Whew, it's been an intense few weeks! We've conquered new business planning and have powered through big-time meetings and financial spreadsheets with all our might - oh and along with huge OND (October November December) K&L and TexaCali Wine priorities. So a chance to meet our #16 Kickstarter Backer this week was a very welcomed interruption. Rodd Shedd, the owner of Vine to Wine Concierge in Vermont arrived last Tuesday morning with a huge smile on his face and a delicious gift of Vermont Maple Syrup for us. How sweet! It was a quicker meeting than we normally would have scheduled since we were both buried with our day-jobs, however, Ali jumped on the opportunity to meet with Ron and personally thank him for his support.
Rodd was the first person we've taken through our "Garagiste" winery in Santa Rosa. It's a tough time to taste right now since all the wines are still developing in barrel and tank ( I mean they still have half their life ahead!), but at the very minimum the nose and flavor profiles come through - if they are this good now, we can't wait to taste the finished wines in bottle next year.
Our Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc was our first of 2 tastings of the morning. Our Co-winemaker Katy so kindly helped pour a little out of our large 2100 gallon tank...we are scared of opening the nozzle/tap thingy. ha. Right away the aroma pulled me into this pretty white wine.So far we find our Sauvignon Blanc to be beautiful mix of minerality backed up by bright citrus notes of clementines and tangy lemons, with a little hint of stone fruit characters like ripe apricots and white peaches. Ohhhhh this is going to be our first release, one we are so very proud of, now we patiently wait for bottling time to arrive.
After walking Rodd through the cavernous barrel rooms and crush pad, we pulled a barrel sample of the Helluva Vineyard Pinot Noir to taste. Oh this wine is already tugging at our heartstrings. We can't even begin to create tasting notes on it right now, it screams Anderson Valley Pinot Noir already, but wow the sensory layers are abundant! The Helluva Pinot Noir will be our first red wine release next fall...not soon enough. We are so grateful for Rodd's enthusiasm and for his early support, we are so very glad he stopped by to see us during his visit to California Wine Country. Please don't hesitate to ever reach out to us at directly to taste with us and meet in person too.
Oh - we've had French Toast for breakfast all week Rodd! Thank you again for the delicious Maple Syrup for your home state Vermont...This is Our Story -
Eric & Ali
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