2005 Alta Mesa Vineyard Mourvedre Released !!! After 16 months aging in 100% neutral French oak barrels, we bottled our 1st ever 100% Mourvedre last week. Here are some detailed tasting notes and vineyard notes to wet your appetite:

Appellation: ....................................... Cuyama Valley - 100%
Harvest Dates:.................................. October 14, 2005
Brix at Harvest:.................................. 27.8
Alcohol:.............................................. 14.4%
Cooperage:........................................ Francois Freres
Aged:.................................................. 16 months in 100% French oak
Release Date:.................................... February 2007
Retail Price:....................................... $40.00


Tasting Notes

San Sakana’s 2005 Alta Mesa Mourvedre (pronounced MORE _ VED _ RE) will surprise you in its depth right from the first sniff, that shows chocolate, earth, and maybe a hint of cardamom! The first taste will show more plum and tobacco, and the finish will leave you guessing for that second sip. This wine can easily age for the next 3-5 years and still wow your senses.


Vineyard Notes

Alta Mesa Vineyard is located in the Cuyama Valley area of Santa Barbara County. Approximately 40 miles from the town of Santa Barbara, the elevation and soil make it an ideal location to grow and harvest high quality Rhone style grapes. Farmed with sustainable agriculture principles, the grapes from Alta Mesa are very hearty, fruit-forward, and ripen to perfection with the help of the temperature variations common of this area. A mixture of clones 4 and clones 369 were used in this vintage release grown on VSP (vertical shoot positioning) trellises with lots of hearty hand pruning done between July and September.


Food Pairing

This Mourvedre will complement all red meats (try it with Venison) but don’t be afraid to open a bottle with a truffled chicken or curried rice!

Please checkout our website Order Page. We will start shipments in early March.

Enjoy!

Questions, comments - please let me know.

Bettina

2005 Vintage REDS BOTTLED this week!!!!

from 2pm on to past 9pm on Monday, we bottled and labeled and bottled and labeled and bottled and labeled then packed in cases all of our 2005 Reds. twas fun to spend time with the cellar crew, my hubby Fish C. we celebrated with a Grand Cru Reserve Vintage champagne AND some great Vietnamese take-out and to die for chocolates... (only in California !!!)

cases are now sitting quietly in our case storage area. we wait for bottle shock to subside before we start shipping out. estimate we'll start shipping to avid thirsty San Sakana fans starting in March.

we hope to see most of you soon at Rhone Rangers on March 18th. Can't wait to share our 2005 Las Madres Syrah and our 2005 White Hawk Syrah and our 2005 Alta Mesa Mourvedre with you soon.

Regards - Bettina the happy but tired fish a.

Must Learn to SPIT, during our 2005 REDS Final Blending Tastings....

Yes, MUST LEARN TO SPIT, MUST LEARN TO SPIT, MUST LEARN TO SPIT ....

a core competency, I haven't quite mastered.

Last Friday nite, the 3 Fishes and MikeZ spent a marathon evening, tasting and doing our final blends for our upcoming 2005 Vintage Red Releases. All I can say, is I can't wait to share this vintage with you all.

Talk soon - Bettina the non spitting Fish.