Dacalier Wine Blog

2008 Dacalier Premierè Rosé rated Exceptional

2010-02-24T15:42:00Z

Dacalier “Premiere Rose” Lake County 2008 (USA)

Pink salmon color. The nose is fresh and wonderfully complex with notes of strawberry, rhubarb, tea berries, dried apricot, and star fruit with accents of spring flowers. The palate is a unique animal indeed. Ripe and tart berries mingle with a distinct flavor of Lapsang Souchong tea and hints of mineral. Ideally balanced and perfect with smoked salmon or charcuterie. Bravo!

You can check out the details by following this link.

Cheers,

dave

2008 Dacalier Premierè Rosé Medals in 2010 SF Chronicle Wine Competition

2010-01-10T19:52:00Z

We are excited to let our fans know that our 2008 Dacalier Premierè Rosé scored a bronze medal in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for the Dry Rose category with less than 1% residual sugar. This was our first vintage for our fledgling winery and are excited about what the future holds.

To view our category, click here: Dry Rose Medal Winners

To check out all the other 2010 medal winners check out this link: 2010 Medal Winners.

If you want to attend the tasting eventheld in San Francisco on February 20th, you can find out more about it here: 2010 SF Chronicle Wine Competition Tasting Event

Congratulations to all medal winners.

Cheers,
dave

Zen and the Zin Garden

2009-12-16T00:24:00Z

Well, crush is finally over, and it’s time we started up on the blog again and let you know what’s going on over here at Dacalier.
Every harvest has its share of interesting moments. This year was no different. After working 12 hour days, 7 days a week for a couple of months, let’s just say your mind starts to look at things differently at times. Typically you’ll see folks hosing down the floors, blasting a single grape skin all around the cellar, never quite getting it down the drain. It’s like watching somebody vacuum over the same piece of lint over and over again, getting frustrated and mesmerized at the same time. The merciful thing to do is to walk over and pick up the skin, then go home for some sleep.

This year’s dazed moment came from Paul. After one of our many long days, we had just finished pressing out some Zinfandel and dumped the skins into a bin to be used for mulch and composting. I looked over at Paul while he was “leveling” off the top of the bin. I looked over again after a while and there he was, still leveling the same bin. It turned into a Zen garden for him: raking one side of the bin to the other, making small designs while he did it. My laughing broke him out of his Zen state, then we both chuckled, finished cleaning up and went home.
I am happy to say, Paul took those skins home to be used as mulch in his garden, where he is still raking them into patterns.

Happy Holidays!

Eric

P.S. Dave and I have promised not to let you go so long without a blog entry, so you can read more about whats going on at Dacalier for 2010.

Viognier Crush - a short video

2009-09-25T15:09:00Z

We have been busy with Crush, but our friends Cari and Charles came out to the winery last weekend to help with the Viognier. Here a a video they put together.

Thanks for putting the video together and thanks for coming out and helping.

More photos and videos to come soon.

Cheers
dave

Dacalier Wine Crush 2009 from Cari Casillas on Vimeo.

2009 Pre-Harvest BBQ ...(A photoblog)

2009-08-23T05:47:51Z

We had a great BBQ event last weekend. We wanted to share some pictures with you from the event.

This is a good look at the newly reconfigured Winery

This is our basket press

Eric is opening bottles

Kathy is prepping the pouring tables

The reds

One pouring table is ready

The raffle table. Congratulations to all of you that took home a free bottle of wine and Vignon spice

All the nibbles were prepared by our favorite spice guy Tim.

Tank Art

2008 Fog Hill Sauvignon Blanc - North Coast

2008 Dacalier Premiere Rose

2005 Sophie's Riddle

2004 Sophie's Romp

2006 Madison Chase Vineyards

PB Hein Syrahs

2004 PB Hein Charbono

Vignon Roasted Almonds

Vignon Seasoning and Seasoned Almonds

Caps & Coasters

One for baby and one for mommy

Happy babies were everywhere

Smile!!

Great Nibbles

Tri-Tip with roasted roasted mushrooms

Caprese Salad

Roasted peppers and Onions

Preparing the Scallop Mousse

Mr Punk Dog

Mrs. Punk Dog working the room

PB Hein discussing the finer points of Syrah

Eric works the room

Tim explains Umami

A nice turn out

Kathy makes sure that everyone has something to taste

Where is that Punk Dog anyway? Thats all folks.

Cheers,
Dave & Eric

Transitions

2009-08-08T21:27:00Z

This is the time of year where it seems I’ve run out of time, and have too many things to do. For me this is the juxtaposition of running around doing sales, checking in on the vineyards and starting to get ready for crush.

Today I am off for a week to Hawaii to work a trade show out there. It’s going to be a great time; there are lots of tasting events, for both the public and trade. And, of course, enough down time to hit a beach or two.

I checked the vineyards just last week, all of them are looking good. We are on the verge of verasion, the point where the grapes start to turn color. By the time I’m back I am sure we will be 50% through veraison, which means I need to start getting the winery ready.

Lastly, we have a saying in the wine business: “crush snuck up on us again!” No matter how prepared you are getting the winery ready for all the fruit, it always seems we forgot something, or pushed something back until the final days. All of the industry suppliers are used to it by now, the frantic “can I get this widget tomorrow?” phone calls are quite expected at this time.

But right now, it’s the transition from sales to production that's the interesting transition for me. Going from the finished, in the bottle, wine to the let’s look at the fruit and see what this vintage will bring. It keeps me on my toes!

Don't forget about our BBQ next Saturday August 15th form 11-3. Until next time,

Cheers,
eric

Dacalier BBQ & Wine Tasting Aug 15th, 2009 11-3pm

2009-08-03T21:27:00Z

It's time for our Summer BBQ. If you're in the Napa area, please stop by the wineryon Saturday August 15th from 11-3 pm.

Dacalier Wine Co. along with Punk Dog Wines, PB Hein Vineyards, Madison Chase Vineyards and Fog Hill Winery are all produced at an urban winery in Napa, Ca Located here:

    Punk Dog Winery
    918 Enterprise Way Suite
    Napa, Ca 94558
    (415)509.2433

You can RSVP here: INVITE

We will be pouring a couple of award winning wines from several labels all produced at the winery.

Nibbles will be served to gnosh on, so come on up to Napa, have a bite to eat and enjoy some great wine with friends.

Special discounts of 10% off bottles and 15% off of a case purchase apply during the release party.

Don't forget to get on our mailing list to keep up with all things Dacalier.

Hope to see you there

Cheers!
-Dave, Erica, Lisa & Eric.

Why You Should Visit the Marin Farmers Market In San Rafael

2009-07-30T03:55:00Z

If you follow me on Twitter (DacalierWine) or on FaceBook you know that I have been out of commission for a while because I was hit by a car while commuting to the officeon my motorcycle a couple weeks back. I am recovering nicely, although I have a bit of pain from a few broken ribs. Time heals all wounds.

That isn't what I am going to write about in today's blog, instead my beautiful wife, Erica and I spent a few hours at the Marin Farmers Market in San Rafael this past Sunday (it happens every Sunday from 8-1).

Erica and I were remarking that as we walked throught the crowds and tents and took in all the sounds and Oh My, the smells it took us back to a wonderful summer day that we spent in Aix-en-Provence. I thought I took some nice photos of that captured a bit of what the Marin Farmers Market is all about. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Welcome to the Marin Farmers Market

Look What Awaits You at the Market

Nice Crowds At the Farmer Market

Lots of Friendly faces

Rooted in Marin

Lively Music to Enjoy

Kids of all ages love the Farmers Market

But lets get to the real reason why we are here...The food
The Freshest Fish

hello, Hello, HELLO!

Red Ocean Perch

Fresh Oysters Hot off the Grill

Tables Full of Savory Salts and Flavored Sugars

Have you ever seen Applewood Smoked Salt?

Sunflowers Smiling at You

Delicate Oyster Mushrooms

The Freshest Organic Nectarines

Mountain Grown Blueberries as big as Your Thumb

Blackberries

Raspberries

Red, Red Radishes

Even the Sun can find the Golden Tomatos

Heirloom Zebra Tomatos

Beautiful Baby Red Skinned Potatoes

Let us show you our lettuce

Green Zucchini

Fresh Carrots

Green Beans

Giant Eggplants

Purple Chinese Eggplant

Organic Shallots

Peppers Galore

Wheat Grass

Organic Buckwheat

Fresh Baked Breads

Hand Crafted Wafer Thin Pizza

Rotisserie Chicken with Potatoes

You Might Even find Love at the Farmers Market

Thats All Folks
Thanks for taking a tour of the Marin Farmers Market

Cheers,
dave

Come Along and Enjoy the Wine

2009-07-17T20:56:00Z

Well we are in the heart of summer. I keep hearing about muggy thundershowers back in Michigan and the blistering heat in Florida and here inNorthern California the fog has settled into San Francisco for the long cold summer.

Eric and I have been quiet from a blogging perspective but we have been busy at the winery or should I say busy preparing to fill the winery with tons of fruit. One of the things that I really like about our small winery and the people that we partner with is that for the most part we allrealize that we are dirt farmers and we are making something from the land. When you are someone who works with the land you cantypically agree on something with a handshake.

Today that really hasn't changed much. We have been to several vineyards in and around the Napa Valley and after we meet the folks that aremanaging the vineyards and we find out that our ideals for growing grapes match their practices we shake hands and agree to purchase fruit fromthem. It’s a nice feeling to start a conversation with a stranger and end the conversation with a friend.

Enough of my romanticizing the wine business…So what varietals will we be bringing into the winery this fall and what can you expect from Dacalier Wine Co. in the future?

Grenache
- The core of our being; The favorite of Rhone.
- Directly from the Tejada Vineyard. We are particularly excited about this season because we have been working closely with the Tejada family to really balance out the vineyard to get good juice to skin ratio. Our Première Rosè was a huge hit and we plan to keep the case production low to maintain the quality and attention to detail that we feel it requires
Viognier
- From the Sierra Foothills
- We have some exciting things planned, including a little co-fermentation so stay tuned.
Cabernet Sauvignon
- Not a Rhone blend, but sometimes Napa is as Napa does.
- Howell Mtn - We have decided to purchase from a couple of different vineyards on Howell Mtn to really explore the terroir of the mountain.
- 2009 was the year my twin girls were born and I am really excited to kick off a side project that we are calling "5/5". This won’t be out for a few years, but I was trying to source fruit for this special project before we left the hospital with the girls.
What else?
- More Rhone varietals - We have some other things planned, but we can't tell you everything
- Dacalier Wine Club – Just 2 shipments a year and invitations to BBQ’s along with first dibs on special releases..(ahem 5/5) when released.

      The future looks bright for Dacalier, so come along with us and enjoy wine.

      Cheers,
      dave

White Wines & Food Pairings at Vine & Barrel Wines

2009-07-10T05:53:00Z

Vine & Barrel Wines is having a tasting event called White Wines of the World and Food Pairings for each on Saturday July 11th from 3pm-5pm in Petaluma, Ca. Eric and I will both be there pouring Dacalier Premiere Rose.

Check out the note from Jason Jenkins, the proprietor of Vine & Barrel Wines

Our summertime White Wine Tasting is this Saturday and the wineries that are pouring are listed below.

John Hart from Hart's Desire will be pouring his award-winning, gold medal, Sauvignon Blanc
The very best Viognier in the state, Harvest Fair Gold Medalist, Phillip Staley will be here
Gustavo Thrace's Sauvignon Blanc
Blacksmith Torrontes and Verdelho
De Loach
Joel Gott
Huber Gruner Veltliner
Pezzi King Chardonnay
Dacalier – my favorite Rose'
La Czar Sauvignon Blanc
Hop Kiln
Special guest, Duckhorn with their amazing sauvignon blanc
Tin Barn
Loredona Reisling
Mcnab French Columbard and sauvignon blanc
Stormhook
Montenovo Godello from Spain
Arrowood Cote du Lune Blanc & Arrowood Viognier
and on and on.

We will present some wonderful food to pair with each varietal and this will be a very nice tasting.

Having this many of the best white wines in the world is a very unique experience. I will begin preparing food Friday night. Did I say FRESH OYSTERS? Oh yes…………..Come and enjoy

Cost: $20 per person and the event begins at 3pm, sharp. Call the V&B for more details 707.765.1112

Cheers,

Dave!