Monroy Wines – we make Sonoma County cool climate cabernet sauvignon, done only via rolling barrel fermentation. I open, close, and roll my own barrels, in addition to doing everything else. Have a look at an introduction video made by one of my distributors, [Cellar Angels](Monroy Wines | Barrel Fermented Cabernet Sauvignon - YouTube).
My winemaking background is four years at Eisele Vineyard, with two years each under the Araujo’s and Chateau Latour, followed by stints at Checkerboard, Pahlmeyer, and six years now at Benovia in the Russian River. Benovia taught me how to make nuanced pinot noir, and that winemaking style mixed with my base in high-end cabernet houses led to Monroy Wines.
The cabernets I make are not early-drinking, fruity and opulent wines. These are tense, savory, textured wines that want cellar time or long decants. I pick early to preserve the floral and savory characteristics I enjoy in cabernet, and the rolling barrel fermentation gives the mouthfeel and density of a much riper wine without any of the jammy, pruned notes or accompanying heat. Flattering reviews on the wine are down below!
Sauvignon Blanc was my baby at Eisele and Checkerboard and is the other varietal I love to make. In 2022 we were able to make the investment to start producing our own from a block of musque clone at Kick Ranch. Fermented in 15% new wood, 30% neutral oak, and 55% stainless steel it gives green citrus rind, white guava, green melon, and just a kiss of oak vanilla on the nose. The wine is bright and nervy on the palate with a rich mouthfeel and long, vibrant finish. It’s going to bottle in March and I’m very happy with it!
You can read more about us on our website (in English, Spanish, or Arabic. Why? Have a look!) or see the winemaking in action on Instagram.
We are offering two different sampler packs with flat rate $10 UPS Ground shipping!
BD14 A | Two Whites and a Red – Two bottles of 2022 Sauvignon Blanc (Fountaingrove District, 13.5% abv), and one bottle of 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon (Chalk Hill, 14.5% abv). $110 + $10 shipping
Direct link here: BD14A
BD14 B | or Two Reds and a White – One bottle of 2022 Sauvignon Blanc, and one bottle each of 2019 (14.1% abv) and 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon. $145 + $10 shipping
This is the way to go, in my opinion. The '19 and '20 cabernets are lovely in their own right but it’s really fun to drink them next to each other. Same vineyard block with just slightly different cooperage; the difference is all vintage.
Direct link here: BD14B
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Sauvignon Blanc gets bottled in March, and I’ll plan to start shipping everything in April.
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The 2020 cab has been aging in bottle since last March, but if you’re not feeling the vintage we can swap in the 2019. We’ll be in touch to confirm vintages before shipping.
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Are you getting more than one sampler pack? I’ll throw in a beautiful handmade Guatemalan wine bag from Antigua!
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Do you want only reds? Email me and I’ll work something out for you.
Cabernet Reviews - (with my emphasis added)
From Ronn Wiegand, MS, MW – Restaurant Wine
Tasted 9/22
MONROY WINES 2018 CHALK HILL, SONOMA COUNTY ****
An excellent Chalk Hill Cabernet: supple and full bodied, it is ripe and rich in flavor (cassis, blackberry, red currant, mint, oak), balanced, and long on the finish. Drinks well now, but has the richness and depth to develop for several more years. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged 20 months in French oak barrels. Unfined, unfiltered. Less than 200 cases. [2025-2032]
MONROY WINES 2019 CHALK HILL, SONOMA COUNTY ***+
This is a crisper, more vibrant vintage of Monroy. Also full bodied, it has intense black currant, mint, herb, and oak flavors, and a long, toasty finish. Still very young; warrants at least 3 to 5 more years of aging. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged 20 months in French oak barrels. Unfined, unfiltered. 150 cases. [2025-2030]
From John Gilman - View From the Cellar
2019 Cabernet Sauvignon, 93 Points. Tasted 3/22
…delivers a beautifully refined nose of sweet cassis, black cherries, tobacco leaf, dark soil tones, a touch of violets, a very judicious framing of new oak and just a wisp of youthful cabernet leafiness in the upper register that is totally beguiling. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with excellent mid-palate depth, most impressive soil signature, ripe, buried tannins and a very long, poised finish that shows just a whisper of backend heat. I love the style of this wine, which shows old school complexity and restraint in personality. It is plenty structured out of the blocks and will need extended cellaring to blossom, but it is going to be lovely.
2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, 93 Points. Tasted 12/22
The bouquet offers up a deep and ripe constellation of black cherries, sweet cassis, cigar wrapper, a touch of allspice, graphite, dark soil tones and a lovely framing of spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and nascently complex, with a lovely core of fruit, a good chassis of ripe tannin, fine balance and grip and a long, youthful and promising finish. This is a touch more plush in personality than the superb wines made here in 2018 and 2019, but the difference is stylistic, rather than qualitative, and this wine is every bit as promising as those previous vintages. Adolfo Hernandez is crafting some of my favorite cabernets in all of California these days and clearly deserves to be better known amongst fanciers of classic cabernet.
The legal: Cannot send to AL, AR, CT, DE, KY, MS, MT, NJ, OK, RI, or PO Boxes. Utah is possible, but you’ll have to email me. I use only pulp shippers, and some of the boxes may be recycled from wines that I’ve bought. Do you want only new boxes? Not a problem; just email us. Do you really need wine sent to one of the states above? Email us and we’ll explain why we can’t in more detail.
Does it have to be Fedex instead of UPS? Email us! Live in Sonoma County and want it on your doorstep? Email us! Live in Concord/Pleasant Hill/Walnut Creek? We can do doorstep deliveries there too! If you save us the shipping we’ll throw in some ethically sourced Guatemalan swag!