Vrai Amour Wines
Value Wines & Specialty/Craft Beers
Wine List
New Wines In! Freedom of Expression. Miro Pinot Noir 2009 Black Sheep Finds "Holus Bolus" Blanc 2010 2010 marks the inaugural vintage of a white wine under the Holus Bolus label. We decided on producing a wine from the Roussanne grape. It is a grape native to the Rhone Valley of France (Hermitage, St. Joseph, Chateauneuf-du-Pape) and rarely seen outside of there. Santa Barbara County is one of the few places Roussanne thrives and produces excellent wines. The grapes for the 2010 Holus Bolus blanc were grown at McGinley Vineyard (formerly known as Westerly Vineyard) in the Happy Canyon AVA of Santa Ynez Valey. The wine has great aromatics of honey and pear and rich mouth feel. The wine was aged 2/3 in French oak and 1/3 in stainless steel with a finished alcohol of only 12.5%. 350 cases produced. Black Sheep Finds "Genuine Risk Red Blend" 2007 Black Sheep Finds "Dalla Pancia" Chianti 2006 Black Sheep Finds "Genuine Risk" Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Brassfield Estate Eruption 2009
The 2009 Eruption is dark ruby in color and has aromas of raspberries, chocolate and white pepper. The wine is rich and dense from the abundance of ripe black fruit, while remaining balanced and elegant through the finish. A true crowd pleaser that remembers how to behave at the table.
Brassfield Estate Serenity 2010
The 2010 Serenity boasts distinctive aromas of mangos, pineapples and key lime pie with flavors of Bartlett pears, citrus, and honeydew melon that linger in your mouth. Crisp, fresh acidity, with a touch of sweetness, makes Serenity a terrific match to spicy Asian dishes or simply to enjoy a glass by itself on a warm summer evening.
Miro Cellars searches the region for the finest grapes from a variety of vineyards to make their one-of-a-kind specialty wines. Award winning winemaker Miro Tcholakov considers the particular geology and seasonal climate variations of each vineyard when selecting the most interesting grapes the region has to offer. Because Miro has complete freedom to make precisely the wines he loves best, the results are a spectacular leap above the expected. Let yourself in on one of the best kept secrets in wine today—Miro.
Winemaker’s Tasting Notes: The 2009 Miro Pinot Noir has medium red color with slight garnet hue. The first impression is of cherry compote, slightly plumy, ripe strawberry and a hint of rhubarb pie. With further aeration the wine shows slight nuances of new oak barrels—vanilla and toast and a hint of forest floor and earthiness. The mouthfeel starts out soft and rich and finishes with balanced acidity and soft tannin. The wine is still very young at the time of these notes and it will develop nicely with 2 – 4 years of aging.
Miro Cuvee Sasha 2010
Monte Lago Vineyard, with its steep hillside terrain (elevation 2000 feet) laced with red volcanic soil, provides the perfect terroir for these Mediterranean varietals. This wine offers seductive aromas of jammy strawberries, plums, dried rose petal and Herbes de Provence, a juicy mouthfeel, and long, firm finish. Barrel aged for 10 months. Perfect to pair with meze, tapas or your favorite meal. 560 cases made.
Miro Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
THE CONCEPT: To create a Cab that is elegant and enjoyable with food and also age worthy.
Winemaker’s description: The wine is focused and concentrated with considerable tannins assuring longevity for at least 10 years. The nose is a bit closed at the time of these notes but with solid layers of dark stone fruit, maple, cocoa, spice and a hint of forest floor. This is a full bodied wine with long and juicy, somewhat youthful finish. The wine was bottled unfiltered. Barrel aging: 22 months in 80% new French and Hungarian oak barrels.
In 2007, we were able to make a wine in the tradition of Right Bank Bordeaux blend with high percentages of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The grapes were grown at the same vineyard as our other Genuine Risk wines (the 2005 Merlot and 2006 Cabernet). Not as big and rich as the 2006 Cabernet, this wine is medium bodied with dark fruit and black olive aromas. Aged for 18 months in barrel, 25% new French oak. The final blend is 49% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot. 250 cases produced.
While visiting a good friend and fellow winemaker in Tuscany in 2006, we decided that it would be great fun to create a Chianti under the Black Sheep Finds label. Dalla Pancia translates to “from the gut.” Produced from 100% Sangiovese grown at a single estate in the DOCG Chianti region. Aged for 16 months in large, traditional wood tanks, 500 cases produced.
Black Sheep Finds "Hocus Pocus" Pinot Noir 2009
Sourced from the Thomson vineyard in the Carneros Appellation of Napa and Sonoma. These vines are 30-40 years old (that’s old for California!) and planted with the California Heritage Martini clone. A more traditional style of Pinot Noir with lower alcohol (13.5%) and bright acidity, only 250 cases produced.
Black Sheep Finds "Hocus Pocus" Syrah 2007
Our friends at Black Sheep Finds, Peter Hunken and Amy Christine have made their best Hocus Pocus yet. Lower in alcohol than previous vintages, the 2007 Santa Barbara County Syrah is loaded with dark blackberry fruit, hints of bacon fat, earth, and a little spice. Much of the fruit for this vintage comes from Santa Ynez Valley's Happy Canyon.
Black Sheep Finds "Holus Bolus" Syrah 2007
The 2007 Syrah exhibited a beautiful ruby/purple hue followed by sweet creme de cassis aromas interwoven with notions of ground pepper, melted licorice, forest floor, and spring flowers. With vibrant acidity, admirable purity, full-bodied power, and luscious layers of fruit, it should drink well for 7-8 years.
Derives its name first for the road that runs alongside the eastern Santa Ynez Valley vineyard where the couple sourced the wine's fruit and second for the genuine risk many winemakers still considers the area's Cabernet to be. A wine of more elegance and subtle style than traditional California Cabs, this is a freshy-tasting Cab, with refreshing acidity and intriguing spicy notes. You will love it!
A twist on Syrah never before seen in California.
At Piedrasassi we have always considered viticulture (grape growing) and viniculture (wine-making) to be inseparable practices. There are no magic tricks to turn grapes into great wine, no secrets or silver bullets to covet in the cellar. One must farm the vines in a thoughtful and diligent manner making healthy but low-yielding vines. In the cellar you must then employ flexible and careful winemaking with the intention of creating a successful wine. At Piedrasassi we can only try to be a responsible steward of the vine and a thoughtful student of other great winemakers.
Throughout the world the best Syrah based wines are made from naturally low-yielding vines grown on marginal sites. These sorts of places produce not just simple, fruity wines but instead ones with unique character, style and a sense of place. This has led Piedrasassi to focus our efforts on cooler marine influenced sites throughout the Central Coast.
On occasion we bottle a single vineyard wine, as we did with the 2004 Harrison-Clarke and with the upcoming 2007 Rim Rock. We do this when we discover a truly unique place that transmits itself through the wine. Otherwise it is our practice to blend the wine from numerous vineyards, representing the top 30-40% of our production, into one single Piedrasassi Syrah. Blending the wine from diverse vineyard sites is akin to hearing a symphony rather than a solo performance.
In fact, one of the biggest challenges in the growth of our winery over the past 5 years has been finding vineyards that are capable of producing unique and compelling fruit. Fortunately with the help of people like Ruben Solorzano, a gifted grape grower and founding partner of Piedrasassi, we are getting closer. In 2007, 10 acres of high-density Syrah were planted just outside of the Santa Rita Hills appellation, which will eventually become a large part of the Piedrasassi program.
Piedrasassi
“The wine must be clean and pure, above all. It must be full and fleshy, fat and concentrated, but discreet, supple and soft at the same time. It must be vigorous and succulent, underpinned by the tannin and the new oak. But not dominated by either of these. And it must have definition.” - Henri Jayer, Vosne Romanee
2007 HOLUS BOLUS SYRAH 2005 PIEDRASASSI SYRAH
The 2007 wines show great purity and concentration without being cloying or over-ripe. It is rare to find such balance in new world Syrah. 2007 was a very late vintage, with no grapes being picked until October. Fortunately there was very little rain in September in October and we were able to harvest ripe grapes under clear skies. A quick word on the process of declassifying. All great wineries must engage in the difficult process of choosing which portion of their production is suitable for which bottling (i.e. Pavillon Rouge is the lesser bottling of Chateau Margaux). It is a difficult choice to declassify, but it keeps you honest and ensures that no corners are cut. In a perfect vintage one would hope that most of production can be made into Piedrasassi. In reality there are always some vineyards that perform better than others. While Holus Bolus is technically a declassification, it still represents a tremendous value to the consumer. It is a wine to drink while you wait for your Piedrasasssi to mature. 2007 Holus Bolus received a score of 91-93 points from The Wine Advocate in issue #177, August 2008 2007 Holus Bolus, 750 cases produced.
The 2005 Piedrasassi Syrah represents the continuing evolution in both our winemaking and grape growing philosophy. First, we have moved to include a broader range of vineyard sites in the wine encompassing the Santa Ynez Valley, the Westside of Paso Robles and some very cool coastal sites north of Santa Maria. This has given the wine greater depth in both the aromatics and mouthfeel. Secondly, we have extended our barrel aging to a full 30 months in 350 liter barrels. This additional 10 months in barrel has contributed greater density on the palate but also an overall refined and elegant quality.
When we receive our new barrels in September, we remove one head, turn the barrel upright like a vase, and use it as a fermenter for the grapes. The fermentation in new wood helps to stabilize color and tannins as well as integrating the wood early on. This rare and laborious practice is employed by very few wineries in the world.
2005 was a historically abundant harvest in California, but our hard work and low yields in the vineyards provided us with excellent fruit. As always we are determined to bottle only the absolute finest wine as Piedrasassi. We made a strong selection of the best lots and barrels and only bottled a mere 30% of the entire winery production under the Piedrasassi label. While the wine drinks well now it should last for more than a decade. 2005 Piedrasassi Syrah received a score of 92 points from The Wine Advocate in issue #177, August 2008 and 93 points from Stephen Tanzer 700 sixpacks produced.
The Holus Bolus Syrah tends to be a bit like the brash and daring younger brother in the family. In the cellar there are always a number of barrels that taste great while they are young. In order to capture these qualities we bottle Holus Bolus early after just 15 months in barrel. This wine sings with youthful and precocious fruit and bright aromatics. Holus Bolus is always a good glimpse into the future of Piedrasassi, as it is released to the public a full year earlier than Piedrasassi. In 2007 we continued to increase our holdings of cool coastal vineyard sites.
Wines
