The 2012 vintage of Mauritson Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc, is our best to date! The nearly perfect weather conditions throughout the growing season naturally controlled the vines' vigor, allowing steady sugar accumulation and beautiful flavor and aroma development. In September we sampled the ripening Sauvignon Blanc every day, leading us to harvest our Hardie Ranch Vineyard in two separate blocks in order to achieve the complex flavor profile our Sauvignon Blanc is known for. The first pick retained high natural acidity and citrus flavors and the second pick revealed rich tropical flavors. All lots are hand harvested, whole cluster pressed and fermented separately to achieve immense concentration and depth.

The 2012 Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc is bright and fresh. Guava and hints of key lime pie jump out of the glass. The entry is vibrant, yet maintains elegance. On the palette, there is a harmonious dance of peach, passion fruit and crushed rock. As you would expect from a wine that sees no oak and no malo-lactic fermentation, it finishes clean and smooth with perfectly balanced acidity. Enjoy this wine with light appetizers, salads, seafood dishes or on its own on a warm summer evening. Around the winery, we fondly refer to our Sauvignon Blanc as our porch wine.

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Our 2011 was made in the same “Burgundian” style as the past vintages. The wine is 100% barrel fermented but in only a small percentage of new oak. The result is the best of both worlds; the beautiful fruit of California Chardonnay minus the oak, with the elegance and complexity of its Burgundian ancestor.

The nose is a blend of green apple and pear fruits, accented by hints of oak and floral nuances. The front palate shows beautiful richness from the barrel fermentation and yields to nuances of lean minerality. The finish is everything you would expect from a great Chardonnay; full and round but clinging to acidity to retain balance. This wine will continue to drink beautifully over the next three to five years.

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This will be our second commercial release of Rockpile Rosé. While this may only be our second offering, we have actually been making Rosé since we built the winery in 2003. It has always been a favorite food and summer wine of mine. As the yields in our Rockpile vineyard have matured, the opportunity has presented itself to make enough Rosé to actually bottle.

Our Rosé is made using the traditional “sange,” or bleed method. In order to increase concentration in some of our best lots, we remove 5-10% of the juice from the tank 24 hours after the fruit is received. The juice has extracted a small amount of color from the skins, giving it the beautiful pink hue. The Rosé juice is fermented 100% in stainless steel and then a portion of the wine is aged in neutral French oak. None of the lots have gone through malo-lactic fermentation; preserving the bright, fresh, natural malic acid in the grapes. All the lots are fermented and aged separately, then blended prior to bottling.

The nose is a bouquet of candied strawberries drizzled with vanilla cream all overlaying the subtleness of plum blossom. Soft and refreshing on the entry, the wine has beautiful texture without being weighty. The reality that this is a Rockpile wine is evident in the complexity of flavors: hints of mineral, fresh cut spring flowers, and red fruits. Bright and clean on the finish, as a Rosé should be, please enjoy this wine over the course of the next 12-18 months.

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While the 2011 vintage may be remembered for the rains of early October, my prevailing impression is of wines that are elegant and show unparalleled varietal expression. Gone are the over ripe, over extracted wines that have homogenized varietals across appellations, ushering in beautiful wines that have a true sense of place. It certainly didn’t hurt that nearly 90 percent of our fruit was picked before it rained, giving us the best of both worlds: a subtleness that only reveals itself in cooler vintages and optimally ripe fruit.

The nose is full of high toned red fruit and complimented by minerals and subtle spice. The front palate exudes raspberry jam and cherry pie, which gives way to rich flavors of French oak. The tannins are well balanced and approachable from a young age. The elegance and sense of place that this wine exudes will prove to be a hallmark of the vintage. The finish is long and pure, leaving no doubt that this is a well balanced Zinfandel. Enjoy the 2011 Dry Creek Zinfandel over the next 4-6 years.

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We were extremely fortunate to have harvested all of our fruit before the rains in October. The growing conditions prior to that point could not have been more perfect. Heading into the third year of drought, we knew the crop was going to be light. The low bunch count and relatively small berry formation combined with the long moderate summer led to uniformly ripening fruit with amazing structure and complexity. The fruit was harvested between the middle of September and first week of October, with the Rockpile Merlot being picked first and our Alexander Valley Cabernet coming in last.

The resulting wines have bright fruit, well-structured tannins and balanced acidity. The 2009 Mauritson Sonoma County Cabernet is both dense and expressive in the nose. Dark fruit is complemented by aromas of tobacco, cassis, vanilla and hints of mineral. On the front palate, the wine exhibits juicy tannins and lush fruit, giving way to sweet oak in the mid palate. With ample Merlot, the wine has round tannins and soft edges. There is nothing astringent or overpowering, yet the delicacy and complexity can not fully be appreciated until after the last sip is gone. The small crop yielded wines with balanced tannins and acidity, making them extremely food friendly and age able for the next 6-8 years.

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