current releases

Our current releases are those wines which we believe are ready to drink and enjoy with a meal. Oftentimes we will hold and cellar a wine after it has been bottled, tasting until flavors, acids and tannins are well integrated and not releasing the wine until that time.

Celestina Pinot Grigio 2009

$16.20 per bottle regularly $18

$48.60 for 3 bottles

Pink-orange in color like a California sunset. The nose suggestively offers strawberry, peach and a medley of opulent, bright fruit aromas. In the mouth the wine is tangy with vibrant acidity and superb concentration. Refreshing citrus and white fruit flavors lead to a crisp, dry finish. This is an excellent summer aperitif that pairs well with food. Especially good with greens and first course fare such radicchio and arugula, as well as with grilled vegetables, including artichoke and asparagus.

The juice of traditionally vinified Pinot Grigio is pressed whole cluster and then fermented to produce a white wine. The Pinot Grigio in this bottle was de-stemmed and allowed to cold soak on its own reddish-pink skins to extract more flavor as well as color, prior to pressing and fermentation in oak barrels.

Click here for printable winemaking and tasting notes.

Salsipuedes Pinot Noir 2009

$18 per bottle regularly $20

$54 for 3 bottles

Firm, intense and full bodied, the 2009 Salsipuedes shows dark fruit and earth, with hints of cinnamon and sassafras in the nose. In tasting, the sappy, juicy flavors in this young pinot noir are delicious upfront, with cherry and blackberry flavors that have both spicy character and ripeness to the fruit. Tannin is evident in both the dark color and lengthy finish, with cedar and tea leaf flavored tannins that are persistent and leave a lingering mineral finish.

“Flee—if you can.” The headwaters of Santa Barbara County’s Salsipuedes Canyon begin a few miles northeast of Point Conception. This maritime influenced drainage flows north as a tributary to the Santa Ynez River. The name Salsipuedes originated as a warning and traces back to mounted banditos who preyed upon early California travelers on the way between Mission La Purisima Concepción and Gaviota. Those using the Gaviota pass often found the longer inland route along the Santa Ynez River and Nojoqui Creek was a safer passage.

Click here for printable winemaking and tasting notes.

Caponera Chardonnay 2009

$18 per bottle regularly $20

$54 for 3 bottles

This is a classically styled Chardonnay with lush flavors and very low oak imprint, comprised of 50% stainless steel and 50% barrel fermented wine. Visually this wine’s golden hue suggests ripe flavors and aromatics, which are delivered emphatically in the nose and mouth. The nose reveals aromatics of spicy apple, crème brulée, hints of honey/beeswax and even light tropical notes. This is an expressive, food friendly wine that is balanced and bright, with minerality and fresh acidity. Caponera is easy drinking, refreshing and delicious alone or complimenting food.

Marching from Monterey to recapture Santa Barbara in 1846, at Rancho Nipomo Colonel Fremont made the error of seizing both the remuda and family pet horses - leaving behind the elderly Caponera (lead mare). Following the soldiers, the rancheros with the Caponera found Fremont camped near Foxen Canyon. Carefully using the breeze and dark December night, the old mare was maneuvered so her scent carried to Fremont’s remuda. The exhausted guards could not prevent the stampede that followed the Caponera back to Rancho Nipomo. Only years later did Fremont learn how he had been outwitted by the savvy rancheros and a long forgotten lead mare.

Click here for printable winemaking and tasting notes.

Cuvée Jalama Syrah 2005

$18 per bottle regularly $20

$54 for 3 bottles

"This Syrah is a blend from several selected vineyards on the Central Coast. Dark fruit again on the nose, with boysenberry and dark cherry prominent and some more pure fruit flavors in the mix as well. This Syrah is balanced and well-knit together at this point. It has a hard core of fruit that’s not going away anytime soon, but it’s only showing you what’s on the surface right now, which makes it a great candidate for buying a few bottles for aging in your cellar. "
Dennis Schaefer. Wine Columnist

The name Jalama originates from the Purisemeno Chumash village "Xalam" meaning bundle. Although the precise location of this indigenous Canalino people's village site is lost to history, its position near Point Concepción is inferred from journals and artifacts including a Spanish Mission period wine fermenter and an ancient, south-facing olive grove believed to be the second-oldest in California.

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Encantado Syrah 2005

$16.20 per bottle regularly $18

$48.60 for 3 bottles

"Blended with eight percent Viognier, this Syrah is very big on the nose, with dark fruit, bacon fat and white florals. Whoa! One taste tells you this is a big boy of Syrah. It is jam-packed with rich flavors of dark plum, boysenberry, bacon fat and white pepper. A huge wine that’s very extracted and highly concentrated. It’s so lush that you will not be able to think about anything else for at least a half an hour. An incredible best buy."
Dennis Schaefer, Wine Columnist

Mountainous and bisected by coastal ranges, California's Central Coast is an enchanted place. Broken by a few large valleys and the narrow coastal shelf, the land is primarily made up of sandstones, shales and conglomerates with inter-bedded volcanic rock. Sea breezes, fogs and a prevailing onshore maritime airflow temper the climate. The parental influences of the topography, soils and climates lend themselves to the creation of enchanting, food-friendly wines such as this Syrah.

Click here for printable winemaking and tasting notes.