Starmount Rose [by Merryvale] Napa Valley, California

100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Made in a saignée style using free-run juice bled off and fermented dry! No malolactic fermentation! No barrel contact! 14.3% by volume 
Red grapefruit, blood orange, with vibrant acidity and flavors of wild strawberry and raspberry. Versatile wine; whether all by itself or with anything you like, including good company!

From their website:

Merryvale
The Napa Green Winery certification is based on a set of sustainable and green business practices for wineries certified by The Napa County Department of Environmental Management and The Association of Bay Area Governments. Certified wineries have demonstrated a commitment to water and energy conservation, waste reduction, and pollution prevention. ▼ Napa Green Farm Certification of Merryvale’s Estate Vineyards—a program that enhances Napa Valley’s watershed and restores natural habitat with sustainable farming practices, including: cover cropping for erosion control, reduction of synthetic chemicals in favor of natural techniques for fertilization and pest control. ▼ Starmont Winery—our state of the art, green  facility is equipped with low energy lighting and motors to stay cool without wasting energy. We recycle 100% of our winery process water as landscape irrigation. In May of  2008, for the first time, the solar panel array at Starmont generated a surplus of energy beyond our needs, which we sent back to the city of Napa. The energy efficiency efforts at Starmont spare the air of over 472 tons of harmful greenhouse gases annually!


Saignée – a method of rosé production that involves bleeding off the juice after limited contact with the skins. Pronounced ’sonyay’. In shory saignée is one of the methods of making rosé wines, along with blending white and red wine (this is the method used to for rosé Champagne), along with a simply macerating (allowing contact with skins to leech out color and flavor) the wine with the skins for a short period of time. The difference between simply macerating the wine and removing the must and saigneé is that the wine left after the bleed-off is oftentimes still being made into a more concentrated red wine, and the rosé is a byproduct.
 

Yellow and Blue Sauvignon Blanc / Malbec, Chile

Notes of Mandarin Orange, Key Lime and Tangerine. 
Medium weight, bright acidity with lingering flavors of Lime, Peach and Minerals.
Great with grilled fish, cheeses, grilled vegetables and cured meats.

Profound purple color with a bouquet that swirls with heady aromas of black cherries and chocolate, medium- to full-bodied wine with fine tannins and a lingering, complex finish.
Complements grilled meats, rosemary, garlic and fennel dishes.

What is Biodynamic farming?

A self-sustaining system entirely responsible for creating and maintaining its individual health and vitality without any external and unnatural additions. By recycling back into the earth everything that has come from it, How did Biodynamic farming begin?

In 1924 a group of European farmers approached Dr. Rudolf Steiner (noted scientist, philosopher, and founder of the Waldorf School) after noticing a rapid decline in seed fertility, crop vitality and animal health. In response, Steiner held a series of lectures that presented the farm as a living organism: self-contained and self-sustaining, responsible for creating and maintaining its individual health and vitality. This was in sharp contrast to the view of the farm as factory, able to boast production by importing chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, which was largely responsible for the observations of depleted vitality noted by the farmers who sought Steiner's guidance. Steiner was one of the first public figures to question the long-term benefits of this manufacturing view of agriculture, to warn of its environmentally destructive practices, and to propose an alternative to chemical agriculture.
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How does Biodynamic farming work?
Self-contained, self- sustaining ecosystem creates health without unnatural additions
Plants, animals and humans together create a holistic, living organism. Stewardship while offering a carbon footprint

White Sangria - My Favorite!

 
White Sangria

1 750 White Wine - Dry Portuguese
6oz Orange Juice
12oz Sprite
1 shot Triple Sec
3 shots Brandy
1 cup of White Porto
1 shot white rum is desired
2 apples & oranges sliced

My favorite Sangria recipe!

 

My favorite Sangria recipe:

1 bottle of red wine - preferably Portuguese
...4 shots of brandy
1 shot of triple sec
...2 shots of Porto "ruby"
2 shots of Noilly Prat
1 apple, thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 orange, thinly sliced
1 quart of orange juice
1/2 cup of 7-Up
2 tea-spoons of sugar / simple syrup
cinnamon
3 mint leaves

Manon, Tempranillo, Vino De La Tierra De Castilla, Spain

Castilla region is now on the map!

Three months aging creates notes of berries, spices, and coconut.
Its fresh and balanced great intensity and amazing value!

Castilla is a Spanish geographical indication for Vino de la Tierra wines located in the autonomous region of Castile La Mancha. Vino de la Tierra is one step below the mainstream Denominación de Origen indication on the Spanish wine quality ladder.

Casal Garcia Vinho Verde

Soft - fruity - fresh! Racy citrus run into a lean and crispy finish!
A great entertainer and comedian!

Fish, seafood, salads or Asian dishes.

From their website:
Casal Garcia is named after the land where the first grapes of this wine came from. It is the area surrounding an century old house still inhabited by farmers at Quinta da Aveleda.

white grapes: Alvarinho - [also known as Albariño], Arinto, Avesso, Azal, Batoca, Loureiro, and Trajadura

Aveleda Fonte Vinho Verde, Portugal

Aveleda Fonte is a fresh, fruity wine that offers snap to any occasion! Citrus notes and refreshing acidity are seamless and cascade to a pleasing finish!

A vivacious and smooth white Vinho Verde that can be the perfect match for light meals, seafood or served as an appetizer.

Vinho Verde is a Portuguese wine from the Minho region in the far north of the country. The name literally means "Green Wine" (red or white), referring to its youthful freshness rather than its color. Many of the growers train their vines high off the ground, up trees, fences, and even telephone poles so that they can cultivate vegetable crops below the vines that their families may use as a food source.




At less than one bar of CO₂ pressure, [captured during fermentation] not considered sparkling wines but do have a definite pétillance [a slight amount of bubbles / spritz]

BoomTown Merlot

WA Merlot is an amazing thing. NO fruit bomb here. New World fruit inherits an old world Bordeaux style body! Fruity, structured, and refined, JUST DRINK IT

BoomTown Chardonnay

100% Stainless steel!

Comes from a cooler high elevation vineyard and displays the perfect blend of apple and roundness that dives right into a balanced yet refreshing finish!

Tagaris Estate “Boar Doe,” Washington State

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec

The Bordeaux blend is a huge mouthful of jammy black fruit followed by 

cedar and tobacco, smooth and refined, chewy coca and and a 

smack of fruit expands along the  long pleasing finish.