Amuse Bouche Blog

Our family started making wine more than 120 years ago and has continued to master their proven technique for four generations. Our Carneros winery estate has a rich source of 25 year old vines, which limit the yields and produce intense, premium quality fruit. Our winemaking heritage dictates that we employ natural vineyard principles: minimal intervention and maximum vine management, with a strong emphasis on "terroir". Subsequently, we use little or no water, fertilizer, or chemicals and strive to be 100% organic. The characteristics of our Carneros location, combined with ideal microclimate,moderately fertile soil, and clone/rootstock selection, allow us to produce world-class wine that captures the uniqueness of our vineyards.

On December 1, 2007 we bottled our 2006 Pinot Noir. This was very exciting as this was our inaugural bottling as Fotinos Brothers Winery. All previous bottling's were done under our private label. The process was effortless and fantastic. We totaled 427 cases of our 750ml bottles. Even though a large portion of this wine has been sold, what's remaining is available for pre-sale now on our website. The 2006 Pinot Noir will be released and shipped to you in the fall of this year. Salute'

We would like to announce the addition of "Lake Spring Vineyard" to the Fotinos Brothers Winery collection. Located in Northern Napa Valley just east of Howell mountain, this vineyard produces some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the region. On October ninth at 3 am we harvested 11.2 tons of fruit from this vineyard. It was transported to the winery by 8 am, and in stainless steel fermenters by 10 am. The fruit was turgid and very healthy, with lignified stems and fully mature seeds. There were no issues from the early October rains, and the fruit condition was perfectly ripe, with an intense dark color, and rich concentrated flavors. From this we will produce an additional label for the 2007 vintage, our single vineyard "Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon". As mentioned with our other 2007 wines, we believe this vintage will be one of the best in the past decade.

On September 7, we harvested the Pinot Noir grapes from our Carneros OSRII vineyard. The yield was down about 20% this year as it was throughout Napa Valley. The good news is, the fruit condition was perfectly ripe, well colored, with intense flavors and soft, chewy tannins. We antisipate 2007 as being a remarkable year for our Pinot Noir, perhaps the best vintage in more than a decade.

On October 16th, we harvested the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from our Rutherford CLV vineyard. As with our Pinot Noir, the yield was down about 20% this year. This was primarily due to the lack of rain throughout the growing season. This translates into a higher quality fruit, just less of it. The fruit condition was ripe, well colored, with very intense, concentrated flavors. When the fruit quality is this high, we get very excited, and know it will be a true privilage to make our 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. As with our Pinot noir, we anticipate our 2007 vintage to be one of the best in many years.