News

2016 Fall Release


As harvest winds down, the wines are topped up in barrel, and the weather turns cool enough for wine shipping, we are pleased to announce the Fall 2016 Release of new wines. This exciting release includes the following low production, handcrafted wines:

Pinot Noirs
2014 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills
2014 Pinot Noir, Fiddlestix Vineyard (6 bottle limit)
2014 Pinot Noir, Duvarita Vineyard (6 bottle limit)
2014 Pinot Noir, John Sebastiano Vineyard (6 bottle limit)
2014 Pinot Noir, Black Label (6 bottle limit)

Syrahs
2014 Seven (Syrah Blend)
2014 Syrah, John Sebastiano Vineyard. (Wine Club Exclusive; Orders of up to 6 bottles may be filled if stock remains)

Sauvignon Blancs
2014 Sauvignon Blanc Vogelzang Vineyard

Wine Club Members – This is the general Fall Release; it does not affect your current wine club allocation. You have already received the 2014 Syrah, John Sebastiano Vineyard in the Fall 2016 Shipment and red-only members will also be receiving the 2014 Pinot Noir, John Sebastiano Vineyard. Upcoming shipments will include the 2014 Pinot Noir Black Label, the 2014 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard and 2014 Sauvignon Blanc Vogelzang Vineyard. Shipping club members wishing to add on to their Fall shipment with any of these wines please respond by Wednesday, Oct 19.

We are excited to make these wines available to you. The 2013 versions of each of these wines were extremely successful, selling quickly and garnering high praise from critics. We believe that the 2014 versions of these wines are worthy successors, as the warm (but not overly hot) 2014 vintage provided excellent quality grapes, high in flavor and personality, but reasonable in sugars, with plenty of supporting acid. The resulting wines display good depth and concentration, terrific aromatics and silky texture, aided by a remarkable freshness that lifts and extends the ripe, complex flavors. Don’t wait for the scores or you will miss out on these terrific wines.

Details- This offer will remain open until November 4, 2016. Allocations will be made in the order received, based upon wine club membership level and order history. Place your orders before the closing date, and we will attempt to fill those orders based upon available stock. Orders will ship during the week of November 7, weather permitting.

Click here to place your order

The Wines

Pinot Noirs

2014 Pinot Noir, Black Label (Sta. Rita Hills) *Allocation: 6 bottles*

Our “Black Label” Pinot Noir represents a blend of our finest few barrels of Pinot Noir from the vintage. In 2014, the wine was comprised of select barrels from these top SRH vineyards: La Encantada (50%) John Sebastiano (17%), Radian (17%), Fiddlestix (8%) and Cargasacchi (8%). The wine was aged for 20 months in French oak barrels (25% new) and bottled without fining or filtration. Extremely Limited. Only 285 cases produced. The 2013 version of this wine was called “a sensational effort” and given 95 points by Jeb Dunnick in the Wine Advocate. Antonio Galloni called it “superb” and gave it 94 points.

2014 Pinot Noir, Fiddlestix Vineyard (Sta. Rita Hills) *Allocation: 6 bottles*

Fiddlestix is a renowned vineyard at the cool western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills appellation. The early morning fog and cool afternoon breezes provide Pinot Noir with a long, even growing season, which allows full phenolic maturity at reasonable sugar levels. We obtain fruit from four separate blocks (four different clones) throughout the vineyard, and each is individually monitored, harvested, fermented, barreled, and aged. Each clone contributes complexity to the final blend, as does the selective use of whole cluster fermentation on selected lots (13% of the blend). The wine was aged for 20 months in French oak barrels (13% new) and bottled without filtration. Extremely Limited. Only 380 cases produced. The 2013 version of this wine was given 92 points by the Wine Advocate and 92+ points by Antonio Galloni.

2014 Pinot Noir, Duvarita Vineyard (Sta. Rita Hills) *Allocation: 6 bottles*

Duvarita vineyard is located in Santa Barbara County, west of the Sta. Rita Hills. The vineyard lies on gentle, south-facing slopes of almost pure sand. As of 2013, the vineyard has been farmed biodynamically. The low vigor soils, small canopy and a low fruit zone combine to make this one of the earliest ripening vineyards we farm. The small clusters here give wines that are lean and elegant, with terrific intensity, stony minerality, and a firm Pommard-like edge of red fruits, earth and herbs. The 2014 Duvarita Pinot Noir was aged for 18 months on the lees in French oak barrels, 10% new. Extremely Limited. Only 250 cases produced. The 2013 Duvarita Pinot received 93 points from Antonio Galloni and 92 from the Wine Advocate.

2014 Pinot Noir, John Sebastiano Vineyard (Sta. Rita Hills) *Allocation: 6 bottles*

John Sebastiano Vineyard is a dramatic, steep and windswept vineyard at the north-eastern edge of the Sta. Rita Hills appellation. Pinot Noir is the most prevalent grape in the vineyard, which lies in numerous blocks with a tremendous variety of aspects and different clones. We chose Pommard clones at the north edge of the vineyard, where the soils contain a bit more loam to go with the ubiquitous sands, and where the abutting hillside provides some protection from the winds. Though JSV (as we call it) provides the backbone for our Sta. Rita Hills bottling, in 2014, a small group of 7 barrels stood out for their personality, expressiveness and pure yumminess, and we made this single vineyard wine. The 2014 John Sebastiano Pinot Noir was aged for 18 months on its lees in French oak barrels, 28% new. The wine is dramatically spiced, with tremendous fruit and terrific palate presence. It is Extremely Limited; only 165 cases produced.

2014 Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills

The SRH Pinot Noir is all about complexity and balance. From the inception of our winery we have believed that blending Pinot Noir from diverse vineyard blocks and sites would create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Wines form the warmer parts of the SRH would provide dramatic fruits and baking spices, wines from the cooler portions would provide higher toned red fruits, fresh herbs, minerals and great acidity. Over the years we have selected vineyard sources for the purpose of crafting this wine, and in 2014 we blended grapes from 6 different vineyards to make this wine sing the song of the Santa Rita Hills – beautifully pure, fairly rich red fruits, excellent spices and big but beautiful structure. We carefully age the wines on their lees to limit movement and retain freshness and energy. In 2014 the wine was comprised of grapes from John Sebastiano (52%), La Encantada (20%), Cargasacchi (10%), Radian (8%), Fiddlestix (7%) and Duvarita (3%). The wine was aged for 15 months in French oak barrels (10% new). The wine is really about beauty, texture and freshness and it should even eclipse the 2013, which was called “rich, ample and enveloping, [but with] gorgeous aromatic lift” and given 92 points by Antonio Galloni and 90 points in the Wine Advocate.

Syrah

2014 Syrah, John Sebastiano Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley. *Wine Club Exclusive; Orders of up to 6 bottles will be filled if stock remains*

John Sebastiano Vineyard is a dramatic hillside site on the border of the Sta. Rita Hills and is one of the coolest sites planted to Rhone varietals in all of California. We farm two clones of Syrah at JSV; the own rooted 383 is located at the very top of the vineyard, on a steep, south facing hillside of clay loam, and clone 470 on east facing slopes at the northern edge of the vineyard. Due to the cool western location and steep windy aspect, this block enjoys a long cool growing season, giving excellent aroma and flavor compounds. The wines here are cool, energetic and mineral-laden, with high toned red and black fruits, with great aromatics. This wine has been showing well already, with amazing depth and complexity, though it has the stuffing to evolve for 10-12+ years. Extremely Limited. Only 205 cases produced, most of which has already been allocated to the wine club. Only 25 cases remain for this release. The 2013 version of this wine was called “flat out fantastic” and “seriously impressive” by Jeb Dunnick in the Wine Advocate who bestowed 95 points on it. It also received 91 points from Antonio Galloni.

2014 Seven, Central Coast (88% Syrah, 11% Grenache, 1% Viognier)

Seven is our Syrah-based blend, originally named for the seven exceptional cool climate vineyard sites from which it was comprised. We have refined our vineyard sources for this wine over the years, selecting precise blocks and clones to increase aromatic and flavor complexity, rather than sheer fruit power. The 2014 Seven is comprised of 88% Syrah, 11% Grenache and 1% co-fermented Viognier. The Syrah portion is sourced from John Sebastiano Vineyard (55%); Stolpman Vineyard (15%), Harrison Clarke (15%) and Thompson Vineyard (15%). Grenache comes from Thompson and John Sebastiano Vineyards. The wine was aged in neutral oak barrels for 20 months and was bottled without filtration. We are thrilled with the performance of this wine, as it is already beginning to show off explosive, complex aromatics (red, blue and black fruits, spices and meats), a rich, yet weightless palate, with beautiful smooth texture and a scintillatingly long finish for such a young wine. We expect this wine to continue to develop over the coming years and to last for well over a decade. Limited. Only 570 cases produced. The 2013 Seven was lauded by the Wine Advocate, with a 93 point score, and received 91 points from Antonio Galloni.

Sauvignon Blanc

2014 Sauvignon Blanc, Vogelzang Vineyard (Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara)

One of the most dramatic, age worthy and consistently well reviewed sauvignon blancs in California, the Vogelzang Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc is our California interpretation of white Bordeaux. We use barrel fermentation and extended barrel aging to provide incredible depth, complexity and a rich texture for the wine, while maintaining its striking, soil-driven minerality and naturally solid acidity for structure. The wine is a reserve-level selection of our favorite lots of Vogelzang, aged for 12 months on its lees in 77% French oak barrels (12% new) and 23% stainless steel barrels. After a draconian selection, the resulting wine is blended and put back down to tank for an additional 6 months for harmonization and freshness. Only 330 cases made. The 2013 version of this wine received 93 points from Antonio Galloni and 92 points from the Connoisseur’s Guide.

Conclusion

We are proud to release these exciting new wines. Each one is handcrafted in small amounts, and they will disappear quickly. Don’t delay; give us a call at 805.693.0077 or go online to order now.

We hope you have a wonderful Fall season,

John, Steve, Brandon and the entire Dragonette Cellars Team