlanders will be able to find the wines at K&L Wine Merchants in Hollywood, the Wine Exchange in Orange, and at Ozumo Restaurant in Santa Monica.

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The latest in our series of Premier Cabernet Collection wines made its debut this past week. The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon - Ghielmetti Vineyard, Clone 337 was poured for those who purchased the 2007 Clone 30. This is the first time the 337 has made the top tier in quality. This wine is wonderfully integrated already and boasts notes of black and red cherry, tobacco, black plum and terrific structuring tannin on the lengthy finish. Only 150 three-packs are available in this release...only half as much as the previous year! Click here to order your three-pack before they are gone.

Hen of the Woods - 2007 Petite Sirah - Release Celebration Saturday

One of Livermore Valley's superstar varieties will be on display at Steven Kent Winery on Saturday when we release the newest offering for members of the Collector's Circle wine club...Hen of the Woods...a 2007 100% Petite Sirah from the Ghielmetti Vineyard.

Label photograph by Tracey Hoff

Tracing an origin back to the Rhone Valley, where it was mistaken for a small-berried clone of Syrah (hence the name Petite Sirah), this variety has been grown in the Livermore Valley to great acclaim for decades. I chose the finest 6 barrels from a larger lot of PS for this release.
In the nose, one get abundant notes of characteristic lavender and violet floral essences, licorice and black fruits. Supporting the fruit and flowers is a nice toasty American oak underlayment. The wood is carried into the mouth where it turns from toasty to subtle caramel and cinnamon. As the wine gets some air the varietally correct chalky tannins and undifferentiated black fruit become a silkily structured wine highlighted by blackberry and black cherry flavors.
This wine will age beautifully for the next 5 years and could use another 6-12 months before you start drinking it. Hen of the Woods was made exclusively for members of the Collector's Circle.

What a Day Was #Cabernet Day

Even this Chicken showed up for Cab Day

Celebrated around the world on September 2nd was the first "Cabernet Day." The brainchild of Rick Bakas of St. Supery Winery, Cabernet Day was created to celebrate both the noblest of red grapes and the rapidly growing community of folks who take to the various social media outlets to share their wine experiences.

From what I've heard, Cab Day was the largest on-line tasting ever, with tens of thousands of people all around the world joining in the fun. If you google #Cabernet Day, you get over 1.8 MILLION hits...a pretty good indication of the number of people participating.

At Steven Kent we turned over the Barrel Room to four new extremely-limited Cabernet Releases and welcomed more than 4 times the average number of guests for a Thursday.

What Cabernet Day meant for us was a chance to show off what we think is a gloriously good Cabernet growing area, and the breadth and depth of our offerings was indication that the Livermore Valley is not only capable of making a great Cabernet; it's capable of making many of them.

For those who didn't get a chance to join us, small quantities of the single-vineyard Cabernets are available. Click the Home Ranch, Smith Ranch, Ghielmetti Vineyard, and "Estate Grown" links to be taken to the on-line store to order before the wines are gone.

For video tasting notes click Home Ranch, Smith Ranch, Ghielmetti Vineyard, and "Estate Grown."