Sounds like it is sweet?
With no dosage, though.
What’s the pH?
All on the specs tab.
But as they are identical for both, one wonders…
Not ‘sweet’, but not bone dry either. The fruit seems to have given an impression of some RS. That is the number I’d be curious about.
Even this Winesmith Mystery Offer
Clark, you are too good to us! After I missed your one offering in yesterday’s woot off I was wallowing around for a while so imagine my surprise when today offering appeared. I couldn’t pass up trying another new WineSmith wine, let alone the ones you served at your wedding, so 3 orders of the grenache for me. Know any good deals on post modern wine fridges as I’ve already got two filled solely with Clark’s wines (mostly WineSmith, but some Two Jakes and others in there too)
I still can’t believe it is coming to an end. Thank you wine woot, and thank you Clark and Mike for your help and products over the years.
The best thing that came of wine woot for my wife and I is discovering your wines and approach to winemaking. In some ways you’ve ruined us for anything else as your wines are always delicious, interesting and thoughtfully produced. It has been our pleasure to support what you do and to introduce your wines to friends and family. You will have a direct customer in un as long as you keep at it.
John and Michelle
lol, great find. It was this mystery pack that I sent my mother-in-law (after she had tried the faux chablis at our house) and that started the diminishing of any estate they might leave us…they became HUGE fans of your 2007 crucible and have ordered it a few times since.
Sandra’s contact number is 707-332-0056.
With 11 years of experience with this vineyard, I can state with confidence that the 2010 Cab Franc will easily hold up for an additional decade in a good cellar, though it’s quite ready to go now.
With today’s offerings, I cannot draw on that personal experience, as these are my first wines from the vineyard. Santa Cruz Mountain wines are noted for their longevity, and this red did take quite a while to open up and gain interest, so I expect it to continue to improve over the next five years, but after that, it’s anybody’s guess.
The rule of thumb with sparkling wine is “drink it.” The freshness of the aromas here is something I would miss if it were lost in aging. I would recommend against holding it more than a year or two, but this really is unknown territory.
I thought it a remarkable observation. Note that he also guesses it is dry, and in fact that’s what I mean by Brut Zero. However, the wine’s lower acidity and rich fruit gives it plenty of body and oiliness, and I think this is what Ron meant. See my previous comments.
The pH is 3.35. The tech sheet is wrong. However, the RS is 0.02%, i.e. nada.
Unfortunately, the Mystery Pack was a one-time deal we used to clean out our stock of library wines. That we can’t repeat. However, if you are on our mailing list, you’ll be treated to similar offers next year direct from the winery.
Thanks, John. Like every winemaker, what keeps me going is people like you two who grok my vision.
For those of you who want to get even closer, Mike and I are collaboratively rolling out two new programs in 2018.
The first is Wine Camp. We’ll take over an organic farmhouse B&B in West County Sonoma for a weekend in July where six to ten participants will crush organic muscat grapes, distill brandy and produce an Angelica, and also blend and bottle a Meritage. Winemaking activities will be punctuated by lectures, discussions and Q&A, as well as an evening course in pairing wine and music. Mike and I are both accomplished chefs and will also prepare special dinners and generally party with you before sending you off Monday morning with a case of each wine you produced.
2018 will be our second year for our wonderful Harvest Partners program. You buy a seat at the winemaking table to participate (either in person or by teleconference) in all phases of the vintage: choosing the wines we will make, monitoring the vineyards, crushing, fermenting, cellaring and bottling. Each partner gets a proportionate share of the wines we make together, valued at cost, which they can trade with other partners or with the house. Your investment, which enables crush to happen, is $5,000 converted into Crushcoins, which can also be used to purchase current wines at a 40% discount. For more details, check out the Harvest Partners website, which currently shows the details of this the 2017 vintage program.
Please contact me at clark@winemaking411.com or 707-332-5552 if you are interested in these programs.
I’m super interested in the sparkler. Not at all in the still red, though.
This was a fun project to work with Clark on. Definitely make sure you get some before it gets all gobbled up. Great to have just in time for New Year’s Eve
So it’s to your perspicacity we owe the existence of this bubbly? Looking forward to trying it.
Same here. Anyway we can do a sparkler deal through the winery directly?
OK, settled on one, mostly because of the need to stop spending so much money! If somebody feels the need to get rid of a bottle of the bubbly, I may be able to help.
Yes, indeed. We will give any wooter 20% off on a single bottle or 36% on cases. If you tie it in with another woot deal (the 2007 RRV Pinot @ $49.99 for 2 comes to mind), you can get your single bottle shipped free.
Awesome. You may give me (and other local wooters) an excuse to head up and visit. It’s been far too long. 
[grape]
My sincere apologies to be so late to the game. I won’t bore you with the details but suffice it to say that if I could have done this sooner, I would have!
Hopefully this review can help anyone who is on the fence during the final hour of the offer…
2014 WineSmith Sparkling Grenache Blanc de Noirs
PnP, I’m getting biscuits on the nose along with some honeyed lemon peel and light citrus blossom.
Dry and tart on the palate with white peach, lemon zest and a faint hint of strawberry. More of a pleasant background note that persists from entry to finish.
Medium bodied with flinty minerality, the mousse dissipates rather quickly but the wine retains a nice foamy effervescence on the tongue. The long finish makes me want to segway into another sip.
Really nice and unique effort by Clark with some inspiration from Mike. What a fitting tribute to both of them to feature this wine during wine.woot’s final days.