2013 Chardonnay released; Summer Whites shipping this week!

We are very pleased to formally release our 2013 Russian River Chardonnay to our wine club this week in the Summer Whites two-bottle shipment.  Not a member?  You may join here!

This 2013 is a personal favorite at our house, it seems to pair with, and make special, the most mundane of weekly dinners (including the dreaded 'dino' nuggets our kids clamor for) and it is sitting at a week-night-friendly 12.5% ABV.  Neutral oak, battonage sur lie, and a careful native fermentation all give this wine a certain refinement; an elegant reflection of its origins on 15+ year old vines along Olivet Road.  If you've banned dino nuggets from your house, we also recommend pairing with coq au vin or poached salmon :)



We did not make much of this wine, so please act fast this fall should you wish to re-order.

See you at The Rind, Sacramento, Sunday 8/24!

Come join us at The Rind in Sacramento this Sunday where there will be Wait Cellars flights and inspired cheese pairings!  We'll be pouring the following and will also have a few bottles for sale:

* 2011 Russian River Pinot Noir
* 2012 Green Valley Pinot Noir, Devoto Garden Vineyard
* 2013 Russian River Chardonnay

Hope to see you!

Wait Cellars in New Jersey

We've been selling our 2012 Devoto Garden Pinot Noir in New Jersey through North East Wines since March of this year.  Last week I was on the East Coast with family and I spent a day with the ever gracious Richard Micketti of North East, who has been instrumental in introducing Wait Cellars to New Jersey.

It was a real pleasure to meet Randy and Phil at Walkers in Lambertville, Bryan at Public and Billy at Agricole in Princeton, and Paul at Phillips in Stockton, among others.  These guys are all doing fantastic work fleshing out compelling selections.

Early ripening

With the warm, dry winter of 2013-2014 leading into a warm, dry spring and summer, veraison is well underway in the North Coast.  These shots from late July show Devoto Garden in Sonoma's cool Green Valley over 50%, about 10-12 days ahead of 2013, which was also a warm, dry growing season.  Am expecting to pick shortly after Labor Day.  In 2011, we picked this fruit on October 4th!

Nets went up last week against this guy and his smaller, air-born brethren, all very interested in the ripening fruit...

Wait Cellars Goes Old World

Wait Cellars wines available in France? Indeed!  Intrepid exporter John Duval has moved his operations to France and taken 30 cases of Wait Cellars Pinot Noir with him!  Working primarily in the gorgeous old city of Annecy, near the Swiss border, he initially sold our Pinot into Le Clocher and Le Botrytis, two acclaimed local restaurants with excellent lists.

But then he shifted gears from wholesale into retail and opened up his own wine shop in the middle of town, dedicated to showing off honest, small production, Californian producers:

If you find yourself in Annecy, be sure to stop by and ask for John.  And of course, then demand to see the good stuff: a bottle of Wait Cellars Pinot Noir, for a taste of home away from home :)

California Wine Gallery

8, Passage De La Cathedrale

74000 Annecy, France

06 16 57 00 71

2011 Russian River makes top ten at Pinot Days

Venerable wine writer and critic Pierre Dumont of the Piedmont Post has compiled his list of top ten Pinots from last month's Pinot Days San Francisco event, and we're pleased to say our 2011 Russian River Pinot is on that list.  Full text of the article is here. 

How can you get a bottle of this stuff? Join our always low-key wine club, or send me a note -- we will be having a release sales event next month, and as part of that we will make some of our 2011 Russian River available to those on our broader mailing list.

Precious medals at SF International Wine Competition

We're pleased to announce that our 2011 Green Valley Pinot Noir, Devoto Garden Vineyard, received a gold medal at this years San Francisco International Wine Competition.  The 2012 vintage of that same wine, which has not yet been formally released, received a silver medal.  One of the largest competitions in the world, over 4500 wines from 1400 wineries were evaluated.

Last year, the 2011 Green Valley received silver as a young wine, just shortly before it was released -- we entered it again this year, and the gold medal received this year reflects it's maturation in bottle.  We expect a similar trajectory for our 2012!

Our 2011 Russian River Pinot Noir received double-gold in last years competition, and we did not re-enter it this year.