September 1995

Dear friends of the farm,

 

There’s a nauseating grip in the stomach signaling the approach of harvest.  It’s time for Maalox and preparation H.  We’re a little behind.  The original draft of this Journal is dated May 15.  The weather must be to blame.  The wheel tractor was in mud to the axles in the middle of May.  Of course, procrastination, highly developed from years of law practice, has nothing to do with it.

 The good news is, we have everything you need to restock your wine cellar, 

Including a new Tinto.  The white wines are drinking very well now, as is the aristocratic Quixote.  We have logo shirts in every size in case you need something to read.  The autumn is a great time to visit.  The fall colors in the vineyards rival anything in New England.  So check it out.

Warm regards,

The Kirkhams

Reprinted from the St. Helena Star

Thank you for your story on the direct shipment of wine.  It is time to challenge those who seek to eliminate competition by imposing obstacles to the interstate door-to-door shipment of wine.  Private persons in neighboring states have the right to buy wine for their own use directly from wineries here in California.  It would be unlawful for a local winery to discriminate against these buyers.  They buy directly because the regulations in there home state effectively “lock out” small producers.  This, in itself, is presumptively an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce by such states.

Our constitution gives the states broad power to regulate alcoholic beverages, but it does not permit discrimination.  Once a state decides to permit wine at all (and every state has), and then it must provide fair and equal access to that market by all producers.  Tomes may be written on the various archaic state laws regulating alcohol, but one fact can be easily stated and proved:  these schemes taken together effectively prohibit small producers from competing in these markets.  These regulations restrain trade.  They inhibit competition.  They promote monopoly.  There is no legitimate state interest requiring this result.  These conditions exist not because they are “lawful” (though they may have the force of law) but because they serve very powerful economic and political interests which benefit from the state supported monopolies.

Casa Nuestra Winery, and others like it, does something, which is highly valued by persons who love wine and entrepreneurship.  We are the last authentic vestige of “estate” wine making.  The extinction of traditional winemakers will eliminate a creative option for small farmers and engender further consolidation of economic strength in absentee corporations.  No single action would be more nurturing of our struggling industry than to stop the harassment of interstate direct shipment of wine.

Gene Kirkham, Happy Farmer, 1/15/195

Francisco y Rigoberto

Most winemaking is done in the vineyard.  By the time the fruit is in the winery, the story is already written.  The business of caring for grape vines is very labor intensive.  It’s a lot like having 450 newborns to the acre.  Each vine requires individual care and tending.  We are indebted to a father-son team here at the Casa.  This operation would be impossible without the able assistance of Francisco Nava and his son Rigoberto.  The quality of the wine is due in very large part to their unceasing labors:  pruning, tying, thinning, suckering, watering, and much more.  Present trends notwithstanding, these essential operations cannot be accomplished by writing memos or speaking into cellular phones.

Christmas in September

It seems to be the inexorable trend to begin Christmas merchandising earlier and earlier.  In St. Helena, the lights and tinsel will begin going up on Halloween.  It is not the wish or policy of Casa to accelerate this trend.  At the same time, the frenetic activity of the two weeks before Christmas threatens to obliterate the joy of the mid-winter holidays.  We will, of course, continue to accommodate all of your orders through Christmas; but it would be wonderful to take care of them now, before the holiday hoopla begins.  You could do your entire gift shopping now with a single Casa order.  We will thank you for it, and you will thank yourself for the gift of serenity during the month of December.

The Price of Small

 I sometimes feel ashamed because mine isn’t as big as theirs, but then I remind myself that “small” is the bigger challenge.  Anyone can turn a watermelon stand into GM.  It is harder to create a watermelon stand that is commercially viable in today’s mega-corp. environment.  

A small example:  Last week I was in the agriculture store picking out some irrigation fittings.  These gizmos are arranged on steel shelves, like the stacks in a library.  Next to me was a friend of mine, doing the same thing.  We browsed along, chatting about threaded nipples, open-face bushings, and female slip adapters.  When we cashed out I was puzzled by the fact that his unit price was about 40% less than mine for the same items.  “What gives?” I asked.  The register jockey replied sheepishly,  “That’s the discount for Barrister Winery” (name changed to prevent being sued).  Why should the local farmers of St. Helena subsidize the purchases of a multi-national corporation hiding out in Switzerland?  In personal terms, how can I compete with a company, which, in addition to every thing else, can buy its materials for 40% less than I have to pay?  In the long run the Ag store will be the loser too, because by abetting the demise of small business it hastens the day when the Barristers of the world won’t need the Ag store either.

When I am king, local businesses with small orders will receive the discount.  Big absentee will pay more.  You say I’ll go broke, but I’m not so sure.  There are more small ones (for now) than there are big ones.  I’ll get all the small businesses, which may exceed in volume the few large players.  The big guys will all break themselves into small pieces to win back the price advantage, thereby reducing waste and fostering competition and a host of other socially positive values.  As George Harrison would say, “It’s all in the mind”.

Casa Blanca

Not everyone is aware that white wines as well as red wines improve over time.  Casa white wines, particularly the Chenin Blanc, grow more delicious with bottle age.  We are still opening the few remaining bottles of 1980 Chenin Blanc and the wine is fabulous.  Our current release, 1992 Dry Chenin Blanc, is reaching maturity.  The flavors have softened, the color is deepening and it has become even more aromatic with the appetizing aroma of apples.  Its intense flavors will stand up to any menu and it still has many more years of cellar life.  Because of its attractive price, many customers use it for “everyday” wine; but then they wonder why their “special” wine is disappointing.

 Our 1992 Chardonnay (Marion’s Vineyard) is in its prime.  For overall character and balance, this is one of the best white wines we’ve ever made.  It was entirely fermented in small oak barrels and we left it on the lees for an extended period to soften the flavors and develop complexity.  It is a highly structured wine – not “buttery” or simple.

 There are still ample supplies of the ’94 Johannisberg Riesling.  In the traditional German style with a slight residual sweetness, it is fruity with delicious muscato overtones and plenty of acidity to keep it fresh and lively on the palate.

Our 1988 Dorado is perhaps the Napa Valley’s biggest bargain in a late harvest wine.  Made entirely from Chenin Blanc enhanced by the “noble rot” (Botrytis), this aperitif wine is richly flavored with an exotic aroma of fresh pears.  It is a deep gold color – sweet (R.S. 6%), but not cloying.  If you long for Sauterne but have been terrorized by sticker shock, you will be glad to discover Dorado.  Bottled in the 375ml size only.

Casa Roja

Tinto remains the most popular wine we make.  Tinto never disappoints.  Although the vintages are much more the same than different, the 1992 is perhaps a little more assertive than the previous vintage – a bit more “stuffing” – a little more oak.

The 1991 Quixote, our most ambitious and aristocratic undertaking, has been selling very well.  Inventory has been depleted to less than 100 cases.  Our Quixote is a tribute to the great clarets of the St. Emillion region of Bordeaux, a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, with the emphasis on the Franc and Merlot.  It is softer and less fierce than most Cabernet Sauvignons with flavors more like red fruit:  raspberries and cherries rather than blackberries and currents.

For our Cabernet Franc constituents, we have limited quantities of the ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90 (Renoir label).  Please write or call for prices and availability.

September 1998

Farmer’s Back

Sri Rama Farmer

Rumors of the Happy Farmer’s disappearance have been exaggerated.  It is true that the HF has been somewhat less visible during the past twelve months.  A wee bit of winery withdrawal was necessary to provide the space and time for him to pursue the Doc Ornish heart rehabilitation program.  The program seems to be working.  Not withstanding dire predictions of doom, the farmer is still walking around; and there are other signs of life.  He has lost 15 pounds.  He now weighs what he always said he weighed.  His total cholesterol has dropped 100 points to something around 150.  He has become a vegetarian with vegan sympathies.  He has taken up hatha yoga and meditation, and he has been on thirty-three days of Buddhist retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh.  When he isn’t levitating or going to the doctor, he has been back in the winery and vineyard.

A Full House!  Two New Releases

For all of our readers who wondered if they had fallen off our mailing list, there is a much more simple explanation:  truly, we haven’t published a new Journal since last May – the longest hiatus in our “occasional” publication in the last fourteen years.  So you haven’t missed anything, and we are on pins and needles wondering if we still have any customers after so long a silence?!  The communication gap is only partly a result of industrial-grade procrastination.  There was also another minor detail:  we were substantially out of bottled wine to sell.  With the Happy Farmer in “sick bay”, wine was accumulating in the cellar and not making it into the bottle.  For several months, we have beavering away in the cellar, and now we are caught up, and have ample stocks of the full product line:  993), Cabernet Franc (1995), Tinto (1994), Chardonnay (1996), Dorado (1988), Chenin Blanc (1996), Jahannisberg Riesling (1996).  Check out the back page for a complete price list.

What Makes Casa Chenin Blanc So Good?

 If you tried a Chenin Blanc from another winery but you didn’t like it, you should try again.  Almost all North American producers of Chenin Blanc have relegated that variety to low-end “picnic” wine.  To make wine like that, start with fruit from the hot central valley where Chenin Blanc grows in deep soil under irrigation, yielding 10 to 15 tons to the acre.  This fruit can often be purchased for $200 per ton.  Pick the fruit at low sugar content, before it becomes fully mature.  This will maximize the tonnage and keep the alcohol low.  Arrest the fermentation after a few days to reduce the alcohol further and to leave the sweetness of unfermented grape juice in the wine.  Voila!  A “light”, which is to say, neutral wine for distracted businessmen to order by the glass when they’re lunching alone with no one to impress.  Fruit received in September is out the door in October.  The profit margin on this deal is quite favorable.

By contrast, at the Casa we dry farm our Chenin Blanc.  Our yield is typically 3 to 4 tons per acre, and the average price of Napa Valley fruit is about $1500 per ton.  We allow the fruit to become fully ripe – 23 degrees brix.  We ferment the wine completely dry, until all the sugar in the grape juice is converted to alcohol.  To maximize the most subtle and delicate nuances of flavor and aroma we ferment at low temperatures (55 degrees more or less).  Fermentation in this way frequently lasts sixty days.  A portion of the juice is fermented in small oak barrels to add another dimension of flavor.  We minimize handling of the wine to eliminate oxidation.  In short, we make the wine with every care (and expense) of Chardonnay, which will typically retail for up to four times the price.  For those who know, Casa Chenin Blanc (fast becoming the last remaining Napa Valley Chenin Blanc) is the greatest value going.  It is intensely flavored, well structured, and scented like apples and lemons.  It is a “big” wine.  If you can resist the impulse to drink it immediately, it is the most long lived of any white table wine.  Our first Casa vintage (now 18 years old) continues to astonish.  I’m told that special visitors to Vouvray (the most famous French producer of Chenin Blanc) are celebrated with vintages forty years in the bottle.

Casa Blanca Dry Chenin Blanc

 If a person knows anything at all about Casa Nuestra wine, she will probably know about Tinto.  Next to the Tinto, the Casa seems best known for Cabernet Franc.  Committed wine connesetti may also know about Johannisberg Riesling and Dorado – the former because it has become a hard to find variety and the latter because it is one-of-a-kind.  Of course, it is assumed that Casa Nuestra makes Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.  After all, what winery doesn’t?  Isn’t it strange that the original Casa signature wine, dry Chenin Blanc, is the least well known?  For many years, the Casa made only Chenin Blanc, and our Chenin vintages have frequently been cited as the very best of their kind.  Remember when our Chenin Blanc was served by the White House?  Did Ronald Reagan really know his wine or was he just fishing for the Latino vote?  Chenin Blanc has never overcome the misconception that it is a “cheap” wine – often confused with “Chablis”, which is not a varietal designation at all but rather a district in France.  In the days when California wine was mostly consumed under freeway overpasses, red wine was “Burgundy,” whit wine was “Chablis”, and anything with bubbles in it (no matter how produced) was “Champagne”.  In an overhyped market of slogans and sound bites, few buyers understand that Chenin Blanc is the noble grape of the Loire Valley in France, the enchanting region of storybook castles.  History tells that Chenin Blanc was the favorite wine of Eleanore of Acquitane and the famed musketeers of Dumas – never out-classed by white Burgundy (what we call Chardonnay).

Goodbye Styrofoam

I first met Peter when he tried to drive his fully depreciated flatbed truck up our driveway with a load of recycled bottles.  Near the top of the driveway, he abandoned hope and backed down to the Silverado Trail.  Peter is the creator of a recycle operation called Encore, specializing in selling recycled bottles to the wine industry.  When we met, some twenty years ago, Peter’s business looked a lot like Casa Nuestra, a one-person company with ambitious hopes to do something authentic and planet-friendly.  Because Casa Nuestra does not have a forklift, we had plenty of time to get to know one another as we unloaded several hundred cases by hand.  Over the years (Casa still does not own a forklift), we have unloaded many thousands of cases in the same way.  Peter graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1967, at the height of the cultural revolution.  In college, he did guitar/vocals with a Hot Nuts band!  As from the lowly acorn doth spring the mighty oak, so Peter’s business, Encore, has flowered into a latter day industrial success story, engendering hope that going green can be commercially successful.  Encore’s most recent contribution is as notable as it is unheralded:  the creation of a wine shipping carton which is entirely recyclable and which is made entirely of recycled fibers.  NO STYROFOAM!  It may not be the Manhattan project, but it is no small thing, and it comes just in time, as the mail order wine business has gone from a drop to an ocean.  Encore’s shipping carton may be the most important environmental contribution in the wine industry since Encore began recycling bottles twenty years ago.

Chardonnay is Back

It has been distressing to disappoint the Chardonnay people for so long.  For over a year the Casa has been trying to stretch the available library stores of ’91 and ’92 Chardonnay, rationing them out a bottle or two at a time.  At last, the shortage is over.  The a996 Chardonnay is here.  It took a little longer than expected, but the wine is better for it.  For those who like to know, the wine (100% Napa Valley Chardonnay) was entirely fermented in American oak barrels without malolactic fermentation.  It is full-bodied, highly aromatic, and rich in fruit and oak flavors.

Buy Dorado Now

Dorado is our late harvest Chenin Blanc.  Arising out of the unusual conditions in 1988, which brought the “noble rot,” this Sauterne style dessert wine is richly flavored, aromatic, and beautifully colored.  Like port or sherry, this is a type of wine, which will age forever.  If you were seeking a gift for a newborn with the idea of keeping it for her 21st birthday, this would be an excellent choice.

Wines of this kind typically cost $30 or more for a 375ml bottle.  At $15 per bottle, this is an outstanding value.  In fact, its price today is less than its release price adjusted for inflation!  That should appeal to your accountant.  There is another reason for this special promotion:  On a recent BATF (Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) inspection, the inspector discovered that our Dorado bottles (which are imported from France) express their volume as “.375 l” instead of “375 ml”.  Because of this labeling violation, we have been given 12 months to “use up” the remaining inventory.  Whatever is left over at the end of that period, I will have to relabel.  Aren’t you pleased to see how your taxes are invested?  It’s a pity I don’t traffic in AK-45’s.  It would be a lot easier.

Social Insecurity

Mail List Alert

We are trudging through a change in computer operating system, which is the anxiety equivalent of moving your principle residence, a death in the family, menopause, or a divorce.  This is the fourth time we have been through this exercise since the computer arrived at the Casa in 1982:  from CPM, to MS-DOS, to Windows, and now to Mac.  Each time, the change seems to be more difficult, as computers become more and more complicated without becoming any more useful – another example of the dark side of capitalism.  One wonders whether we might not have been dollars ahead if we had stayed with pencils.  Inevitably, some of our mailing list names are going to fall victim to this changeover.  Please help us out by using your free return postage to notify us of “corruptions” in your address information; and by all means, send us your cyberspace numbers if you have any.  If you receive more than one copy of your Journal, do a good deed and pass it on to one of your wine-drinking friends or toss it onto the pile of Home Journals in the doctor’s waiting room.  You never know.  Of course, if you didn’t get this mailing at all, please let us know.  Remember, the Journal is free and worth every penny!

Ever Popular Sample Case

Our sample case is a popular way to try all the different Casa wines at big savings.  Each sample case contains:  two bottles of Chenin Blanc, two bottles of Chardonnay, one bottle of Riesling, one bottle of Dorado, two bottles of Tinto, two bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, and two bottles of Cabernet Franc.  This is a great gift because you don’t need to know the lucky person’s taste in wine.  The selection is balanced between red and white, dry and sweet.  She is bound to find what she likes in this package.  Perhaps it is the season, but it seems that this sample case is particularly popular as a wedding present, and it is major job satisfaction for the HF to pack a box for such a celebration.  $140 plus delivery and CA sales tax, if applicable.

Glossary of Wine Names

Cabernet Franc is less familiar in North America than Cabernet Sauvignon.  It is the red wine of the St. Emillion region in Bordeaux.  It is softer than Cab Sauvignon and more complex than Merlot, with intense flavors of red berries.  Cabernet Sauvignon:  The signature red wine of the Napa Valley, a genetic hybrid of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.  Chardonnay, the white wine of Burgundy, has become this country’s white wine of choice.  It is sometimes called the white wine for people who prefer red wine.  Dorado:  Our late harvest Chenin Blanc is a sweet aperitif wine.  Like the great Sauternes, Dorado is a gift of the “botrytis” or “noble rot” which concentrates the sweetness and adds a unique nut-like flavor of its own.  Dry Chenin Blanc is a specialty of the house.  The Casa still makes Chenin Blanc in the grand style, dry, highly structured, with delicate and complex flavors of fruit and oak.  It is delicious as young wine, with a potential cellar life of decades.  Johannisberg Riesling:  An exotic spicy wine made in the traditional German off-dry style.  A welcome change from dry white wine.  Tinto:  Our most popular wine, Tinto is an authentic Napa Valley field mix, a wine recipe planted in the ground over 50 years ago by an Italian who brought his folk knowledge with him.  An entirely enchanting and unique red wine.  Quixote is a shameless copy of the ultra chic, first growth wines of Bordeaux:  a blend of Cab Franc, Merlot, and Sauvignon.  Sold out at the present time.

A Slice of Harvest

The crew is expected at first light, so I set my alarm for 5:30.   Most uncharacteristic! But I must leave time for meditation and oatmeal.  One cannot be entirely certain when the next meal will be.  I have anticipated the alarm, and it is still dark so I use my flashlight.  I’ve left my clothes in the kitchen, so I won’t have to wake Cody.

The cats are always so glad when I’m up at this hour.  They think I’m becoming more like a cat all the time.  I draw open the shades in the front room and light the candles above the fireplace.  I will “sit” facing the rising sun.  The darkness outside the window is turning to gray, and I notice that son Martin (who arrived home from college last night for a brief visit) is asleep on the couch.  Last night he asked me to wake him up to join in the crush, but I let him sleep. 

 We are harvesting some Merlot today, the first day of the Casa Nuestra vintage.  We plan to pick the vines, which grow on the slope of the northwest corner of the vineyard.  There is very little soil in this area.  The vines are growing on top of a rock ledge, so the yield is always very light and the grapes ripen earlier than the rest.  We sell most of the Merlot crop to Burgess Cellars, but it is impractical for Burgess to receive this small lot of precocious Merlot.  Rather than waste the fruit, we pick it for Casa Nuestra.  It is a small job, and it is usually the first winemaking of the vintage.  It’s good to start with something easy, a chance to work out the predictable glitches in our quaint systems.

Our Lamborghini crawler tractor pulls a small trailer carrying two half-ton bins through the vineyard rows.  It looks like there are about 2 tons of grapes on “the hill” – or four bins.  We have three tractors:  a 25hp Massey Furgeson wheel tractor, a 1950’s Ford 9n, and the Lamborghini.  The average age of the three tractors is 27 years.  The Lambo is the tractor of choice for this job because of the slope and because the turns are really tight.It is a small job, so we are working with a small crew.  Rigoberto Nava and his father Francisco work here full time.  Today, to help with harvest, they have brought with them Imelda (a sister), Yolanda (a sister-in-law), Jesus (a cousin) and Rito (a friend).  All of these people have worked here many times over many years.  We couldn’t do it without them.  They cut the grapes from the vine with small crescent-shaped knives.  They pick into plastic lug boxes called “picking pans”.  When the pan is full (weighing between forty and fifty pounds), he or she will dump the pan into a bin on the trailer.  Picking grapes is a highly skilled occupation.  Rigo is world class.  If grape picking were an Olympic event, Rigo would be a contender.  In any harvest crew, you can count him as two.

When the first trailer is full, Francisco brings up a second trailer with the Ford, so that the crew can keep on picking while Francisco, Rigo and I begin crushing the first load at the winery.  My job is to lift the bins off the trailer and dump them CAREFULLY into the crusher-stemmer.  I use the front-end loader on the Massey.  It is a rather hairy chested affair since the loader is operating at the very limit of its lifting capacity.  If I don’t pay attention, my back wheels come off the ground – a thrill I don’t need.  We used to pick into trailers (called gondolas) holding three to four tons.  We moved the fruit with pitchforks from the gondola to the crusher-stemmer.  Using smaller bins and the front-end loader we save a lot of man energy, and it is kinder to the fruit, which improves the wine.  I can’t prove it, but I think the wine is maximized when the interval from the vine to the tank is short.  I remember how my Dad wouldn’t let me pick the corn until the cook water was already boiling.  This is possible when the vines are only a few yards away from the winery.

    We take the first trailer to the winery at about 9:30.  The day is clear and bright, and the morning chill, which is the harbinger of fall, has yielded to a comfortable temperature.  It is a great day for picking grapes.  It’s hard to believe that we have ever picked in pouring rain or in 110 degree heat.  I shed layers down to my t-shirt.  Because we are making red wine, we don’t have to press the fruit this morning (as we would do if we were making white wine).  We will press the fruit only after it has fermented into wine, in about two weeks.  Today, all we need do is process the fruit through the stemmer-crusher which will remove the stems and break the skins of the grapes.  The juice, the pulp, the skins, the seeds – everything but the stems – is pumped into the receiving tank.  The “must”, as it is called, will be inoculated with yeast and the fermentation will begin.

    I ease the first bin up and over the hopper of the crusher-stemmer.  Very slowly I tip the bin forward, and I hear the fruit tumble in.  I can’t see what I’m doing very well, so Rigo is directing me from in front.  I make a mental note to hang a mirror in the oak tree behind the crusher.  That would help a lot, and the squirrels would be amused.  As the machine begins to receive the fruit, Rigo turns on the pump, and I see a column of red must pass through the opaque 2” hose running to a temperature-controlled stainless steel tank inside the winery building.  I signal Rigo to follow the line into the tank, just to make sure.   I remember the time when, after crushing grapes for some time in front of the winery, I wandered inside to find that the hose from the crusher had never been coupled to the receiving tank.  The vintage was going down the center drain in the winery floor.  I hate it when that happens.

 

Sales Room Closed

    Some of you know that we have welcomed visitors to the winery for several years on weekends.  In recent years, our friend, John Alleman, has been in charge of this function.  John became dangerously ill last November; and although he has now recovered completely, he has decided to retire from the Casa.  After much consideration, we have decided not to reopen our sales room – at least for the time being.  The “hospitality” business in the Napa Valley has become a monster; and although we have always tried to remain focused on wine and not “party”, we do not wish to contribute to the touristification of our community.  We never wished to be an attraction in a theme park, and there is something inherently suspect about dispensing glasses of wine to weekenders in automobiles.  It seems that the only original innovation left to be done in the Napa Valley is to close a sales room.  Of course, if you wish to avoid the delivery costs by picking up your goods at the winery, we encourage you to do so, but please arrange a time in advance.  Thanks.

Sales Tax Increased to 7.75%

    Napa County voters recently approved an increase in the sales tax.  The money is earmarked for flood control measures – something which is in the foreground of peoples’ minds after the floods of recent years.  The Casa lies along the Napa River and has experienced major flooding at times. So it would seem that we have much to gain from this initiative.  Still, I’m not so sure.  I believe the flooding is the direct result of intense development throughout the valley.  The real environmental cost of that development is not borne by developers.  Those who have profited from the development should bear the cost, but instead those costs are passed over to the taxpayers by the most regressive of all taxes, the sales tax.

November 2002

Embrace Peace

    Doing what we can to protect our emperiled world, we at the Casa have placed a peace message on the back of every bottle of wine labeled this fall.  Here follows the full text of the press release issued by the Casa announcing its peace label.

    “In an unusual gesture, Casa Nuestra Winery has added a peace message to the back label of its 2002 production.  The design shows a dove embracing the earth with her wings.  The globe is fashioned into a peace symbol, and above the graphic appears the words, ‘Embrace Peace’.  Co-owner Gene Kirkham explained his reasons:  ‘In the current world crises, where war and even nuclear war is threatened with chilling casualness, “business as usual” is not enough.  Although a consensus on how peace is to be achieved has not yet arisen in our global community, we can all agree that peace is our unifying objective.  I hope our label may be a bell of mindfulness reminding each person to focus on peace as our common goal’.  Casa Nuestra bottled 1300 cases of wine last month bearing the peace message, including Meritage, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Tinto and Chenin Blanc.  ‘Our bottles and cases pass through a lot of hands’, Kirkham says.  ‘If each imprint is seen by four people, we will eventually reach almost 70,000 people.  Like a note in a bottle tossed out to sea, we have no idea where it may wash up and the good it may do.  I believe that whatever can be done to send a positive message into our suffering world is an important contribution, whatever the numbers may turn out to be’”.

 

A Full House – Seven Wines to Choose From

    In time for the holidays, the Casa has a full selection of seven different wines to offer you.  We have two white wines, our 22nd vintage Chenin Blanc, and our ever-pleasing White Riesling.  On the red side, we have three new releases, the long-awaited 2000 Cabernet Franc, 2000 Meritage (formerly Quixote), and 2001 Tinto 

St. Helena Estate.  These red selections join the award winning 1999 Merlot and the 2000 Tinto Classico Oakville Estate which were released earlier in the year.  All of these selections are available at this writing, but inventory of some of them, notable the whites, are very low and will surely sell out before Christmas.

 

1999 Merlot Wins Best of Class

    In a startling debut performance, our first ever entry into the Merlot field has been awarded not just the gold medal but also the “best of class” award at the prestigious competition held by the San Francisco Chronicle.  This “none better” showing in San Francisco was seconded a few weeks later by another gold medal awarded at the state fair competition in Sacramento and four silvers in the remaining mainline competitions in the state.  With its first offering, Casa Nuestra emerged as a top contender for Merlot.  Our ’00 Merlot is a big wine with intense flavor, color and aroma, presaging a long cellar life.  It is a Napa Valley Estate Bottled wine with an addition of 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon.  $38 per bottle.  146 cases left at this writing.

 

New Offering – 2000 Cabernet Franc

    Casa proudly announces release of its long awaited millennium Cabernet Franc.  Casa Nuestra lead the way with this emerging varietal with its premier release, 1986, the first varietal Cabernet Franc program in North America.  Regrettably, we have been sold out of Franc for many months.  We have been offering barrel tastings of our 2000 vintage here at the winery and almost half of the vintage is already sold as pre-release futures.  Now it is offered to the public at large.  $40 bottle/$480 case.

 

New Release – 2000 Meritage

    This is our most ambitious wine, the top of the Casa line.  In another pioneering move which anticipated today’s trend, our effort began in 1986 to create a proprietary blend of the primary Bordeaux red varieties, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  Recognizing that the finest wines of France are blends of this kind, the Casa was ahead of the curve again.  Label regs at that time required us to designate the blend under a generic name.  Long time customers will remember that our first vintages were offered under the name “Quixote”.  We still receive numerous requests under that name.  In recent vintages, we have offered our blend under the name of “Meritage”, which is a name adopted industry wide to designate wines blended from these varieties.  Our last vintage, the 1999, a gold medal winner, sold out within a few months.  Now Casa Meritage is available again in vintage 2000.  $45/bottle.  449 cases produced.

 

Special Club Selection 099 Cabernet Reserve

    Our next wine club shipment will go out on Nov. 15, and it will include the 2000 Cabernet Franc, the 2001 Tinto St. Helena and a special 1999 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.  The reserve Cab is offered preferentially to our club members who receive a 20% discount on every club selection.  We saved out three barrels (about 61 cases) of our ’99 Cabernet Sauvignon for an extra year of barrel aging.  During that extra year in the barrel the overtones of chocolate and caramel have intensified and the tannins have softened.  It makes a big difference.  To get in on this special selection, sign on to the wine club by the end of November.  Members have until the 16th of the following month to reorder any of the selections at the full 20% discount.  So enroll now and learn the secret hand shake on your next visit.

 

Join Club Casa!

    Our Casa wine club has some irresistible advantages.   Members get to receive and sample our wines on a regular basis in the privacy of their own homes.  They receive priority offerings of some very limited selections from the library among other special releases which are not offered to the public at large.  Here is how it works:  It is free to join and you may cancel at any time.  We automatically send a selection of three bottles each quarter (February, May, August & November) and charge the card you leave on file.  The shipments are discounted 20% from retail and you’ll be able to order more of those selections at the full 20% until the 16th of the following month.  Members also get discounts on all other wines year round, concierge services for visits to the valley and a secret handshake!

New Releases – Chenin Blanc & Tinto

    Dry Chenin Blanc and Tinto are the cornerstones of our program.  Now we offer the 2001 vintages.  Consistent for 22 vintages, these enduring wines never fail to satisfy.  Our Chenin Blanc is fashioned in the noble style of the Loire Valley in France.  It is intensely flavored with a clean penetrating mouth feel.  In a field where there are few choices for white wine, this variety has all but disappeared from the Napa Valley.  Casa customers have discovered the secret and now you are invited to discover it too.  $16 bottle/$192 case

    Our Tinto is a unique red field blend from our St. Helena vineyard (a continu-ation of the blend originating in Oakville, which is now bottled as Tinto Classico).  It is a rare, delicious, and a crowd pleaser.  $19 bottle/$228 case.  These wines are affordable and are packaged under the familiar Casa Nuestra label.

 

Tinto & Tinto Classico – What’s the Difference

    To keep up with the demand for Tinto, several years ago we took cuttings from the original 60-year-old Tinto Vineyard in Oakville and planted them here on the St. Helena estate.  As the new Tinto vineyard came into production, we combined the fruit from both vineyards, augmenting the supply.  Oakville is now recognized as the premier region for the best Napa red wines such as Martha’s Vineyard (Heitz Cellar) $140/bottle;  Opus One (Robert Mondavi) $150/bottle;  Harlan Estate (available at auction $425 to $1200 per bottle); and Screaming Eagle (available at auction $300 to $1200 per bottle).  The extraordinary premium for the Oakville fruit to those ultra high-end producers for a price commensurate with the bottle price which they charge.  To preserve this unique field mix, we choose to make only a modest adjustment to the bottle price to offer Tinto Classico, an authentic Oakville, old-vine, field mix for $30/bottle.  Bottling the vines separately also allows us to hold the price on our St. Helena Tinto at just $19/bottle, honoring our 22 year commitment to being the best wine value in the Napa Valley.

 

The New Riesling

    A few years ago we replanted most of our La Jolla Del Norte vineyard to Cabernet Sauvignon to support our Quixote – now Meritage – program.  The replants replaced the Riesling vines which had been planted there in 1966.  Those old vines produced outstanding Riesling wines both for the Casa and for Stags Leap Wine Cellars.  Readers who have tasted those wines surely remember their robust exotic fruity flavors and aromas.  It seemed a terrible shame for this wine to disappear from the planet, and so the Casa saved out seven rows and the fence lines to enable the making of a limited amount of Riesling each year.  We released our 2001 Riesling a few months ago, and most of it is sold, but there are still cases available for your holiday turkey dinners.  The 2001 is in the style of previous Casa vintages, off dry with a slight sweetness, well balanced by the acidity and alcohol.  We have created a new label using an image from the original surrealistic mural which was commissioned for and now adorns the great doors of the winery – an out of this world label for an out of the world wine.  $15 bottle/$180 case.