Q3 2024 Daily Drinker Club

Grounded Wine Co 

• The wines are made in San Luis Obispo but the company’s HQ is in downtown St. Helena.  There is no public tasting room.
• Produces ~75,000 cases per year across 7 wines
• Second-generation Napa owner, Josh Phelps has been recognized as Forbes 30 under 30, Wine Enthusiast 40 under 40, and Zagat 30 under 30.  Whilte there’s no relation to Joseph Phelps, his father, Chris Phelps did create Joseph Phelps Insignia, with Joseph Phelps.

2023 Space Age California Rosé

• 91% Grenache, 9% Cinsault, primarily from the Central Coast.
• Fermented in 100% Stainless Steel

Tasting notes:
Our gentle approach to rosé winemaking ensures the retention of the precise color and flavors present in the grapes at harvest. This 2023 rosé exhibits our trademark array of super fresh, crisp strawberry and raspberry flavors, with hints of lemon zest and pomelo. The alluring natural acidity adds tension and sustains the wine throughout its focused, aromatic finish.

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Coil Wines

• Produced in Napa Valley.  Public tasting room by appointment only in St Helena, CA 
• Under 1,000 cases produced between the Pinot Noir and a Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
• Made by Chris Phelps

A COIL represents the cyclical nature of grapes and winemaking, and the tension that makes a good wine remarkable.

2019 Signal Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir

• 290 cases made
• 100% Pinot Noir clones Swan, Pommard, 2A
• 14 months in 30% new French oak

Tasting Notes:
Nose: complex aromas of slate, cherry, white pepper with a faint savory character in the background

Palate: fresh flavors of Bing cherry, black tea; firm acidity provides balance and an intriguing tension that enhances the long, spicy finish

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About Markus Wine Co

• Produces ~1,000 cases per year across Vermentino, Kerner, Gewuerztraminer, a Petite Sirah blend, a Zinfandel blend, Carignan and a Sparkling Bacchus
• No public tasting room

Founded in 2014, Markus Wine Co. began as a subventure ofLodi’s first boutique winery, Borra Vineyards. Swiss-born winemaker Markus Niggli selects from wisely-planted ancient vines and newly-planted unusual offerings throughout the Lodi region to craft small-produc­tion bottlings. 

You can sum up our winemaking in two words: fruit and age. We want wines to be “zeitlos” – ageless and memorable – to drink young or with a decade or more of age, and still be absolutely elegant. Our wines are fruit-driven, but balanced with above-average acidity, and soft, integrated tannins, to be enjoyed with meals. We believe real winemaking happens out in the vineyard, so that in the winery we do as little as possible, using natural yeast and natural ML.

For what’s on the bottles, Markus explains, “People, like wine, are shaped by unique places. I spent 1994 in New Zealand (NZ) picking blueberries on a farm in Pohangina Valley. Hard work, but that first trip from Switzerland taught me how different and cool the world is, and planted seeds to move to California. You will find notes of those blueberries with blackberries in this dry, well-structured blend. Joanna Duong cleverly captured New Zealand in this label.” − Markus Niggli, Winemaker

About the 2021 Blue

• 250 cases produced
• 60% Petit Verdot, 20% Zinfandel, 20% Carignane
• 24 months in French oak 50%-once-filled 50%-neutral

Tasting Notes
A few years ago, Markus was blown away by Petit Verdot he tasted growing right next to 110+-year-old Carignane in Spenker Ranch and figured he’d experiment. This blend along with Zinfandel and ancient-vine Carignane has become a favorite of Markus fans.

Lots of flavor here. Very savory and almost meaty. Dark fruits, like blackberries and blueberries, come together with roast beef and bacon and seem to increase in volume before the crescendo finish. It’s mouth filling, but more with big flavor rather than big tannins. Those tannins are there, not totally smoothed out yet as they play their supporting role for aging. Hints of black olive, licorice and coffee suggest that with a little more age this beauty will become even more intriguing.

You could put your juicy grilled steak on a plate and this wine in your glass and chase each bite with a sip for the sauce and you’d be very happy. Or try duck or chicken with a savory – not sweet – sauce made with this wine.

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About Andis Wines

• Located in Plymouth, CA
• Produces ~9,000 cases per year across Zinfandel, Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Arinto and others.
• They winery practices dry and sustainable farming, and is majority female owned and operated
• The wines are made in partnership with consulting winemaker Philippe Melka. 

About the 2021 Di Stasio Vineyard Zinfandel

• 267 cases produced
• 100% Zinfandel
• 18 months in: 18% new French Oak, 10% new Austrian Oak, 72% used oak

Tasting notes:
The nose offers red and blue fruits, fowery incense, candied violets, and brambly herbs. Medium to full-bodied and nicely textured, with remarkable purity of fruit as well as ripe tannins.  Drink bottles any time over the coming 4-6 years.

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About Stringer Cellars

• Located in Windsor, CA 
• Produces ~3,000 cases per year across 12 different wines – 5 x Napa Cabernet Sauvignons, 2 x Chardonnay, 2x Syrah, 1 x SB, 1 x Rosé, 1 x Grenache, 1 x Late Harvest Viognier
• Tastings by appointment only

About the 2021 Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah

• 150 cases produced
• 100% Syrah from the Santa Maria Valley AVA in Santa Barbara County
• 50% new French oak 13 Months
• Bien Nacido is one of the premiere Syrah Vineyard in the country.  It has the perfect cool climate and sandy soils for very long hangtime. 

Tasting notes:
The 2021 Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah is anintensely colored wine that pours an opaque deepred. The nose is brambly with spicy black pepperand violet floral notes. This full-bodied Syrah isround and silky with flavors of ripe berry compote,wild thyme blackberries, sea spray, and coco-powder. Ready to drink now, but further aging willbe rewarded.

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About Porterhouse Winery

• Located in San Carlos, CA with tastings by appointment only
• Produce approx 2,000 cases per year, across Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Red Blends and Single Vineyard wines from Napa, Sonoma, and Santa Cruz Mtns
• Owner/Winemaker Adam Comartin previously made wines with Testarossa Winery in Los Gatos for 10 years before starting his own winery, focused on making artisanal wines from special vineyards. Currently he has produced more than (50) 90+ wines under the Comartin and Porterhouse brands over the last 10 years.

Porterhouse Winery is dedicated to owner/winemaker Adam Comartin’s grandfathers who were butchers, who cut the finest meats for friends and family. In parallel, Porterhouse Winery is committed to producing the finest wines.

About the 2019 Blackridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

• 250 cases produced
• 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
• 48 months in 40% new French oak

Ttasting notes:
Blackberry jam, dried herbs, anise and cedar on the nose lead to boysenberry and tart rhubarb followed by a boldly structured finish of fine tannins, notes of vanilla and toast. The Blackridge Vineyard is a steep high elevation vineyard on hillside of Santa Cruz Mountains (same neighborhood as Ridge Winery). The stress of the hillside exposure create small berries and bold tannins – perfect for aging world class Cabernet.