Around the Vineyards
The hillsides and the Valley floor are verdant and covered with new growth, freshly fed by the winter rains. This lush landscape fills in contrast to the newly pruned vines. During the winter, we cut back the previous year’s growth, leaving only the first two buds to produce shoots. Pruning is an important and critical step in limiting the coming harvest yields. These buds have begun breaking closer to the Bay, but in Oakville, we will wait a little longer for the vines to wake up.
Meanwhile, we are working on controlling the growth between the rows. Many of our vineyards have converted to a no-till farming approach. This approach benefits the tilth of the soil and the health of the soil ecosystem. Before bud break, however, we still want to mow the growth between the rows. Beckstoffer Vineyards has been raising sheep on their Georges III property to lend a hoof!
Around the Winery
Spring Bottling
Director of Winemaking Derek Taylor and his crew have been busy this week getting ready for a big bottling. They are staging stacks, emptying glass, and moving wines from barrel to tank. We are bottling Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, and Zinfandel from the 2023 vintage and Sauvignon Blanc, Albarino, Rose, and our Blend 23 from the 2024 vintage.
Barrel Trials
Our blending team sat down together this week to review our cooperage choices. We do this by blind tasting through barrel lots. Each lot is from a single block of a single vineyard and contains several separate barrels from various cooperages and various stave treatments (aging time and toasting regimens). Also included in each lot is a wine sample from a “neutral” barrel, or a barrel that has already been used on a previous vintage and, therefore, is not imparting any new flavors to the wine from the toasted staves. These trials help us learn more about how each cooper develops flavor, texture, and aromas in our finished wines.
In the Kitchen
Chef has a real treat in store for you with this pairing menu. It highlights vineyards from Sonoma and Napa with our most popular white wine blend and 4 different single varietals to enjoy with delectable B Bites. Some favorites are making their way back to the menu, and a brand new dish is sure to warm you from the inside out. Truly, this is another exceptional pairing menu.
Welcome Bite: Crab and apple fritter with spicy cajun aioli paired alongside Blend 23 to start your tasting
1st and 2nd Bite: A warm chicken pot pie with Calesa Vineyard Chardonnay. Up next, a flaky empanada filled with chorizo con papas and topped with coriander crema paired with Calesa Vineyard Pinot Noir.
3th Bite: A slider with a twist! A Kobe burger with red wine braised onion rings and dijonnaise alongside Sugarloaf Vineyard Cabernet Franc.
Dessert: Huckleberry Crème Brûlée with Star Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon completes the pairing menu in perfect harmony.
New Releases This Month
B Cellars is proud of our 20-year history of working with Beckstoffer Vineyards to produce single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from each of the six Beckstoffer Heritage vineyard sites. These vineyards are some of the most famous and in demand in the viticultural world. However, Beckstoffer Vineyards owns and farms over a thousand additional acres and grows several other grape varietals.
In Carneros, with its cooler climate tempered by cooler air and fogs rolling in off of the San Pablo Bay and heavier, clay-based soils, Beckstoffer has selected Merlot and Chardonnay to plant in their contiguous Las Amigas and Carneros Lake Vineyards. The consistent coastal climate provides for a lengthy hang-time for Chardonnay, resulting in fully ripened and rich flavors balanced with bright and bracing acidity.
This is only our second vintage working with this renowned vineyard and this Chardonnay is a continued testament to the Beckstoffer family’s high standards of excellence in viticulture and their dedicated preservation of vineyard sites in the Napa Valley.
2023 Beckstoffer Carneros Lake Vineyard Chardonnay
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