California’s Wineries Are Adapting To The Coronavirus

Written by Allison Levine on March 24, 2020

Lifestyle Wine

We are no longer able to go to winery tasting rooms but we can still buy wine from all of our favorite wineries. Not only do they ship wine but many are offering discounts on shipping and other incentives as I wrote about in a story for California Winery Advisor and you can read here.

Life as we know it is on hold. We now have a “new normal” in which we are relegated to our homes for the unforeseeable future. As of March 16th, all customer-facing wineries, breweries, bars, nightclubs in California have been closed to the public. The point is to help flatten the curve of the coronavirus spreading throughout the United States. We are home for the foreseeable future to protect ourselves and those around us.

Click here for reliable information on the coronavirus.

While we cannot travel to wineries and visit them right now. We can still buy their wines and support our local businesses who also need our help in this challenging time. Wineries in California are able to ship directly to consumer homes in most states around the country. With the closing of tasting rooms, many wineries are offering special deals on shipping and more.

Here is a list of the wineries included in this story:

SANTA BARBARA WINE COUNTRY

Lumen
Solminer
Tercero Wines
Imagine Wines
Brewer-Clifton
Nielson Wines
Cambria Estate

PASO ROBLES

Barr Estate Winery
Bianchi Winery
My Favorite Neighbor
Brochelle Vineyards
Copia Vineyards and Winery
Eberle Winery
Fermentations
Four Lanterns Winery
Fulldraw Vineyard
Grey Wolf Cellars & Barton Family Wines
Hearst Ranch Winery
Indigene Cellars
J Dusi Wines
Jack Creek Cellars
Locatelli Winery
Lone Madrone
Midnight Cellars
Opolo Vineyards
Sextant Wines
Still Waters Vineyards
TH Estate Wines
Tooth & Nail Winery
Villa San-Juliette
Vino Vargas

SONOMA COUNTY

Two Shepherds Winery
Pedroncelli Winery
Donelan Family Wines
Flaunt Wine Company
Benovia Winery
Alexander Valley Vineyards
Copain Wines
Matanzas Creek Winery
Capture Wines
La Crema Wines
Kendall-Jackson

NAPA VALLEY

Grounded Wine Co.
Galerie Wines
Terra Valentine

SANTA CLARA VALLEY

Jason Stephens Winery

LIVERMORE VALLEY

McKahn Family Cellars

For a full description of these offerings, read the original story on California Winery Advisor.

Shared Notes, a project of married winemakers

Written by Allison Levine on August 29, 2019

Wine

I recently sat down with winemakers Bibiana Gonzalez Rave, owner and winemaker of Cattleya and Alma de Cattleya, and Jeff Pisoni, winemaker of Pisoni Vineyards. The two winemakers are married but work on their own projects. However, they decided to make a wine together and created Shared Notes, which I wrote about in the Napa Valley Register and share here.

*****************************************************************************

Many winemakers say that their job is to simply usher the grapes through the process of fermentation and into the bottle. But even a winemaker who focuses on minimal intervention has hundreds of decisions to make along the way.

There are decisions to be made in the vineyard, questions of when to pick, whether to destem or whole cluster, whether to use stainless steel or oak and so much more. And talk to any winemaker and you will find that while they are always learning and willing to experiment, they are also very confident in the choices they made to create the final product.

It is this confidence that can lead to differing opinions when two winemakers work together. And add to the mix when the winemakers are married to each other. Sounds like the possible making of a disaster but instead it has resulted in the Shared Notes between Bibiana Gonzales-Rave and Jeff Pisoni.

Please The Palate Wine of the Week: March Rosé of St. Laurent 2018 Ricci Vineyard, Carneros, Sonoma Valley

Written by Allison Levine on August 7, 2019

Wine

Rosé is made from so many different grape varieties – Pinot Noir, Grenache, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and more. But the March Wines rosé is made from St. Laurent, a grape that originated in Austria and is thought to be a crossing of Pinot Noir and an unknown parent. While the origin of the grape may be unknown, I know that the March Rosé of St. Laurent 2018 Ricci Vineyard, Carneros, Sonoma Valley is the Please The Palate Wine of the Week.

St. Laurent is a highly aromatic dark-skinned wine grape variety. Typical notes include raspberry, blackberry, sweet tobacco, baking spices and chocolate. Think of it like a deeper colored, meatier version of Pinot Noir.

March Wines sources the St. Laurent from Ricci Vineyard in the cool Carneros region of Sonoma. The Ricci Vineyard is home to the first and only three acres of St. Laurent in all of California. Dale Ricci, owner of Ricci Vineyard, planted St. Laurent after falling in love with the wine when traveling in Austria.

The March Rosé of St. Laurent 2018 Ricci Vineyard, Carneros, Sonoma Valley is made in the Provence style with the grapes being direct pressed. The wine is cold fermented to enhance aromatics and then stirred on the less. The resulting wine is a bright salmon pink color with bright fruit aromatics and lovely fresh lively acidity on the palate.

There are only 28 cases of March Rosé of St. Laurent 2018 Ricci Vineyard, Carneros, Sonoma Valley, which is available for $25. March Wines are the only producers of Rose of St. Laurent in California so order a bottle today.