Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc

Castelli Family Vineyards

Castelli Family Vineyards is a familiar story for many of California's wineries. What began as a hobby turned into something much more. The adventure began when Mike's daughter, Cassie, decided to get married at Cordiano Winery in 2008.  Its Italian owner convinced Mike to plant some vines. A few vines turned into 3,000 vines. Mike soon realized his hobby vineyard had grown into a business of caring for his young vines. Mike he recruited his son-in-law Nelson to join him. For three years, they spent most days caring meticulously for each vine. It was not long before Mike built a 1,600 sq. ft. cellar to store the wine he anticipated.  Early on Mike and Nelson soon realized that their endeavor needed advice on every aspect of growing, harvesting, and fermenting their grapes. They sought the counsel of neighbors with established vineyards, among them, Cactus Star Vineyard, Highland Hills Winery and Kohill Winery. The results? Passion, sharing knowledge of caring for the vineyard and expanded knowledge of Castelli Family Vineyards wine making empowering Mike & Nelson to take their hobby into turning their labors and grapes into some delightful award-winning wines. Today Mike and Nelson both have taken their passion for wines and the cooperative spirit of fellow winemakers to produce some delightful wines. Castelli Family Vineyards is a wonderful winery to visit for all you Red wine-lovers.

Lange Twins Winery & Vineyard

For five generations our family has been growing sustainable winegrapes in the Lodi Appellation and in 2006 we opened a winery to showcase our passion for growing winegrapes – because great wine starts in the vineyard.

Building on our successes as a vineyard management company, the winery was our first step into crafting wines made solely from our estate vineyards. Since opening in 2006, we have continued to expand our state-of-the-art winery to keep up with the demand for our LangeTwins wines as well as private labels and custom winemaking services.
Unfortunately, our winery is closed for public tastings.
If you are visiting the Lodi Appellation, please visit the Lodi Wine & Visitors Center to try our wines as well as other great Lodi selections.

Iverson Vineyards & Winery

If you are wondering around El Dorado County and looking for a nice place for a picnic, Iverson is one of the places you should try. They have plenty of tables on their patio. The wine is pretty good too! The people behind the bar are friendly, so don't be afraid to ask questions or make conversation.

Provenance Vineyards

Try their 09 Provenance Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Three Palms Vineyard. From the same vineyard, a really good choice would be 07 Provenance Vineyards Merlot Napa Valley Three Palms Vineyard at $39 (a killer price).

Clearly, the wines made from the Three Palms Vineyard are superior to the other wines in their Provenance line-up.

Strongly recommend tasting here as a counterbalance to the Napa wineries who showcase over $100 Cabs.

Oops, I almost forgot - their Sauv Blanc is REALLY, REALLY good - for the white wine fans out there.

Morse Wines

Robert Morse, the founder of MORSE WINES, purchased the estate property in 1999. His desire was to create a place where lovers of fine wine could find exceptional values in wines that best express the terroir of our region. He selected varietals that would thrive in the region, and which therefore had the best potential for producing world class wines. Morse Wines picturesque, serene property is located near the border of Amador and El Dorado Counties. It is at approximately a 2300 foot elevation, with groves of pine trees as well as ancient oaks.

Peju Province Winery

The tasting room is beautiful, especially the natural stone bar in the room furthest from the entrance. The gardens are also worth the visit, with human-high flowers and an eclectic collection of sculptures. Oh yeah, and one of the guys in the tasting room yodels - definitely a forgotten art.

Ruston Family Vineyards

We have ordered Ruston wines several times w/ no problems directly from John himself. We were hoping to stop by his place again this March when we are back in town but he hasnt returned any emails! I have seen their wine now on LOT 18 at reduced prices which makes me wonder......
Too bad...their bordeaux blend is as good as it gets in napa for $25!

Levy & Mcclellan

Bob Levy is the winemaker for Harlan Estate, and his wife is the winemaker for the Sloan Estate. Both of them have made wines that have scored perfect 100 point ratings. They bought a 6 acre lot in the Diamond Mountain area, and the case production for their 1st and 2nd vintages is 400 cases or less. Robert Parker gave their 1st vintage, the 2004 vintage a rating of 96-98 points, and their 2005 vintage a rating of 95-97 points. What a great way to start off.

Their wines look to have excellent cellaring life. Their maximum estimated case production, given their current vineyard of 6 acres is around 500-600 cases at best. This is less then half the production of Harlan and about the same as Screaming Eagle. On average, Levy & McClellans case production will be less then that of Screaming Eagle.

As of right now, there is no waiting list to get into Levy & McClellan. But, I will say this right now, given the great history of these 2 great winemakers, it will not take long for their list to fill up and a very long waiting list to form.

The Wine
Levy & McClellan produces the following wine varietals: Bordeaux Blend and Cabernet Franc.

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