Mar 25, 2024 at 11:05 AM
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If you're thinking about purchasing, or better yet, pulling the cork on one of our new spring releases, I invite you to sit down, click on each of the wines below, and taste along with me. I'll review the vintage with you, and the results it had on how we farmed the land and the techniques I used in the cellar to produce the finest wines our calcareous soil could provide.
And in these videos, I'm also excited to show off our new wine labels! After decades of producing noteworthy, collectible, and truly distinctive wines, we realized along the way that our wine labels never quite reflected the beauty and quality of what was inside each bottle. So this refresh was past due, and we are excited to give our members first access to these new wines donning our new look in this club exclusive pre-release. In my 2022 Zinfandel video below, I tell you a little more about why we designed them the way we did, so be sure to check it out. I hope you'll check out all the videos, and I hope you enjoy these new wines!
Head Winemaker, Jason Joyce
Click on each wine above to watch the video!
Feb 21, 2024 at 6:00 AM
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The 2023 harvest came to an end with the pressing of the Signature Cabernet Sauvignon barrels on November 27th. Starting with the first pick of Estate Chardonnay on September 1st, this vintage stretched out for a full 88 days. Having the harvest last so long created an extremely unique situation. How these wines evolve is yet to be determined, as the early and late picks almost seem from separate vintages. The early picked fruit, including all the whites, are extremely bright with fresh fruit. The reds are deeply red colored with young spicy tannin and the age worthy structure that comes from such a cooler than usual growing season.
The much feared early rainfall never materialized and the temperature remained warm and mild well into November, so more than half of our Estate fruit was allowed to hang onthe vines for an extended time. This later picked fruit had much rounder tannins, lower acid, and a softer ripe fruit character. The color was equally dark yet more purple in hue.
This winter, as we revisit the wines after a bit of barrel aging, we will start the blending process. This year's blending will be more intensive as the stark difference in character between all the picks will allow for the creation of extremely complex wines. The single varietal wines such as Cab, Syrah, and Grenache will be blends to a certain extent. Even the Devil's Canyon Syrah was split in picks between the top and bottom halves of the vineyard block, thus allowing for a more nuanced expression.
Overall I am extremely excited about these wines. I've never had such varied ingredients to play with in creating the final wines, so the potential for some extremely powerful, complex and unique wines is unmatched in my time here.
Jason Joyce
Winemaker
Dec 1, 2023 at 10:27 AM
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Answers to the question, "How is all that rain going to express itself in the vintage?" are starting to appear. Bud break, the awakening from dormancy, was a few days later than usual as the mild to cool spring slowly roused the vines. The deep green color of early shoot growth was our first indication that the root zones had been washed of excess salts built up over the dry years. Late spring has been mild to warm without any excessively hot days. This has encouraged ample shoot growth and allowed the vines to exert energy developing new and deeper roots.
It is mid-May, and there is still no sign of flowering in the vineyard, even in our Chardonnay. This is just a bit behind schedule, but with warmer, longer days now arriving, the vineyard will catch up quickly. Counting the inflorescences (the "pre-flowers" that turn into grapes) the overall yield appears to be about average. This is encouraging, as it should supply a generous canopy-to-fruit ratio, allowing the vines to protect the fruit during summer and also drive ripeness.
The job of the winemaker during vintages like this is to understand that the challenge is balancing the vines' ability to fully ripen the fruit, while still capturing vibrancy and the earthier elements that make a wine truly Calcareous.
Head Winemaker, Jason Joyce
May 16, 2023 at 2:00 PM
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If you're thinking about purchasing, or better yet, pulling the cork on one of our new summer releases, I invite you to sit down, click on each of the wines below, and taste along with me.
In this Wine Club exclusive pre-release, we are proud to introduce the 2022 Viognier, 2021 Trés Violet, 2021 Reserve Grenache, and 2021 Estate Syrah. I hope you enjoy!
Head Winemaker, Jason Joyce
Click on each wine above to watch the video!
May 8, 2023 at 1:20 PM
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Over the years, we have made big changes in our sustainability practices to help improve and protect our unique hilltop environment here at Calcareous. Earth Day and every day, we are dedicated to nurturing this land for generations and vintages to come.
With the addition of ten owl boxes on property, housing our native Barn Owls and Great Horned Owls, plus other boxes that act as catchalls, we are able to keep only beneficial animals in our vineyard.
From controlling our water supply and usage, to producing our own electricity, we take great care with our resources. Since installing solar panels in 2019, we have been consistently producing more power than we use.
We have discontinued the use of spraying herbicides under our vines. During winter and spring we let the native grasses and flowers choke out weeds, and then simply mow and hoe after vegetative growth begins in earnest. We have seen better moisture retention and a drop in both noxious weeds and harmful pests.
We've updated our fleet! For the first time ever, we were able to haul grapes for the 2022 vintage by electric truck.
We hope you enjoy tasting the rewards of our Earth-friendly efforts!
Head Winemaker, Jason Joyce
Apr 21, 2023 at 6:00 AM
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Our wet and cold winter has continued here at Calcareous, and it is a most welcome development for our vineyard. As of March 5th, we have received 26.27 inches of rain this year, well above our annual average of 19 inches. Storms are expected to continue throughout March with the potential to exceed 30 total inches of rain, which would certainly be a record since planting the vineyard in 2002. After a few years of drought, this amount of moisture is most welcome as it recharges ground water, leaches the soils of salt buildup, and gives the dormant vines a healthy start to the 2023 growing season.
In addition to the wet weather this winter, we are also benefitting from the fact that it has remained very cold. It takes a combination of warming nights and longer days to wake the vines from dormancy, leading to bud break. The past 2 winters were so dry and sunny, bud break began in mid/late February. However this year, we are now into March and there is still no sign of it. With the vines still in deep slumber when the snow started falling (for only the second time ever recorded at our Estate!) we were able to enjoy beautiful sights and snowball fights. If this had happened during last year’s early bud break, it could have been a disaster. So all things are looking up, with a late bud break hopefully helping to push harvest back to a more typical September start after last year’s early start in August.
Head Winemaker, Jason Joyce
Mar 5, 2023 at 8:00 AM
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