2006 Toucan Cuvee Released

4/1/08 -- 2006 Toucan Cuvee is now available - at $24/bottle a great value!

Our 2006 Toucan Cuvee is a beautifully balanced blend of 55% Estate Zinfandel and 9% Estate Petite Sirah, plus 36% of Old Vine Carignane from the Evangelho Vineyard.

Both our estate Zinfandel and estate Petite Sirah wines spent the year in mostly new French, Hungarian, and American barrels before blending. Our 2006 Carignane made from rare old-vine Carignane grapes grown in Contra Costa County also spend a year in fine oak barrels.

To compile this blend, I selected three barrels of Estate Zinfandel from the seven barrels produced, two barrels of Carignane from five produced, and added a half-barrel of estate Petite Sirah. Once blended the Cuvee aged another 4 months in fine oak barrels (a total of 16 months in oak) prior to bottling.

A beautiful deep ruby color; forward black cherry and ripe fruits, vanilla toast, and a bit of spice on the nose; tastes of black raspberry/cherry, and earthy notes. This is a very balanced wine offering a lush full-mouth feel and some good complexity. Having spent sixteen months in fine oak barrels, this wine has mellowed nicely and will continue to develop in the bottle over the next year or two. Drink now or lay down.

The 2006 Toucan Cuvee was bottled on February 28, 2008 with alcohol of 13.9% and only 128 cases were produced. Customers will soon find this wine in mostly restaurants and tasting bars, but it's also available directly from the winery. Click on the ORDER link at the top of this page to have our Toucan Cuvee delivered.