Just wanted to see who out there has experience with these wines. I have had slightly mixed results with the Chenin Blancs, 2 really good, 1 OK. Last night I opened the 2017 Calaveras Zinfandel as the website gave the impression of a forward easy drinking wine and Wow was I happy with the wine.
Bursting with with bright electric juicy fruit and lilac. Bright acidity, chalky minerality. Nimble and light on it’s feet refreshing and irresistible. Really nice and balanced with under 12% alcohol! Great Summer Red.
Not your traditional Zin lovers Zin but WOW was this fun!
Nice post Mike! Thanks to recos on this board I’ve been buying the Chenins for a couple years now. I really like the wines when I’m in the mood - great chenins made in a very restrained style (from what I’ve sampled so far at least.
The PetNat was solid but needs more time I thought. Was a bit linear and the acidity was almost too much for me at the current stage.
Also have a Mataro but haven’t tried it yet.
Overall, I definitely recommend giving them a shot (especially considering the very reasonable price points.) Good, unique wines and great customer service.
I’ve enjoyed Craig’s wines since he was at Revolution in Sacramento. He does seem to have a deft hand with Central Valley and Foothill grapes. His Chenins can be compelling, but his reds are worthy of attention as well.
Good article by Dunne:
We opened the 2016 Mokelumne Syrah last night. This is a lithe, energetic Syrah, great aromatics, drinking surprisingly well for such a young wine. It’s in some ways reminiscent of the Sandlands wines, unquestionably Californian, but with one foot in the Rhône. Worth a try for sure.
I’ve been happy with the wines as well, They are really the type of wines I find myself wanting to drink these days. Haven’t tried the Calaveras Zin yet but have a couple and was thinking of opening 1 tomorrow. The Chenins, Syrah and Mataro have all been balanced, bright wines.
Just wanted to give credit for great customer service. I wanted to get some more of the Calaveras Zinfandel to enjoy over the summer (yummy crunchy red built for summer foods), so I ordered it and forgot about it. Well, I screwed up and set the order for pick up at the winery (talk about a long trip to the wine shop). Craig noticed my error right away contacted me to check, then straitened everything out and shipped it right away. I was blown over that he would look at the order see that I am most of the continent away and think I better make sure this is not an error. Just wanted to thank Craig for paying attention, great service, and oh ya… Great Wines!
Thanks for the heads up. Orders already in.
Case and a half to Michigan $30.00 shipping. Fun unique wines, great service, nice people and affordable. What’s not to like?
Thanks for the tasting impressions of the Haarmeyer Wines! I think that they’ll be under the radar for not much longer!!!
Quick disclaimer for what I am about to post:
I don’t know why I feel like I have to preserve these emails for posterity’s sake. The WB forum is not the Internet Archive, but I feel better being able to look up this info later on at the same website.
It is presumably helpful to other wine lovers. If it isn’t, please tell me to stop sharing winery release email content.
"Thirty three year old vines in pink granite and quartz, one ton to the acre, tiny clusters add up to big flavors and aromas. This little vineyard is in the Borden Ranch sub AVA of Lodi but is also in Sacramento County. This wine exhibits Sacramento terroir at it’s finest.
"Picked August 17
19.4 Brix
3.2 pH
"It was foot treaded for skin contact, fermented in puncheon sans additions and went 11 months sur lie. Fifty four cases produced.
100% Chenin Blanc
• 2017 St. Rey Pet-Nat Chenin Blanc:
"Hand picked by the family crew, foot treaded, pressed, naturally fermented, bottled at 2.4 Brix, disgorged the following summer. This is the finest naturally sparkling Chenin Blanc around.
"Picked August 28
17.2 Brix
3.16 pH
• 2017 ‘Wirz’ Riesling:
"This is our foot treaded, non-ML Riesling. Fruit is from the old Wirz Vineyard in the Cienega Valley AVA: own rooted, dry farmed, and head trained in decomposed granite over laying limestone.
"Picked September 29
20.8 Brix
3.2 pH
"Whole cluster pressed, spontaneous fermentation in puncheon
Non-ML, bottled sans filtration June 4th 2018
"This is another light and refreshing red wine for us. Whole cluster fermentation adds a layer of soft tannins and raises the pH just enough to round out this aromatic wine.
"Picked September 21
22.3 Brix
3.4 pH
“Foot treaded whole clusters in open-top tank sans sufre, ambient yeast fermentation, pressed to neutral puncheon, bottled June 7 with 20ppm sulfur.”
• 2017 ‘Mokelumne’ Syrah:
"This is Mokelumne AVA Syrah grown in sand near the Mokelumne river. Vines are 30+ years old and we pick at low sugars and foot tread whole clusters in an open top tank. Then we press to neutral puncheons after a week of extended maceration.
"Picked August 18
23.5 Brix
3.41 pH
“The wine pick-up event is scheduled for Sunday, November 11, 2018 Noon - 4:00 pm. If you intend to pick up your wine, please RSVP by adding to your cart the Fall Release Party RSVP.
Fun unique wines, great service, nice people and affordable. What’s not to like?
