Our Current Releases:

2007 Kismet - As usual this wine grabs you with its unctuous textures yet bracing acidity. It has fruit (mango, peach, fig), but it also has nuance, depth and finish. The consistent deliciousness of this wine is why we planted two more acres of the varieties that compose the blend. Customers and members of the trade have both loved the wine so we are going to be making more by next year. Enjoy the limited amounts this year but look forward to more in the near future.

2006 Bennett Valley Chardonnay - Bennett Valley is a great place to grow Chardonnay-the appellation provides long cool seasons leading to complex flavors and moderate alcohol levels giveng the lush ripe texture to the wines produced. The 2006 Chardonnay shows notes of lemon, apple and vanilla in the nose, while exhibiting a complex viscous mid-palate with fruit-driven flavors of ripe red apple and citrus coupled with a long finish with just a hint of buttery richness.

2005 Bennett Valley Merlot - A cool year in a cool climate which necessitated very careful farming to achieve the ripeness we wished to achieve. Early on we realized that 2005 was going to be a cool vintage with a very large fruit set (potentially a disastrous combination for wineries trying to achieve a high level of quality), so within one week of fruit set we began removing fruit from the merlot to concentrate flavors in the remaining clusters. We ended up dropping 50% of the clusters at this very early stage. We also carefully monitored irrigation to prevent the formation of large berries in the remaining clusters. The result was a wine with great complexity and richness, but with alcohols in the 14% range (a rarity in high-end California reds). The wine exhibits plum and dark cherry fruits along with notes of spice and dark chocolate. You can open this wine before dinner and enjoy its opulence, yet pair it with a multitude of foods and find that it complements the food without overpowering it with alcohol.

2005 Bennett Valley Zinfandel - You can take what we said about the 2005 Merlot and apply it with even more force to the 2005 Zinfandel. Zin exhibits large clusters and berries (a large Zin cluster can weigh over a pound) and it likes to set a large crop. So to achieve the ripeness we desire in our cool climate we usually thin to about 1.5 tons per acre (far below the average crop level for Zin in Sonoma County). This involves cutting almost 50% of the clusters off the larger shoots and removing the wings (a branch of the cluster) of the remaining clusters as well. The smaller shoots are denuded of fruit entirely, allowing the plant to fully ripen the remaining fruit. This Zinfandel exhibits bright red fruit flavors of cherry and raspberry coupled with notes of dark chocolate. This wine, typical of Frostwatch wines, has good density on the mid-palate while still exhibiting a good acid balance and a lengthy finish. While fully ripe, it displays none of the raisin/prune qualities of many Zins that have pushed the ripeness envelope.

2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - Working with David Ramey at Ramey Wine Cellars made us want to make Cabernet Sauvignon. So we looked at the vineyards that he buys fruit from and picked one that best matched our philosophy of winemaking-elegance, power and balance. We purchased the fruit from him and made the wine our way. The result was a wine that fits the style we seek to achieve, elegance and balance, yet has the power and "bass notes" of a Napa Cab. This wine, a bargain in the realm of Napa Cabs, is well worth a try. Place it in a blind tasting of Napa Cabs costing twice as much and we think you will be very pleased.