December 15, 2011

Our 2009 vintage has received a warm reception from both consumers and the trade that we have poured for over the last few months. Seeing Pinot Noir fans react positively to our wines at our tasting tables or wine shop owners or sommeliers is always gratifying – we like seeing smiles, wistful far-off-looks and the occasional welling up of tears in the eyes. Add some well-chosen words, and things get really poetic.

So it’s also rewarding to have our wines go through blind tastings by respected members of the wine trade media. Our 2009 Pinot Noir lineup has recently received some favorable reviews, including 90+ point ratings in Wine Enthusiast‘s December 15, 2011 issue. The best part of these reviews is always the descriptors. Wine writers are in the profession for a reason – they are good with words.

Here is a sample of the recent reviews from Wine Enthusiast:

• 2009 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, La Encantada Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills: 92 points. “Ripe fruit, in the form of raspberries, cherries and figs, characterizes this luscious Pinot. But it has much more going for it than that. The tannins are rich and complex, the finish is dry and spicy, and the overall impression is of wine with a great pedigree. Drink over the next six years.”
• 2009 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Amber Ridge Vineyard, Russian River Valley: 90 points.  “Classic coastal California Pinot, dry, silky and complex. So easy to like, gliding across the palate with raspberry, cherry, Canadian bacon and smoky sandalwood flavors that are filled with umami richness. Best over the next four years.”
  

  Amber Ridge Pinot Noir

• 2009 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Hayley Vineyard, Anderson Valley: 90 points. “Delivers plenty of rich Pinot flavor from the great Anderson Valley of Mendocino County. Raspberries, cherries, pomegranates, Dr. Pepper cola, spices and sandalwood flood the mouth, wrapped into a silky texture. Nice now, although it could develop bottle complexity over the next 3–4 years.”

Wine Enthusiast also gave our 2009 Deer Meadows Vineyard Pinot Noir 90 points, with the following description: “raspberries, cherries, vanilla, cinnamon spice and sandalwood wash over the palate, just delicious.”

The Deer Meadows also made it on the short list of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir wines reviewed by Jon Bonne in the San Francisco Chronicle in October.  It ranked as one of the 11 best out of over 40 bottles tasted, and received the following review:

This San Francisco label tapped an impressive parcel – the site at 1,600-feet elevation farmed by Richard Savoy that was the source of Littorai’s One Acre bottle. Eucalyptus-driven and piney; it’s chewy and more of a forest-driven wine, with lots of bright citrus to finish.

As we like to say, we love our wines, but we love it when others love our wines, too! And if you want to try all of our wines, we recently released a couple of multi-packs. We have a Fifth Vintage 5-Pack to celebrate the five different Pinots we made in our fifth vintage and we have a Mendocino County 3-Pack for for all of our Mendocino and Anderson Valley Pinots. Both are priced with a package discount, so enjoy!

(photo by Katie Parker)

Seasons Greetings Pinot Noir fans! It’s been a great year at Waits-Mast Family Cellars and we wanted to celebrate the holidays by passing along some specials for our loyal fans and customers. If you’ve got some Pinot Noir-lovers on your gift list (or those you’re trying to convert), then we’re going to help with the following deals:

Shipping Discount on 3 or More Bottles

Purchase three or more bottles of Waits-Mast Pinot Noir and UPS ground shipping is complimentary. Just start shopping in our webstore and the discount will automatically kick in once you add three or more bottles to your cart. This offer is good through 12/28/11.

2009 5th Vintage Five-Pack

2009 was our fifth vintage of winemaking and we celebrated it by making Pinot Noir from five different vineyards in Mendocino, Sonoma and Santa Barbara Counties. And a great vintage it was — these wines are already getting accolades from the San Francisco Chronicle and Wine Enthusiast. Now’s your chance to enjoy or give this five-pack, which includes each of our five new releases for a special price of $190. The 5-pack qualifies for complimentary shipping.

Mendocino County Three-Pack

Sample each of the three single-vineyard 2009 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir wines from Mendocino County, including two from the Anderson Valley appellation, all at a special package price of $112 (also qualifies for complimentary shipping).

Case discount

We offer a standard 10% discount on orders of one case or more. Mixed cases qualify.

SHIPPING INFO

If you want your packages to arrive by December 25, please place your orders as soon as possible. For ground shipping to the midwest, we recommend that you place your order by December 15. For ground shipping within California, place your order by 12 noon, December 19.

At the moment, we are only able to ship to the states of Illinois and California, but we are working on adding some additional states (NY, WA are next) in the coming weeks and months. If you are in one of those other 48 states, another option is to purchase our wine through online retailers like K&L Wines that carry our wines and can ship to a large number of states.

Happy shopping and happy holidays!

Brian at the Waits-Mast table at Pinot Days Chicago 2011

We had an incredible time participating in Pinot Days Chicago on Saturday. It was our 4th time pouring at the event, and as in previous years, it was great to catch up with old friends and fans of Waits-Mast Family Cellars.

Each year has been memorable, in 2008 we met some folks who have become regular customers, in 2009 we were told that we had “bangin’ juice,” and last year we heard that the wine tasted like “fall in a glass.”

This year, we poured a selection of our 2009 Waits-Mast Family Cellars Pinot Noir releases throughout the day. Most who stopped by our table got to try our wines from Anderson Valley (Hayley Vineyard), Russian River (Amber Ridge Vineyard) and Mendocino (Oppenlander Vineyard). After we poured through those wines, we had visitors sample our release from Deer Meadows Vineyard in Anderson Valley and from La Encantada Vineyard in Sta Rita Hills.

Response to the wines was amazing and we experienced a first for us when a new fan actually started tearing up after trying our wine from Deer Meadows vineyard.

Here’s a quick sampling of some of our favorite reactions to the wines:

2009 Waits-Mast Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Hayley Vineyard (Anderson Valley):

Tasters called this wine “elegant,” said it had eucalyptus characteristics, and described it as “earthy” on the nose, yet “California” upon tasting. One person said, “this is a revelation” and remarked that it has “fabulous complexity in the nose.” Another said, “I’m an Oregon guy…that’s exciting.” Others said that it had a “roundness” and was “velvety” and “delicious” with hints of “strawberry.”

2009 Waits-Mast Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Amber Ridge Vineyard (Russian River):

One of the tasters inhaled this wine deeply and said he was “just getting high” off of the nose and said that it had a “hint of creme brulee,” and was “nice and soft.” He added that, “I’ve been to every Pinot Days from the beginning and this was definitely way up there.” Another person said that it was like a “blast off in your mouth.” Someone else said it was “smokier” than our other wines and that it had an “interesting finish.”

2009 Waits-Mast Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Oppenlander Vineyard (Mendocino):

Folks who came by our table and tried our Oppenlander Vineyard Pinot Noir described it as “tart,” with a “little more acid” than our releases from Hayley and Amber Ridge Vineyards.  Another said that it was “earthy” and would pair well with steak. Someone else noted that it had an “unexpected dryness.” One person said that initially there’s a burst of fruit, followed by “tannins at the end” with a nice finish. At least one person said that it was their favorite wine.

Waits-Mast "super-fan" Luke

2009 Waits-Mast Family Cellars Pinot Noir, La Encantada Vineyard (Sta Rita Hills):

We only brought a few bottles of this wine to taste. The few who were able to sample it had nice things to say. One taster said that it tasted of “burnt cranberry, orange and raspberry” with “not a lot of earth.” Another person exclaimed that this wine was an “orgasm in my mouth.”

2009 Waits-Mast Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Deer Meadows Vineyard (Anderson Valley):

As with the La Encantada, we were only able to bring a few bottles of this wine to Pinot Days. This was the wine that made a taster cry and that others described as being like “velvet.” Waits-Mast “super fan” Luke (amazingly not the taster who was brought to tears) explained his love for the wine, saying, “I don’t want to stop drinking [it] with my nose.” He told us that tasting the wine was akin to listening to the “Star-Spangled Banner” in that it produced “goosebumps.” Luke added, “You saved me months of meditation.”

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table at Pinot Days Chicago. It’s always a fun event for us, largely due to the warmth of the crowd.

Inside the warm, inviting Presidio Cafe (photo courtesy of Presidio Cafe)

Want to try some limited production, hard-to-find wines and kick off your holiday season in style? On Thursday, December 1st, Waits-Mast Family Cellars will be hosting a Holiday Wine Tasting at the Presidio Cafe in San Francisco. The event will run from 6pm to 9pm and guests will be able to sample our new 2009 vintage Pinot Noirs that we just released in September. In fact, it will be the first event in which you’ll be able to try and buy all five of our new wines.

And in case you had a yen for a Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah, we are going to be joined by our fellow boutique urban winemakers, Michael James Wines, who will be pouring their offerings of these varietals from Napa Valley.

We’re excited to be hosting a party like this because it will be a smaller, more intimate venue for us to share our wines with fans, friends and family. And the venue is perfect for this time of year, when there is a chill in the air. The Presidio Cafe is warm and inviting, and the food is excellent. The fine folks at the Presidio Cafe will be serving a selection light and heavy hors d’oeuvres that will pair nicely with all of the wines, along with dessert and complimentary non-alcoholic beverages.

And if you try a wine that catches your fancy, you’ll be able to purchase it on the spot. So if you’re looking for that unique gift this holiday season, you’ll be able to say that you personally tasted through a number of wines to choose the right one for your friend or family member. And you’ll be able to say you met the winemakers, too!

We’d love to see you there and help us kick off the holidays, so here are the details:

DATE: December 1, 2011, 6-9pm

LOCATION: Presidio Café, Presidio of San Francisco. Conveniently located just off Jackson & Arguello Streets with plenty of free parking available. For more details on the Café, click here.

COST: $20.00 per person. Event is 21 and over only. Click here to purchase.

Space is limited, so please purchase tickets and RSVP by November 30

If you wish to order online in advance and pick up your order at the event, go to our web store to order and we’ll make sure to have your order on hand.

2009 Pinot Days Chicago

It’s hard to believe that our first public wine tasting happened 4 years ago at Pinot Days Chicago.

I vividly remember setting up our table and anxiously awaiting customers. As one of the newest labels at the event in 2008, we weren’t sure that people would even stop by the Waits-Mast table. Our fears were unfounded, as plenty of people sampled our 2007 vintage at that event and we ended up making quite a few friends who we look forward to seeing at Pinot Days Chicago every year.

We’ll be pouring for the 4th time at the Pinot Days Chicago Grand Festival this Saturday, November 12, 2011 from 1pm to 5pm. At the tasting you’ll get a chance to sample a selection of our 2009 releases. If you are planning to attend, you can use the discount code WAITSCH11 to get 10% off your ticket. We hope to see you there.

Russian River Valley pinot noir arriving at the winery

It’s October 15 and we still are waiting for more pinot noir fruit to get picked and sorted in this 2011 vintage. Today, we sorted our Russian River Valley pinot noir fruit from the vineyard formerly know as Archer Family Vineyard (it was recently sold and new vineyard name is TBD). Usually RRV fruit comes in sometime in mid-late September.

The fact that you have Sonoma fruit getting picked in mid-October tells you what a crazy growing season this has been. Not only did the cool summer push back the phenolic development of the grapes, but the rains in early October caused ripening to stall momentarily. In some cases, it pushed back the ripeness, with sugars going down.

And then, when you get a region like Anderson Valley, where our grapes have come in normally in late September to early October, things are getting pushed back even further. We are still awaiting another lot of Anderson Valley pinot noir, with our Wentzel fruit scheduled for pick on Monday the 17th.

Evidence of a hungry bear at Wentzel Vineyard

And did we say bears? Yes, bears. A little visitor has consumed a few pinot noir clusters at Wentzel Vineyard, further challenging the final yield of the vineyard. Suffice it to say, we are lucky to get our little ton of pinot with all the challenges the year has brought.

Despite all the challenges or idiosyncrasies of the 2011 vintage, the fruit looks *and* tastes good. For growers overall, yields are down due to shatter, dropped fruit because of mold or lack of ripeness and general damage from the rains, but what remains after this close attention to quality are excellent grapes that hopefully are benefiting from an additional two to three weeks of hang time. As Bonne notes in his own 2011 harvest update, more hang time (and cooler growing conditions) means more complexity and more balance.

We’ll see – as Tom Petty growls in his hit from the 80′s, “the waiting is the hardest part.”

Swan clone at Londer on October 2, 2011

At this point in October, we’ve normally harvested the majority if not all of our pinot noir from the different appellations with which we source fruit. As of today, we’ve only pulled in one lot of 115 clone pinot noir from Londer Vineyard, and we’re still awaiting the other clone from Londer, Swan, both from Anderson Valley. Nor have we picked our blocks from Wentzel in Anderson Valley, Oppenlander in Comptche and Vineyard 11 (formerly Archer Family) in Russian River Valley.

2011 has proven to be another cool year – similar to 2010, but with a couple of more challenges, or as we like to think about them, opportunities for distinctive wines. 2010 was a very cool growing year in Northern California, especially in the coastal climates, but there were a few heat spikes in August and September. 2011 has been consistently cool, with fewer and less intense warm periods. This has pushed harvest dates out further than last year.

Also adding to the delays have been a couple of rain storms that hit last week across California. If you didn’t get a crew to pick your fruit (often a challenge when everyone wants to pick on the same day) before the rains hit, you have to wait at least a couple of days if not more to let the fruit dry out and avoid any bunch rot. The last of the rains were on Thursday and the earliest we expect to get fruit is on Monday the 10th.

We took a whirlwind trip up to Philo last weekend, staying just over 24 hours, to check out our blocks from the Anderson Valley and Comptche vineyards. Our first stop was Wentzel Vineyard, where upon arrival it was misting rain. We checked in on our the small block called “the clos” from which we get a blend of Dijon clones (114, 115, 667, 777). The most recent measurement of the sugars in the grapes, measured in Brix, was just over 21 Brix. A target zone that we look for in Brix is 23.5 – 24.5 Brix.

Brian checking the berries at Wentzel

We’re not die-hard about the numbers, because you have to look at other important factors: acidity, flavor, color and consistency of the seeds, and finally your gut feeling. The berries tasted good and the seeds are starting to get crunchy, so it’s getting there. With the rains coming in and a slow, cool season, we are predicting the Wentzel will come in late this coming week of the 10th.

We took a drive over to Londer Vineyard, further West of Philo, on Sunday morning; clouds were breaking up and the sun was starting to shine. Londer has been partially picked, but the Swan clone usually comes off the vines last. The yield on these vines looks pretty good, despite some shatter (when a grape cluster doesn’t fully mature due to early season growing conditions like cold and wind) and there is a mix of clusters with small berries and some with large berries. The Swan clone is further along, around 23 Brix, and we were getting more flavors from these given that they are closer to ripening. We expect the Swan clone to come in early this coming week.

After a brief visit with Shirlee Londer (and their dogs, which kept our 5 yr old daughter entertained), we took the windy road up to Comptche, about 30 minutes north of the valley, to check out Oppenlander. In the past we have gotten 114 clone from Oppenlander, but we heard of the possibility of some Pommard and 115. We checked out all the vines, tasting berries up and down the rows, and Oppenlander is also looking good. Very minor puckering from the few warm stretches that we’ve had late in the summer. All the vines have a good canopy, which perhaps helped a little bit during the heavy rains in the last week. We will be getting a blend of 114, 115 and Pommard from Oppenlander on Monday the 10th.

Pommard clone on the vines at Oppenlander

Also on Monday, we’re likely to get our pinot (828 clone) from Vineyard 11 near Windsor in Russian River Valley. So it will be a busy couple of weeks at the winery with only one bin fermenting (Londer 115 on its native yeast) and 4+ tons coming in. After that, we’ll be pressing late into the month. We’ll keep you posted on how the rest of the fruit looks when it comes in in our next harvest update.

2009 Oppenlander Pinot Noir

At long last the wait is over. It’s always the hardest part of wine making. You get excited about a particular vintage and how the wines will turn out, but the wines need time. Time to evolve, time to settle down, time to open up. And the time is now as we are excited to release our Waits-Mast Family Cellars lineup of 2009 Pinot Noir wines.

2009 was a very favorable growing year, as many wine writers have noted, and there was a lot of great pinot noir available that year. We ended up sourcing fruit from five different vineyards, from as far south as Sta. Rita Hills and as far north as Comptche, CA. Here is the lineup, with links to tasting notes and specs on each one:

• 2009 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, La Encantada Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills
• 2009 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Amber Ridge Vineyard, Russian River Valley
• 2009 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Hayley Vineyard, Anderson Valley
• 2009 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Deer Meadows Vineyard, Anderson Valley
• 2009 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Oppenlander Vineyard, Mendocino County

2009 La Encantada Pinot Noir

The joy of this lineup is that it is a diverse portfolio of wines, each representing the style and personality of the vineyard and the region. The Sta. Rita Hills pinot screams central coast with its bright acidity, amazing structure and cranberry tartness. The Russian River pinot is fruit-forward with a floral nose and silky finish. And as we get into Anderson Valley with the Hayley and Deer Meadows we pick up the pure cherry fruit and earthy aromas from that cool climate. Wrapping it up in Comptche, the vineyard that is furthest north and closest to the coast, the wine serves up that “oceanic acidity,” a balanced, earthy and strikingly-colored pinot noir.

After reading all that, and if you’ve been following this blog since the 2009 harvest, then you’re probably ready to get some for yourself. Our online store, which we had closed for the summer due to warm weather shipping restrictions and some updating of the store, is now open and the 2009 vintage is now available. Just go to www.waitsmast.com and click on “purchase.”

At the moment, we are only able to ship within the state of California, but we are working on adding some additional states in the coming weeks and months. If you are in one of those other 49 states and wish for us to ship to you, let us know and we’ll do our best to get the proper permits (there are tons of legal restrictions on direct shipping, so no guarantees).

2009 Deer Meadows Pinot Noir

Soon we’ll have some retailers offering our wine through their online site as well, and they often ship to many states in the U.S. Stay tuned to our blog and our website for updates on these retailers. And to read some of the latest reviews, go to our News page on our website for the most recent reviews on Waits-Mast Pinot Noir.

Enjoy the wines and we’ll keep you posted on more updates on this vintage, our 2010s and the 2011 harvest.

2009 Amber Ridge during pressing

This hillside site is located immediately adjacent to the famed Gary Farrell Starr Ridge Vineyard in Windsor. Amber Ridge was planted in 2000 with clones 115, 667 and 777 on 101-14 rootstock and was adopted by several high-end wineries for its inaugural harvest in 2003. In 2009, we were fortunate to have acquired one ton of this hard-to-get fruit, allowing us to produce just under 50 cases.

Among our customers, we have some die-hard Amber Ridge fans. These tasting notes should tantalize them, as well as anyone who loves the lush pinot noirs of Russian River Valley:

The color is a lovely ruby red, light to medium in shade. As this wine opens up, aromas of dried rose petals, strawberry and red cherry come together. On the palate is the classic Amber Ridge that we love: sweet cherry, lush fruit, and a smooth, strawberries and cream finish, with a touch of cocoa. This wine is drinking very well right now and stands on its own by the glass or paired with pan-roasted pork tenderloin with Asian five-spice seasonings.

Here are the detailed specs, for the wine geeks in the group…

• Clones: 115 (50%); 667(25%); 777 (25%)
• Harvest/Brix: September 11, 2009 at 26 Brix
• Alcohol content: 14.8% by volume
• Fruit: 100% whole berry (no stems)
• Fermentation: RC212
• Barrel aging: 17 months in French oak, 30% new (Francois Freres, MT)
• Bottled: March, 2011
• Production: 47 cases
• Drink now through 2015

Next week, we’ll profile our fifth pinot noir from 2009 as we move further south to Sta. Rita Hills.

One of our goals in winemaking is to explore the variations on the pinot noir theme, based on location. With five wines, we want each one to represent a different flavor profile – that is what is so enchanting about pinot noir.

Hayley Vineyard fruit headed for the sorting line

Located halfway between Boonville and Philo in Anderson Valley, Hayley Vineyard is a 34-acre site is planted to Dijon clones 114, 115, 667 and 777 along with small amounts of Pommard and Martini.

Unlike the Deer Meadows Vineyard which is at 1600′ elevation, the Hayley Vineyard is located on the valley floor, where fog situates itself at the end of the day, providing a cooling influence to moderate from the warm days that permeate the valley. This location yields a more fruit-focused profile vs. the earthy and floral tones on the Deer Meadows. Each wine is yummy – just different.

We only made one barrel of pinot noir from the Hayley Vineyard, so it had to be good! Read the tasting notes and you’ll get an idea of why this is a singularly special wine:

The Hayley Vineyard pinot noir is all about that classic Anderson Valley cherry fruit. On the nose, in addition to the cherry, is a hint of malted milk and a sweet toastiness from the oak. At the beginning, you get hints of pastry and cherry pie. On the mid-palate is a soft, silky mouthfeel enrobed in strawberry and rhubarb, ending in a clean finish. A light to medium-bodied pinot noir, the Hayley Vineyard pinot noir is truly enjoyable on its own or with your favorite meal.

Here are the details and specs for this wine:

• Clones: 114
• Harvest/Brix: September 29, 2009 at 26 Brix
• Fruit: 100% whole berry (no stems)
• Fermentation: RC212 yeast
• Barrel aging: 17 months in French oak, 25% new (Francois Freres)
• Alcohol content: 14.6% by volume
• Bottled: March, 2011
• Production: 24 cases

That’s our tour of Mendocino County pinot noir…next week, we move a bit further south to the Russian River.