A good inventory of the wonderful 2009 Napa Sauvignon Blanc has allowed us to concentrate and save (w/o any qualitative sacrifice) with our WSV grapes. Cool climate fruit similar to that made famous by their Kiwi cousins.

Riesling, Underwood Mountain, Columbia Gorge
Produced from 2009 juice frozen. The essence of the grapes was taken from the frozen juice, leaving the water behind. 35° to 32° brix. Should be made as a Sauterne style wine. Cost per 375 liter less than $4.00.

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Since 1971 I have harvested Cabernet Sauvignon. The home winemakers I harvested and sourced grapes for have explored all the regions of Napa Valley (not county) and Sonoma County. As in most of the grapes I source, the location should be on the cool side of the varietal's growing range. The cooler maturation of the fruit I have come to believe is critical in varietal aromatics and overall character of the wine. While I am still a great lover of Rutherford Bench Cabs, my sourcing has migrated to cooler areas. I have been extremely pleased with the State Lane Cabernet Sauvignon we have offered over the past years. It is highly regarded - and priced - by Paul Hobbs, Nickle & Nickle, and Laird Estates. The lack of demand for this and the wonderful Rutherford Cab we still have in inventory has spoken loud. With great regret I have discontinued these grapes for 2010.

There are many less expensive Cabernets available, but they are not as good. The cost of growing the finest is expensive, and that special wine requires fine grapes. Realizing that there are wonderful Cabs from past years still in BV's inventory, at never again - even in these times- prices, I am basing my 2010 offerings to two outstanding Cabernet Sauvignons that exhibit the best California has to offer.

John Caldwell has been a supporter of wine nuts like us. His wines have gained great distinction. Visit his web site and gain an appreciation of the devotion and energy he and his family have devoted to his wonderful vineyard in the Southeast corner of Napa Valley. A section of this vineyard is designated to you - Chateau Home Winemaker. You are not in second place to any Napa Valley winery! (Hugh Johnson's quarterly magazine recently had an article on John - a great read.)

The viticultural excellence of Caldwell in Napa is comparable to Phil Coturri's of Sonoma. Phil has a firm that plants and cares for some of the finest vineyards in Sonoma and Napa. He is devoted to organic farming and one of the very best. One of the more spectacular vineyards he farms is on the very top of the west ridge of the Mayacamas Mountains, above Kenwood. This is the epitome of a mountain top vineyard. This will be our third year in providing this fruit. It is special. The vineyard is organically farmed with the utmost care to provide ultra premium grapes. Mountain fruit ripens with cooler days and warmer nights. While last years inventory is available at below cost pricing, I am reluctant to pass on such a great vineyard - and you shouldn't. When these vineyards pass to a premium winery, they will be contracted for years to come. While times are depressingly difficult, I am hoping the home winemaker is not going to bow out of the finest grapes. Once out, the door will be closed as in France and Italy.

Assuming some of you will pass on the $100/bottle grapes, and settle for the $50/bottle range I am scouring the cool, premium vineyards of Napa, Sonoma and Washington for a deal. The prospects look good for a small patch in the heart of Sonoma Valley, we will see - depending upon your interest.

Maligned by film and the major component of the best claret style wines in the world, I love good Merlot. Heat is not a forgiving climate for growing Merlot. The cool Carneros has been my favorite region for this wonderful grape. I am presently finishing bottles of 1980 & 1985 made with 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. They are drinkable, and much better than enjoyable. Carneros Merlot has wonderful complexity and rich, full mouth feel. A splash of Merlot in the above Cabs, or the other way around, will make you very happy. I have proved it over and over. You will too.

Brehm Vineyards produce a commercial bottling of Merlot from frozen grapes, available for sale.

Zinfandel is California's grape, no matter what Croatia says. It is one of the most challenging grapes to select a vineyard for and to harvest at the correct moment. The Zin takes on the character of its vineyard and region as demonstratively as any varietal. The Sierra foothills, Lodi, Dry Creek, Paso Robles all define themselves with unique character. It may be that the vines are old enough to extract their personalities from their deep ranging roots. It is more likely the combination of soil and climate. I am a devote of the Dry Creek, North Coast raspberry, blackberry brambling character. Aged in good French of Hungarian oak it can compete with the finest Cabernets. Dry Creek was the source of our Zins in the '70s and early '80s. The price and availability of the 60+-year-old dry farmed Zinfandel from this valley became difficult and expensive.

After sourcing for a few years from Santa Rosa to Dry Creek, I found satisfaction in Windsor and Limerick Lane. These vineyards offered good acidity, bright fruit character and ripeness. Bathed in morning fog and kissed by sufficient afternoon sun, these 60+ year old, dry farmed grapes offered quality and value. Vineyards were shared with Saint Francis Winery for most of the past 20 some years. In 2009 Saint Francis pulled back its high end Zinfandel production. This year a new player has entered our coveted Willey's Windsor Zinfandel. They are buying all the dry farmed Zinfandel and Alicante at higher prices than ever. I actually understand - they are not making this anymore; there is a very limited dwindling supply. At the same time our sales of these particular grapes is at the lowest ebb. The quality has never been higher. These grapes have won the Best of Show, the Lallmand trophy, etc. I cannot risk paying more for these grapes and not being able to sell them. The 2009 are available, discounted and wonderful.

A portion of the Windsor Vineyard is irrigated with vines not quite as old as the portion we have gotten over the last years. The vines are well tended and the fruit will be outstanding. If there is a strong demand I will consider harvesting it. Potential price is listed.

Many years ago I extended my Zinfandel search further north to Mendocino County. Zinfandel here has a very similar character to Windsor/Dry Creek. The vines are as old and some are dry farmed. A region on the west slope of the ridge, running parallel to the Russian River, just south of Ukiah, is called the Talmage Bench. With in this bench I have sourced wonderful Zinfandel and Petite Sirah from Edon Knoll Vineyards. It is a very old dry farmed Italian vineyard created in the early 1900's. It occupies a knoll that is a little cooler in the day than the surrounding country. It blooms and ripens after the Windsor Zinfandel, challenges it in quality and beats it in price. It is a great value. Utilize the Petite Sirah to add further spice and color to your Zinfandel wine - that is the reason they were planted there.

I came to the region of the White Salmon River inspired with dreams of opulent, seductive Pinot Noirs. As in many new adventures I soon encountered a wonderful, different enological surprise. The higher, cooler vineyards of the region were Alsace! Vintage after vintage they produced grapes the envy of any Alsatian vineyard. The differences between the White Salmon region and Alsace are the lack of rot - botrytis and the reglation they can not add acid to their wine. The Alto Adage of Italy also produces quality Pinot Grigio - same grape as Alsatian Pinot Gris. The White Salmon region is as good as the best of Alsace and better than the best of Italy (sorry guys - we do love you). The Underwood Mountain Pinot Grigio is dry farmed at 1400 ft. The very cool climate grapes have always ripened with good sugar, crisp acidity and reasonable pH. They may be finished dry. Malolactic fermentation is often advisable - always for stability.

As mentioned in Pinot Grigio, Gewurztraminer performs incredibly in the cooler regions of the Columbia Gorge. It always develops a wonderful leeche nut character. Is highly aromatic. The mouth feel is full with a spicy character leaving a pleasant, lingering sensation. The Gewürztraminer grape ripens with quite low acid. In Alsace, not being able to add acid, the wines are often finished with a slight sweetness. This is not necessary with these Gorge grapes. The presence of botrytis character in a good number of the better Alsatian wines has confused me. In the White Salmon region the grapes ripen very clean. They seem capable of resisting rot. They also ripen quite early. I speculate that over the centuries the Alsatians have learned to plant the Gewürz in plots that ripen very late. They keep the best, warmest sites for the highly valued Riesling. Here we are in our first generation of planting. While we have found the cool climate sites, we use the best ground for what we know will ripen. In many of these sites the ripening of current clones of Riesling are not possible. These grapes have won 'Best of Show' at every serious national competition. The modest price goes with an exceptional wine. These wines will age, giving great pleasure, for six to eight years. The juice may also be utilized with pleasing results when combined with the WSV Chardonnay. Equal parts of Gewürz and Chard make a great Spicy White.

We make both Gewürztraminer and Spicy White at our White Salmon Vineyard winery.