Your favorite Cali Wineries... that are gone now?

[JA_Miller]

Matanzas Creek with Merry Edwards. I know that it still exists as part of Jackson Family Wines, but in name only.

Merry Edwards isn’t part of KJ…they were bought by Roederer, and have been able to remain fairly independent according to their head winemaker…bravo! Matanzas, on the other hand, has had their ups and downs…

[John_Oglesby]

Reverie…

I get to work with a few tons of that amazing Cab Franc. Stellar stuff.

[M.Kaplan]

.

[Thomas_Keim]

Matanzas Creek with Merry Edwards. I know that it still exists as part of Jackson Family Wines, but in name only.

Merry Edwards isn’t part of KJ…they were bought by Roederer, and have been able to remain fairly independent according to their head winemaker…bravo! Matanzas, on the other hand, has had their ups and downs…

I think you misread the op and my response. The question was “what are your favorite California wineries that are now gone?”

My answer was, Matanzas Creek when Merry Edward’s was the winemaker was one of my favorite wineries and it no longer exists except as part of Jackson Family Wines.

Those are correct statements of fact.

Absolutely. KJ’s had the Matanzas Creek label for years. And I also miss those wonderful Chardonnays and Merlot’s from the ‘Edwards era’ Matanzas Creek Winery. At a time when California was exploding with Oaky Chardonnay, those Matanzas Creek bottlings were quite restrained compared to the masses back then.

[Chuck_Schmeling]

Clos Pepe wine from SRH area in Socal. Remember sitting on his porch with Wes Hagen in summer of 2008 trying his 05 pinot. Really nice wine and Wes gave us a great tour of the estate.

[Marlon_F]

Kitchak

I sampled that at their first release party in Minneapolis and tried other vintages. Outstanding wines and in my opinion priced right. Marketing probably did them in as you need to get reviews from WS, etc. to get the word out. I thought they would score very well and advised them to send in some samples. It is hard to compete if the word does not get out.

+1 for Kitchak Cellars… I have been getting some from auction; Last week (no dry January here…) I opened a 2006 Adagio and it was gorgeous. The 2011 Adagio is a great wine (one day I wrote to the email on the website to see if I could find some leftover and Mr. Kitchak answered. He was very nice and said that Adagio was a success because of: careful work in the vineyard, low amount of irrigation, careful sorting of grapes - 20 people on sorting line, extended maceration.)

[John_Glas]

Kitchak

I sampled that at their first release party in Minneapolis and tried other vintages. Outstanding wines and in my opinion priced right. Marketing probably did them in as you need to get reviews from WS, etc. to get the word out. I thought they would score very well and advised them to send in some samples. It is hard to compete if the word does not get out.

+1 for Kitchak Cellars… I have been getting some from auction; Last week (no dry January here…) I opened a 2006 Adagio and it was gorgeous. The 2011 Adagio is a great wine (one day I wrote to the email on the website to see if I could find some leftover and Mr. Kitchak answered. He was very nice and said that Adagio was a success because of: careful work in the vineyard, low amount of irrigation, careful sorting of grapes - 20 people on sorting line, extended maceration.)

Do you know what happened on their closing? Honestly prices were very fair for the quality of wines they were making.

[Marlon_F]

I sampled that at their first release party in Minneapolis and tried other vintages. Outstanding wines and in my opinion priced right. Marketing probably did them in as you need to get reviews from WS, etc. to get the word out. I thought they would score very well and advised them to send in some samples. It is hard to compete if the word does not get out.

+1 for Kitchak Cellars… I have been getting some from auction; Last week (no dry January here…) I opened a 2006 Adagio and it was gorgeous. The 2011 Adagio is a great wine (one day I wrote to the email on the website to see if I could find some leftover and Mr. Kitchak answered. He was very nice and said that Adagio was a success because of: careful work in the vineyard, low amount of irrigation, careful sorting of grapes - 20 people on sorting line, extended maceration.)

Do you know what happened on their closing? Honestly prices were very fair for the quality of wines they were making.

I don’t know… just what I read on the news that it was sold to the Krupp Brothers.

[Jason_Chow]

August Ridge in Paso. They had a wonderful tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara. Still have 1/2 a case of reserve cabernet 2016.

[Jeffrey_Kahn]

Anyone remember Kahn on the Central Coast? No recollection as to how I discovered them, but I loved their wines for years. I still have two bottles of the 2000 Nebbiolo in the cellar I need to crack into - goal was to see how it aged in comparison to the motherland, guess it’s time to see!

I remember that winery for the obvious reason (although no relation). I still have an unopened bottle of something which I just keep for fun. I also used one of their bottles to scare my parents into thinking I had opened a winery, they were not amused.

[Arv_R]

I had not realized all the family / corporate machinations at Sebastiani, assuming this was still the old Italianesque family run winery, inclined to sweetish field blends. So I wasn’t overly suspicious / cautious enough when I found a 2013 Sebastiani Cabernet Sauvignon [Sonoma County] in a stray cellar box and pulled it for midweek quaffing. Unfortunately, the wine was dreary - taking 3 days to consume - and disappointing. It has some California fruit character, but is also fading with a kind of sweaty, ‘melted in the car’ licorice aspect. It’s better cold and with air, eventually getting to a C+ / B- sort of level of enjoyment. The bottle is quite premium feeling but the cork is not and the end product seems heavily filtered. Mark Lyon is noted as the winemaker on the back label.

It’s a bummer, there are some good comments on (much) older Sebastiani’s, but I’ll treat this as ‘gone’ now and the name is just a brand for anonymous juice nowadays.

[Mark_Golodetz]

@Steve_Brickley

Gemello

Incredible wines over several vintages. The 1970 of course was legendary, but 1960, 1968 and 1974 have all been exceptional.

[M.Newman]

Swanson and Villa Mt. Eden in Napa Valley. I had stellar 1970s wines from both.

[larry_schaffer]

Just saw that Jeff Cohn is calling it a day . . .

Sorry to see this . . .

[David_Cooper]

Pretty much everything in the Boisset Collection. DeLoach, Lyeth, Buena Vista and Raymond.

Does Rabbit Ridge still exist?

[adam_landa]

Had a glorious 2002 Harris Estate Jake’s Vineyard Cab last night. Recall a visit there 20 years ago…beautiful property.

[Stephen_Pepe]

Thank you for remembering us. We have leased our vineyard to the Hall folks in Napa. They are vineyard designating our Pinot under the Walt Label. Walt was Mrs. Hall’s maiden name.
The Hall folks sell our chardonnay grapes to Liquid Farm in Lompoc. They have released one vineyard designated Clos Pepe and it one of the major parts of one of their other blends.
I get all the benefits of living in the middle of our vineyard, none of the burdens and they send me a check twice a year. I should have done this 30 years go.

[Stephen_Pepe]

Thank you for remembering us. Please see post # 316 below.

[wbkeene]

I really liked Chasseur when it was around. Typically bought most vintages. Still have a couple pinots left

[Thomas_Keim]

Maacama Creek Winery. In the heart of Alexander Valley, made terrific Cabernets that sold for a song. I believe the property is now the Lancaster estate. Sold alot of their wines in the early 1990s.