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I have known about Ampelos Cellars for a while now. My good friends Dave and Craig at Jaffurs Wine Cellars turned me on to their vineyard with what Jaffurs claims to be his best bottling of Syrah. Then I heard about their embrace of Biodynamics. Eventually, they showed up on Vaynerchuk for a 2 parter about blending (see both videos below). This time, it stuck. I reached out for Peter and Rebecca on the same day they reached out for me (they heard about me from the guys at Jaffurs!). We hooked up and discussed opportunities. Once we all decided that it might be a good fit, they sent me some samples. This is often one of the great perks of my job! We tasted through the wines last week. The Syrache, The Gamma Syrah and the Lambda Pinot Noir. Each had tons of personality and concentration. I called a few friends out that way, and the feeling was as I suspected, Ampelos is one of the hot rising stars of Santa Barbara. I am thrilled to announce the addition of Ampelos Cellars to the ampelography portfolio.

Every now and then, you come across a winery that is just doing everything right. Not flashy, no gimmicks, just really cool people making and selling great wine. That describes Anne Amie Vineyards to a "T".

Anne Amie is the baby of Robert Pamplin, Philanthropist, Author, Minister, Environmentalist, Educator, and much more. He purchased Chateau Benoit in 1999 in Willamette Valley. I can't speak to the quality of the wine prior to his purchase, but my understanding is that there was a lot of unfulfilled potential. He changed the name, and began bringing in some pretty key personnel. They kept one vineyard with Muller Thurgau, and pretty much replanted, grafted and generally changed everything else. They also purchased 3 additional estate vineyards. Most plantings are as recent as 2000-2001. Benoit had been producing every wine imaginable, but now, Anne Amie would, appropriately, focus on the 3 Pinots. L.I.V.E. and Salmon Safe practices were instituted, and Anne Amie was eventually certified.

With prime vineyards containing a diversity of Clones and Soil types, blending would be key. Single Vineyards bottlings can show great style, but many believe that blending different elements can result in a superior wine. The answer is there's no right answer, just style preferences. The results of Anne Amie are hard to argue against though. Using the right amount of age, and master blending results in very complex refined Pinot Noirs. The whites show the only flashiness, with rich Pinot Gris and racy Muller Thurgau, the whites have found thier own cult. As the wines gather age, and the winemaking and winegrowing team continues to flesh out the nuances of the grapes, this is a winery that is already making great wines, but has an even brighter future!

Growing into wine in the 90's, Bonny Doon was a tremendously important producer to me as I learned about wine. Randall Graham's embrace of Rhône varietals, as well as obscure Italians, gave hope to the idea that the world of wine did not begin and end with Chardonnay and Cabernet. His quirk and wit said that you can make serious wine without being self-important. There aren't too many rock stars in the wine world, Randall is definitely one.

This is the 3rd time I've sat down to write about Bonny Doon's addition to the portfolio, each time, finding myself at a loss for words. As I have discussed my portfolio with my colleagues, their amazement at the fact that I coerced them into the fold is compounding my writers block. I always try to think of the cliche, "act like you've been there before" whenever I approach something big and new and scary. I have a couple of funny stories that I'm going to keep in my pocket for now about Bonny Doon and Randall Graham. Somehow, though, I needed to give this brand all the sincerity I could muster. Fortunately, their National Sales Manager thought it would be wise for me to taste through the current lineup. This was a brilliant idea, as I guess I haven't tasted the entire lineup in a few years, since which time, Bonny Doon has reinvented themselves.

The lineup now includes the Ca' del Solo wines as well as the Cigare Volant wines, some dessert wines,and the Le Posseur Syrah. Gone are the larger production wines that you may have associated with BD over the years. Randall has always loved the old world analogues to his varieties, but without the overwhelming desire to replicate. This thought was crystallized in tasting through the wines. The Cigare wines are dead ringers for Rhône wines. great structure from the grenache made the red drink just like a great CDP. The white, with a healthy backbone of Grenache Blanc is one of my favorites white wines of this year. Rose, always rocks. Then we got to the Ca' del Solo lineup. My first thought was " this is the first Albarino from California that tasted like it came from Rias Baixas. Great minerality (California, really?),and that signature under ripe mandarin orange character.Then came the Nebbiolo and Dolcetto. Again, dead ringers for their Italian counterparts. Nebbiolo from California NEVER has this kind of Tannin and earthiness!

So with a few wines left to go through yet, I felt like i had a firm grasp on what is going on inside the bottle. These are all wines that make you reconsider whatever you feel or felt about Bonny Doon. They remind you why Randall Graham got to be so famous in the first place, by making great, interesting, challenging wines.

The Bonny Doon story can't really be told without discussing the other exciting concepts Randall has championed over the years. Remember his burial of corks? How about his take on Dante's Inferno? The story of the alien spacecraft? So what is he up to these days? First, all wines are now from either sustainably farmed vineyards, organic or biodynamic. How about Bonny Doon is now including all ingredients on their labels? And then there's sensitive crystallization. I can't think of the last time a concept in wine was so complex that it required hours of reading to just begin to understand what it means. The Ca' del Solo wines all have an image on the front of the sensitive crystallization of that particular wine. Sensitive crystallization is basically taking the wine (or grapes or plant material) combining them with cooper chloride in a petri dish and letting the liquid evaporate. What is left are these images of crystals that apparently tell one (that knows what to look for) all about the wine. They should show life force, balance, health in the wine. This is a concept that goes hand in hand with biodynamics. This is all an attempt from Randall to peer a little closer into the grape, the vineyard, the terroir, analyze what it gives back and frame this in a visual representation. Pretty heady stuff indeed.

Perhaps the thing that's makes Bonny Doon such a special producer is their spirit. Embracing something new and exciting not just for changes sake but for the progression of quality, discourse and responsibility. Bonny Doon takes risks everyday in the noble pursuit of enhancing your wine drinking experience. All I needed to do to understand this was drink some of their wine.





In the Wine Business, one of the characteristics that separates the everyday portfolio to that of distinction, can be the ability to see see the potential of greatness. I have known Buttonwood wines for about as long as I've been in the business. I bought them and enjoyed them, but always viewed them as a good value, but unremarkable.

Sometimes the thin line that lies between vision and potential is never crossed. Understanding the potential and matching it to a vision is a very difficult thing to do. We see a square peg in a round hole quite a bit. Once upon a time, every varietal was planted throughout Santa Barbara. Now that has been refined as visionary wineries refined their scope and found what worked. Because of the microclimate on the Eastern edge of Santa Ynez Valley, Bordeaux Varietals planted here have gotten pretty good.

Buttonwood planted about a third of their 100+ acres to vineyards, largely Bordeaux Varietals. The winery is almost 30 years old, what's changed? As is so often the case, the Winemaker. Karen Steinwachs has some really good experience working at 2 of my favorite wineries, Foley and Fiddlehead. 2 years ago, she came to Buttonwood and truly helped to improve what they were doing. They already had pretty good fruit sources, but how could this translate into wines of character? Karen surely must have looked to Bordeaux for inspiration, but probably not Pomerol or Medoc, but Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, or the satellites. As I've tasted through Karen's wines, her Sauvignon Blanc could easily pass for good Bordeaux Blanc. She's not afraid to use some Semillon, and they exhibit a richness and minerality you don't often see in California, along with a nice musty, earthiness. So far, the reds are showing great earth and restraint. These are wines that have their own distinct character and are a tremendous value. I'm excited to see where these wines go from here!





Anyone that loves to sell wine knows that telling the story is the best part. CG di Arie has the most unique story of all. Chaim, owner and winemaker is known as Cap'n Crunch! Why? Because he invented it! In fact, Chaim was such a prolific food scientist, that his worked shaped your childhood, at least from a food standpoint. Astronaut Food, Hidden Valley Ranch, Power Bars, Crunchy breakfast cereal, Chaim has his thumbprint all over the salad days of Food Science.

He retired in 1998 to follow his dream of starting a winery. He and wife, Elisheva, purchased over 200 acres in El Dorado County.

With a new approach to winemaking technology, Chaim has built a gravity flow winery on a hillside for Zinfandel and Rhone Varietals. He has also pioneered a technique called submerged cap fermentation, that allows skin contact without releasing volatile flavor components. By treating his wines in such a way, he has developed a "House Style" that emphasizes texture without being too alcoholic or tannic.

Couple the new approaches with his fruit sources, which include the original "Grandpere" vineyard that Renwood made famous in the 1970's, and the potential is endless!





Anyone that knows me knows that I looove the Rhone. Almost more importantly, I am fascinated by US producers that come very close to replicating Rhone wines. In the coming days, this will be a recurring theme.

I met Dave Corey on Facebook. I'd never met him, got a friend request, and saw that we knew like 6 of the same people. So I friended him (like you've never friended somebody you don't know). And then I checked out his site. One Friday, about a month ago, he said "anyone know a good California Broker?" and I said, half jokingly, "How about Ohio? (I was just putting a wish list together) He responded with a sort of strong opinion about how someone really needs to understand wine to sell his. This sounded like a challenge right up my alley (witness one of tomorrow's announcements)!

I convinced him to send me some samples, and guess what, they were awesome! The only white he sends me is primarily Grenache Blanc; clearly he has confidence in his wines. Each of the wines have structure and balance, tons of Grenache and Rhone Varietals. We chat a few more times, and as he loosens up, I realize that not only does he have some strong opinions, they seem to be correct, even if sometimes unpopular. Want to know how to pick out a great winemaker? They are usually the most righteous. Core is an excellent producer with a few different labels under it's umbrella. This one will be fun! Learn more here.





What happens when you take one of the hottest winemakers in California, Celia Masyczek, and combine that with Howell Mountain Fruit? Cornerstone Cellars.

If you read Wine Blogs, you probably know about Craig Camp, if not, check out the Wine Camp Blog on the links portion in the left margin. Craig is one of the the top bloggers, and expert sales and marketing gurus. He landed at Cornerstone about 6 months ago. I've know both Craig and Cornerstone for some time. The business seems like it keeps getting smaller!
I've been a fan of the Cornerstone Cabs for a while. Their powerful, age necessary, Howell Mtn Cabs are a bit of a throwback. The Napa bottling is slightly more fruit forward, but should still lay down for 5+ years. Production is limited to a mere 1800 cases. They have been making great strides at sustainability from a winemaking perspective and are sensitive to their carbon footprint. These world-cals Napa Cabs are a great addition to ampelography!





Drew Family wines have been sort of ubiquitous throughout and within my Wine Career for the better part of the last 10 years.

Back in the day, I was a big fan of Babcock wines. They made a ton of different wines,all interesting, but really rocked the Pinots and Syrahs (Not to mention the Cab franc!).
At this time, Jason Drew was one of the Assistant Winemakers. I was honored enough to host Bryan Babcock's only Annual Winemaker Dinner in Santa Barbara.

On one occasion he trotted out his 2 assistant winemakers and Peter Cargasacchi of Cargasacchi Vineyards. This is when I met Jason. Even though we're about the same age, Jason, had already finished a successful Growing career and now moved on to Winemaking.
This seemingly rapid career growth came from a very unassuming source. Jason has an easy temperament and tends to pepper sentences with phrases like "right on!". Eventually, he started his own winery, and eventually left Babcock with the blessing of Bryan. His early releases were exciting and good as he began to find his style. Eventually I brought his wines to Ohio, and he has clearly evolved.

Jason is now making World Class Pinots and Syrahs. He is certainly on a very short list of coveted new producers of Pinot Noir, he has received quite a bit of play in the press giving him scores that are really impressive, but not from the Oak-Monster loving critics that have initials like J.L. and R.P.

One thing I really like about Jason's wines are his ability to bring unexpected flavor components to wines. He is sourcing quite a bit of fruit from Mendocino now, and has really championed this up and coming appellation. In addition to his Mendocino Wines, you will still find first rate bottlings from the Central Coast. I can't help but believe that Jason's background in Vineyards helps him to really find the true fruit character.

I couldn't be more excited to once again be representing the wines of Jason and Molly Drew.

Eric Ross is a boutique winery in the heart of Sonoma. 15 years ago, 2 Photographer friends from the Bay Area that shared a passion for many thing including baseball, food and wine decided to try their hand at winemaking. The winery is now solely in the hands of Eric Luse (John, original partner, retired a few years ago). Eric's opinions about the style of wine and french food set the house style. He makes Pinots and Chards with character, balance and restraint. Carignane finds it's way into several bottlings, and Eric has actually tamed this varietal.

Perhaps Eric Ross is most famous for their Zinfandels. Made from a variety of great vineyards over the years, the Zinfandels are powerful and earthy but not overly extracted. Zinfandel can be a product of it's terroir as much as many of the more esteemed varieties, Eric has learned what this finicky variety needs to show it's true character. All this and the inclusion of several Rhone varietals make this an exciting winery to represent.










I have been very lucky over the years to have met some amazing people in this business. Dick Dore of Foxen ranks up there near the top. Tall, charismatic and with a twinkle in his eye, he loves to tell the story of his Great-Great Grandfather, Benjamin Foxen establishing the Foxen Canyon Trail and building the church that sits on Rancho Sisquoc's property. Dick comes from Santa Maria Royalty! He and partner (and winemaker) Bill Wathen, established this winery in 1985, naming it after his ancestor. This estate winery lies on 2000 acres known as Rancho Tinaquaic. On the western ridge of the Dry Sisquoc River Bed. The vineyard,as well as some of the purchased fruit they bring in (Bien Nacido, Julia's, Vogelzang and Sea Smoke) is some of the best fruit sources in Santa Barbara County. Their diversity of wines, including Sangiovese, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc, as well as their ubiquitous Pinots, Chards and Rhone bottling represent a great breadth of lineup. Dick and Bill are always trying something new, and were certainly among the first producers to understand how to handle Chardonnay and Bordeaux varieties with restraint. A new winery construction is underway, but you can still taste through the lineup in the aluminum and wood shack they use for a tasting room at the norther edge of the scenic Foxen Canyon Trail. Foxen represents some of the best Santa Maria has to offer, and we are very excited to add them to the ampelography portfolio!












This has been a story I've been waiting to tell. Somehow, someway Craig Jaffurs and Dave Yates have been a part of my wine career almost since the beginning. As a young wine buyer, Craig explained the concept of Brix to me. I can't even tell you how many wine dinners I've been to with Craig. I do know that for each dinner, Craig's wines have brought out the best on some of my favorite Chefs, and closest friends. When I became a sales rep, one of the wines in my portfolio was Jaffurs. I know I sold a lot of their wine because I still always hear about the good ole days from these guys. When I decided to move to Ohio, Craig and Dave put me with Walt for a lunch at La Super Rica in Santa Barbara (You have no idea how great...). Walt eventually hired me, and again I was selling Jaffurs. As I was putting together the concept for ampelography, Dave and Craig were 2 of my first phone calls.

This is one of those phenomenon in this business that makes it so special. We are all members of our own mutual admiration society. And it is these types of relationships that can last a lifetime.

Oh, by the way, the wines are ridiculously good. I remember back in the day when we would speculate as to why the press hadn't wised up to these wines. Now, they are famous for the huge scores. The thing is, the style of these wines has remained the same all these years. The guys make Rhone wines in Santa Barbara. They make the best examples of nearly every single vineyard bottling they produce. I have had countless winemakers tell me that Jaffurs Roussanne is the absolute best White Rhone Wine from the U.S.! Their Syrahs all have a sense of place. Each single vineyard bottling has it's own personality, but all have that commonality of of balanced structure and minerality. These wines age as well as their Rhone counterparts. I'd rather drink Jaffurs Viognier than almost any Condrieu. I could go on, but I'll just say that we are thrilled to add Jaffurs Wines Cellars to the ampelography portfolio!





I've been a pretty big fan of Oregon Pinot Noir since about the 1998 Vintage. This was further solidified during my time at Oregon Pinot Camp. I'll eventually wax poetic about why Oregon Pinot Noir is a s good as it is. One of the hottest producers in recent years has certainly been Lachini Vineyards.

Ron Lachini has a long standing passion for Pinot Noir. In 1997, he and his wife, Marianne moved from California to Oregon to find a vineyard site. The discovered a plot of land, 47 acres, in Newberg with nice, shallow Willakenzie soil. Their first vintage was 2001.

Since the Lachinis started, they have added World Class Winemaker, Laurent Montelieu, and Peter Rosback, of Sineann (ed note: crazy good wines) for the "S" bottling. They have also paid special attention to their farming practices. They are moving towards Biodynamics, are Salmon Safe, and participants in L.I.V.E. "Low Input Viticulture and Enology, Inc. program (LIVE, Inc.) is a program providing vineyards and wineries official recognition for sustainable agricultural practices that are modeled after international standards such as the practice of Botanical diversity in the cover crop and management practices that favor beneficial insects."

Oh, by the way, the wines are outstanding! It's apparent that the Lachinis are looking to Burgundy for thier Pommard style Pinot Noirs. Great tannin structure and
ageability. Lachini is one of the most exciting new producers in Oregon.





Langdon Shiverick Imports was founded over 20 years ago when Louie Langdon and David Shiverick teamed up to import some of the finest wines from Europe. David Shiverick eventually purchased the company outright and has been searching for and representing some of the top estates in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. David is very well-known for his ability to find outstanding producers in Europe and then developing the wines through a distributor network of twenty states. Many of the producers are very highly rated and although limited in quantity, he makes sure all markets have a chance to purchase his wines. Robert Parker once said "David Shiverick maintains a remarkably low profile in view of the high caliber of his portfolio. The estates are not always household names and that's the reason why wine insiders are his biggest fans."

David's portfolio now contains over 50 top producers. Ampelography is very proud and excited to now represent Langdon Shiverick Imports. In the coming weeks, I will post about many of these individual producers.

I've been waiting to post about Lange for some time. It's really all their fault. They sent me a book called The Grail, which is all about a year in the life of Lange Estate. Great read, but I haven't finished it yet.This is the crazy season after all. 

Tim Brislin, who we've known since his Anne Amie days a few years ago and now National Sales for Lange reached out for me over the Summer. He was looking for a little help in our neck of the woods. Having been to Pinot Camp,and knowing they were a participant, I rushed home to check my notes. Sure enough, they were a host the year I attended. Oddly enough, I had no notes about them anywhere. I had comments good or bad about pretty much every wine I tasted sniffed or saw, but they were noticeably absent. To this day, I can't figure out how I missed them.

Hidden in plain sight is how I describe Lange. I somehow missed them my entire career. When Tim contacted me over the Summer I was intrigued, and agreed to first taste the wines. I was absolutely blown away. The wines were stunning. Each of the reds displayed a house style of balanced acid/ tannin structure. These were Dundee Pinots for sure, but even more so, showy and from the challenging 2007 vintage. Perhaps most impressive was their Chardonnay. All you cynics can just shut up, I still love great Chardonnay,and so do you. Lange makes good on the promise that Oregon produces the best Chardonnays outside of burgundy. Clearly I had missed something along the way. Proud of my new "discovery" I immediately signed them up. As I began talking with my colleagues that had also been to Pinot Camp, they all went bonkers for Lange. Somehow, I was late to the party, but very lucky to have them on board.

Don & Wendy Lange started the winery conceptually while in California. Their first vintage was 1987,and their lineup hasn't changed much since then, except the addition of Jesse, their son, to the team. The Langes have built a reputation for consistency and a blend of Estate and contracted fruit. Along with our other great Oregon producers, Lange represents another facet of what needs to be considered the true Oregon style (which probably consists of at least 6 different Pinot Noir styles).





One of the most crucially important figures in the evolution of Santa Barbara Wines was in the background for much of the region's development. Schooled under Andre Tchelistcheff at Buena Vista, Rick Longoria was greatly influenced by this master of the craft. Beginning with Firestone, then J Carey and eventually with Gainey. Rick helped to establish a European style with the fledgling SB County vines. Longoria started his own winery in 1982, but continued to work for other wineries until 1997. He eventually saw his dreams come to fruition with opening his own tasting room in Los Olivos and most importantly, he planted his estate Fe Ciega Vineyard in Sta Rita Hills.The centerpiece of his production, Fe Ciega yields some of the most dramatic and refined Pinot Noirs in the region. Rick also has a thing for Spanish Varietals (as do I)and produces an Albarino and Tempranillo. One of Longoria's most famous wines is the Blues Cuvée, a proprietary Red Blend largely based on Cab Franc. The wine always carries a different artists interpretation of Rick's musical passion-The Blues.Additionally, Longoria is making great Syrahs and Chardonnays as well a a bevvy of non-estate Pinot Noir. ampelography is thrilled to represent this true pioneer and visionary!





One day, 10 years ago, while employed as a buyer for a restaurant in Santa Barbara, a sales rep came in and showed me a Syrah from Washington State. I had tasted a few, but nothing that had impressed me up until that point. In fact, I was having a difficult time finding a good Rhone Varietal outside of France or Santa Barbara. I vividly remember my reaction as I tasted this new WA Syrah. My head was spinning. This was like a biologist discovering a new species. It was Syrah, without a doubt. It was silky and had beautifully balanced sweet fruit tannins. The wine lasted and lasted. It was the 1997 McCrea Cuvee Orleans Syrah (375ml no less!). I immediately added it to my list,and happily hand sold it as long as I could keep it in stock.

Somehow this quirky little winery with a funky purple label and I would cross paths a few more time before all was said and done. A few years later, after moving back to Ohio and while traveling for a supplier, I bumped into Susan Neel (né McCrea) in Missouri. We hit it off instantly. I spoke of my love for her wines and told her that I wanted to represent them in Ohio. It took her 2 years to be convinced to sell Walt and I wine (he had also known the wines as he was a Hospice du Rhone Groupie for several years). Eventually Susan started traveling to see us and support our efforts selling the wine,and we became very close. My son even received a birthday present from Susan that was an autographed bottle of Grenache from his birth year saying "Happy Birthday Eli, do not open until 2022! 

Doug McCrea, winemaker and partner, hails from New Orleans. He and Susan were really the first significant winery producing Rhone varietals in Washington. They started in the late 80's. I'm told they really hit their stride by the mid-90's, and to this day, craft some of the most incredible, elegant version of many of the Rhone grapes. Sleek, elegant and balanced, they have really tapped into and defined the terroir for an entire generation of up and coming wineries. We are very proud to announce the addition of McCrea Cellars to the ampelography portfolio.




We are very excited to make our first winery announcement. We will be representing Medlock-Ames! If you aren't familiar with this exciting winery, Check out their website here.
Perched atop Bell Mountain in Alexander Valley, they are crafting Bordeaux Varietals with great style and structure. The quality that I always am reminded of is the texture of their wines. The tannins are from the beautiful fruit they use, not from oak. As a result, their wines are like velvet on palate. This winery is completely off the grid. They are solar powered, and use organically grown grapes. Gravity flow, low yields all the right things. Read more at their site, and keep an eye open for tasting notes.





One of the events that reshaped my entire perspective on California wine took place in a "potato bunker" in Dry Creek in 2006. We met Doug Nalle at his winery. He was very skeptical as to why we were there ,and why we would want to sell his wines. Doug is maybe the most opinionated Winemaker I've ever met, a claim he would gladly admit to. Doug suspiciously tasted us through a lineup of wines, as he began to realize that we sort of got it, he started digging through the back of his winery, reminding me of Yoda in his excitement. He broke out 15 year old Zins that had alcohol in the mid 12% range. They aged like Bordeaux! Doug has mastered the art of making beautiful wines with low alcohol. He is best known for his Pinot Noir (which has a very apparent Lactose quality you rarely see outside of Burgundy)and Zinfandel. His Zins will reboot your perception of the entire varietal. elegant, acid structure, balanced red fruit. Old Vine extraction is maybe a little overrated. Doug told me last week that Zinfandel is the absolute hardest grape work with. He also proudly declared that high alcohol wines are falling out of favor, a statement I agree with wholeheartedly. Never being one to follow trends, his high quality wines are very consistent in their style. It's nice to see the seachange come back to lower alcohol wines, but even if it didn't, I'd know that Doug would continue to craft long lived benchmark wines just as he has been for 20 years. We are proud to add Nalle Winery to our portfolio. If you are looking for some good wine geek entertainment check out his side labels for his Zins on his website.






Niner Estates came to me through an old friend from my days in California, Ken Bryant. Ken, now the National Sales Manager for Niner, is gregarious, friendly and charismatic. You can really see the energy of the room change when he's in it.

We were catching up about 6 months ago, and he told me about his new position at Niner. I'd never heard of Niner before, so Ken sent me a case of samples. As Heather & I tasted through them over the course of a week or so, the wines kept getting better and better. After we finished, I began to get the full story from Ken.

The winery, established in 2001, was based on 2 Estate Vineyards, Bootjack Ranch and Heart Hill, both planted by legendary viticulturist Jim Smoot. The rest of the management team brought tremendous experience capped off with winemaker/consultant, Chuck Ortman. Eventually, they would find a full time winemaker in Amanda Cramer, who has worked at Chimeny Rock, d'Arenberg, Casa Lapastolle, and with the famed Heidi Barrett. Amanda has clearly put her thumbprint on these wines, which are like no other I've had from Paso Robles. The wines has a great richness of texture and each is dark fruit driven. I've tasted stunning examples of unruly varietals like Barbera and Sangiovese as well as Cabernet that tastes like Napa bottlings of twice the price. With a tatsing room scheduled to open in late summer, Niner Estate has all the pieces in place for great success. It's very exciting to add them to our portfolio.





What is Pinot Noir supposed to be? This is the question that Oregon Pinot producers often ask themselves and each other. I was fortunate enough to attend the famous Oregon Pinot Camp in 2004. It was here I met Annie and Scott Shull, owners of Raptor Ridge Winery. During our several days in camp, Scott hosted a seminar about Oregon style and how the Pinots in Oregon live in a 3-dimensional spectrum of styles defined as opulent, elegant and age worthy, with each sharing a common space. After tasting through many wines that demonstrated the diversity of style, I really began to classify all Pinot in this spectrum. The fact I kept coming back to over and over, is that there are many excellent examples of opulent new world Pinots, and opulent and age worthy wines.For some reason, the intersection of elegant and age-worthy seemed inconsistent at best. Many producers that try to occupy this space fall short and are very vintage dependent. I felt at the time, that Raptor Ridge was one of the few producers that was really hitting this balance well.

I have been chasing Raptor Ridge for almost 5 years, ever since Pinot Camp. As I built an Oregon portfolio with my last distributor, I kept harassing Annie. Finally, through a series of fortunate coincidences and timing, we finally hooked up, and now I am proud to announce the inclusion of Raptor Ridge in the ampelography portfolio.

These Pinot Noirs are outstanding! The alcohols ride in the mid 13% range, and the wines have both fresh acidity and nice tannin backbone. Beautifully aromatic, I imagine these wines will really develop in the 3-5 years from vintage range. Located on the side of Chehalem Mountain, and with fruit contacts from Shea Vineyard and Meredith Mitchell, Raptor Ridge Scott knows how important vineyard work is, and spends most of his time during harvest in the vineyards. The winery is named after the birds of prey (Red-tailed Hawks, Kestrels, Sharp-Shinned Hawks and Owls) that make Raptor Ridge their home.





I met Benjamin Silver about 10 years ago in SB. At the time, he had just launched his winery, and was starting to take a stab at Italian Varietals grown in and around Santa Barbara. What struck me about him though, was his sincerity and easygoing confidence. I could tell Benjamin would be a great winemaker, at that time, he actually already was.

Benjamin grew up on the East Coast, and studied to be a Veterinarian. As is so often the case, the wine bug bit him. He moved out west upon graduation, and landed with Zaca Mesa. He worked his way up through the ranks and learned the lay of the land. When he began making his own wines, he took a European approach, although, not a French but rather and Italian passion for the wines. His mere attempt to wrangle Nebbiolo in Santa Barbara and create a world class bottling would have seemed crazy, except, he succeeeded. Many people will vouch for the quality of his Italian Varieties. His best wine, may be his Julia's Vineyard Pinot Noir. Fruit from this vineyard is coveted, and usually only 6 producers get thier hands on it in any given vintage. The fact that he has made this wine so many times speaks to his proficiency. Silver has tightened their focus in recent years, and is now focusing on the traditional SB varieties along with a Cab/ Sangiovese blend or 2. We are extremely pleased to reunite with the wine sof Benjamin Silver.





I hate to name drop, so I won't. Let me say this, one night, about 3 years ago, a pretty famous and cultish Oregon and Washington winemaker was out to dinner with the management team of my former employer. We asked him who was he most excited about in Washington right now. He said 1 name that we already knew and coveted (and ended up getting) and 2 more producers we'd never heard of. One of those was Syncline (otherwise this is a stupid story). So we reached out for James and Poppie Mantone to try the wines. We were all immediately smitten. Syncline crafts Rhone varietals in Columbia Valley. This is turning into one of my favorite regions for these types of wines.

Columbia Valley Syrahs have this Old-World acidity with bright fresh fruit. The wines have a feminine quality to them that is especially noticeable in the texture. Syncline is at the very top of my list of producers that exhibit this style of winemaking. Syncline is specializing in making wines that have character and finesse. I know that Poppie has a background in biodynamics, and now with an estate vineyard bearing fruit, we shoudl see even better wines from them with a great pedigree. I'm very proud to announce the addition of Syncline Wine Cellars into the ampelography portfolio.

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Ampelography is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and color of the vine leaves and grape berries; more recently the study of vines has been revolutionized by DNA fingerprinting.