Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains, Dettamanti Vineyard, 2006

Unusually generous crop from a peculiar weather year, the 2006 reminds us of a Beaujolais style, accented with bright “red fruit” aromas of strawberry and cherry.  This is a wine to enjoy for its youthful enthusiasm…not one to gather dust in the cellar.  Our price adjustment represents, we believe, a fair assessment of its picnic charm and its enigmatic place in a parade of more intense vintages from this summit vineyard.  .

Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains , Meadowridge 2006

I was planning to keep this one stacked in the caves until 2009, but it tastes so good that I'm releasing it to our mailing list customers now. Pinot usually goes through an awkward adolescence in the bottle, but this precocious junior is running cross country, writing poetry, and applying for early admission. ($30.00 pre-release , shamelessly inflating later.)

Pinot Noir 2005, Meadowridge, Santa Cruz Mountains

From Dr. Weber's meticulously tended Dijon Clones, this wine is currently our restaurant best seller. For a wine neophyte wondering, “What should Pinot taste like?”…this wine will supply both the answer and a grin. Silver medal last year.

Pinot Noir, Arroyo Seco 2004, Dijon Clones— Vertical Pleasure

The 2002 Arroyo Seco Dijon Clones Pinot won the coveted Best of Show award in the Santa Cruz Mountains competition several years ago…but more important to us mountain chauvinists, that meant it was also the Best Pinot.  The 2002 is gone, but to be honest, the 2004 is a bigger household favorite.  It's concentrated and “big” for a Pinot, but it positively bursts with Pinot varietal character of dried cherry and pomegranate fruit, with toasty vanilla overtones from French oak.  It also offers an enchanting hint of forest floor—just beckoning the chef to be generous with the mushrooms.  You'll love it.$32

2003 This wine always carried plenty of fruit, and now a subtle earthy tone is developing with bottle age. Burgundians fawn for this. Your first kiss makes your heart race. The second kiss is better. $32

OK, despite my heritage of righteous defiance, I have joined the hordes of winemakers making Bordeaux inspired blends. There is a reason everybody wants one. This delicious, Cabernet dominant blend from the Wiley Ranch continues to spread its wings, and while it perhaps seeks a fulfillment more aligned with roadrunner than turkey, the Coyote will capture you nevertheless.

Primitivo 2003, Late Harvest

We’ve made roughly 250 wines over Salamandre’s 21 years, and this is my favorite of them all. The 2003 Primitivo was harvested late and very sweet. The natural fermentation tried valiantly but surrendered with 7% sugar remaining in the wine. We treated it like Port over 2 years in the barrel, and it’s finally time to greet the world. It fills the room with jubilant fruitiness when someone pulls the cork. Serve this glass full of hedonism only to someone you love. Fashion your own dessert.

Primitivo 2004 Ultra Late Harvest

A few warm days spiked the harvest sugar well beyond what normal yeast can handle...over 35%. It quit with 14% residual sugar...more than most ports, with a great concentration of ripe fruit flavors. Yes, of course, this harmonizes with dark chocolate, but try it with vanilla ice cream or Bosc pears or, perhaps best of all, an imaginative companion. This wine is precious and scarce—I've never made anything like it before and may never have the chance again.

Primitivo 2005, Monterey County

This one returns to the glory of the 1999, 2000, and 2001—bombastic, bursting briars and berries just begging to go outside with you and your best friend, rain or shine. Makes everything you touch fabulous.

Syrah 2004, Monterey County  

This wine does not respect red curbs, No Trespassing signs, high surf warnings, nor saturated fat admonitions. It will never wear a necktie. Serve with rare beef or something boldly spiced. Forget the napkin, but cinch your shoelaces, and remember to say “Thank you.

Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains, Dettamanti Vineyard, 2006

Unlike so many flabby California Chardonnays, this cool climate wine from the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains offers a lean, angular structure with crisp acid and subtle oak overtones.  This wine will awaken your inner chef. 

Viognier & Pinot Blanc, Arroyo Seco, 2006

We picked Pinot Blanc and Viognier in even proportions, bordering upon late harvest ripeness.  It surely is one of the most intensely fruity wines we've made—white peach and apricot, with honey and some unidentified exotic warm spice in the background. Although the wine finished bone dry, the ripe fruit aromas perform a Jedi mind trick and make you think it's sweet.  I like this before meals with stuffed portabellas, or something crunchy with Humboldt Fog or Point Reyes Blue cheese, or something slippery like oysters.  After dinner, serve this with your best infidel's grin.  You're on your own, but you're going to have a good time.  Gone before May.