Triton Wine Cruise Event – Saturday, May 22, 2021

Calling all wine and sea lovers! Join us for a relaxing Spring wine cruise Saturday, May 22 with breathtaking views around the beautiful San Diego Bay on the majestic Triton catamaran yacht . Enjoy a glass of Napa wine, charcuterie, live music and fresh sea air. We look forward to providing you with a memorable experience and a unique opportunity to taste wines direct from Napa Valley.

Your ticket includes:

  • A 2 1/2 hour cruise aboard the Triton Catamaran luxury yacht
  • Two glasses of Stellareese Napa Valley wine
  • A perfectly paired Charcuterie Box with gourmet cheese and cured artisanal meat by ‘Venissimo Cheese’ to enjoy with the wines
  • Live jazz music by San Diego’s premier jazz guitarist Alex Ciavarelli

Stellareese wines are presented by Geoff & Rachel Stellareese Davies, Owners/Winemakers of Stellareese Wine Co., an organic boutique Napa California winery.

  • 2016 Stellareese Cabernet Sauvignon, Marcey’s Vineyard, Calistoga
  • 2016 Stellareese RESERVE Cabernet Sauvignon, limited release
  • 2018 Stellareese Lucid Poet Grenache

In addition, Rachel will have a special selection of her Stellaresse Collection wine totes. bags, and backpacks inspired by wine country lifestyle and passion for fashion and travel available for purchase.

Check-in and Boarding begins at 2:30 and the Triton will leave at 3:00 sharp so please be on time.

*Additional glasses of wine will be available for purchase.

**Must be 21 or older to attend this event.

*** Masks required while boarding and unboarding.

Click this link for tickets and more information:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/triton-wine-cruise-tickets-150…

 

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2014 Le Barrettage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you enjoyed a Rhone style wine from Heidi Peterson Barrett?

We opened one of her wine’s Le Barrettage 2014 from La Sirena Winery and were blown away by the quality and complexity of the wine.  I tasted this wine on my last visit to Vintner’s Collective in Napa and had to bring a bottle for us to enjoy with grilled smoked chicken.  This wine paired perfectly with the mesquite flavored chicken and guacamole.

The name of the winery comes from a playing card of the Mexican card game, Loteria.  The La Sirena (mermaid) stood out to Heidi and Bo Barrett (husband), both avid scuba divers and ocean lovers.  You will notice the mermaid portrayed on her label.  Le Barrettage is paying homage to the L’Hermitage region of Northern Rhone style of wines.

This Rhone blend of Syrah based with Grenache and Petite Sirah from the Calistoga appellation was aged for 24 months in 100% French oak, 40% new. Dark ruby with complex aromas of blackberries, toast and pepper with a silky feel in the mouth as it rolls gently over the palate into a long and sexy finish.

In case you are not aware, Heidi Peterson Barrett was named winemaker of the year in 2020.  After tasting this wine, we definitely understand why she is so deserving of this award! Her thinking outside the normal way of making wine has given way to some of the most astonishing wines.

This will definitely not be the last bottle of wine we open by Heidi Peterson Barrett!

 

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2018 Synthesis Napa Valley Cabernet

Synthesis 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet is the flagship Cabernet from Martin Ray Vineyards & Winery. This winery has a philosophy of synthesizing the Napa Floor and mountain terroir.

This wine is a perfect example of terroir synthesis by sourcing 25% Rutherford, 20% Oakville, 17% Stags Leap District, and 15% Diamond Mountain District for it’s Cabernet. This Cab is 96% Cabernet, 3% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot and aged in 40% New French oak for 18 months.

We opened this 2018 to see how it was doing. After giving this wine 3 hours of decanting, it opened up to that Napa Cab we all love, bold but not in your face. The acidity and tannins were medium plus, but with some time in the cellar, they will relax and you will have a superb Cabernet Sauvignon! I would lay this down for another 3 years. This wine from Costco is another QPR. With a special rebate this wine is only $29!

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Rustic Ridge Vineyards – Jamul, San Diego, California

We would like to introduce you to a new winery in San Diego — Rustic Ridge Vineyards. They just opened their doors a few months ago and are located southeast of San Diego in the hills of Jamul.  They boast it’s the only winery with a view of the Coronado Islands and Point Loma!

This small boutique rustic winery is run by Kerri and Rusty. On the weekends you will find them moving about serving wine, pizza and talking about their wines. Rusty is in the fifth year of making his selection of wines — Sauvignon Blanc , Rosé of Malbec, Pinot Noir, Malbec, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. He sources grapes from local vineyards (South Coast AVA), Sonoma and Paso Robles.

We started off our tasting with a Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc that was truly refreshing.  The 00 of Malbec was a beautiful color of pink and had aromas of floral strawberry and hint of spice with fruit forward strawberry & melon flavors, perfect for the summer (we purchased a couple bottles it was so nice). The Pinot Noir was good and went well with cranberry goat cheese. The Malbec was enjoyable but if you were thinking of Argentina then this was not that style. The Cabernet Sauvignon was from Paso Robles and very drinkable, but I wish it had been aged in oak.

We really enjoyed the warmer weather, blue sky, sitting outside and sipping wine in the fresh air with friends. There was even a guitarist filling the air with music. We recommend a visit to Rustic Ridge Vineyards on Lyons Valley Road, you will love the hospitality, the view and of course the wine!

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2016 Sullivan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from My Red Wine Guys!

We thought we would celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day by trying a wine from a winery that was founded by someone with Irish roots.  We chose Napa Valley’s own Sullivan Rutherford Estate founded in 1972 by James O’Neil Sullivan. Although under new family ownership since 2018, the winery continues to build on its legacy of growing and crafting world class Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot wines.

We poured a beautiful dark ruby red 2016 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. This exceptional wine definitely lives up to the Rutherford Region reputation.  A big bold extremely well-balanced wine that shouts – that’s right, I’m a Rutherford Cab!  A long finish that struts a robust bouquet of cherry, blackberry, light toast with subtle hints of licorice.

Great on its own or paired with the traditional Irish corned beef and cabbage, potatoes and carrots dinner.  Definitely on our list of must-visit-wineries the next time we are in Napa.

And as the Irish say – “To all the days here and after, may they be filled with fond memories, happiness and laughter.”  Sláinte! 

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2016 Silverado GEO Cabernet Sauvingnon

We opened up this Napa 2016 Silverado GEO Cabernet Sauvignon to kick-off the weekend. This single vineyard Coombsville Cab comes from Mount George Vineyard at the base of Mount George volcano. It is called GEO – Greek for “Earth” and short for “George” – and it represents the highest expression of single-vineyard Cabernet from this extraordinary place.

What an awesome bouquet with dark fruits, vanilla and a little licorice. Full bodied, with good tannin structure and flavors of black cherry, anise and stone fruit. Full bodied with tannins that are a little tight, but opened up as we decanted. Enjoyed a very long finish.

This is still a little young, but will be a fantastic wine with some additional cellar time (in our humble opinion.)

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2016 GEHRICKE Cabernet Sauvignon

We opened something new last night that we haven’t tried before — a 2016 Gehricke Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma County.

When we pulled the cork and saw wine crystals that are a result of potassium or calcium and tartaric acid binding together to form crystals. These little diamond gems are often a result of hand crafted wines.  IMHO, when I see these diamonds, 99% of the time this is an indication of a good wine!

I had to give this wine 3 hours of decanting since I thought it’s still young.  We were rewarded with a very fruit forward wine with aromas of black cherries, blackberries with hints of vanilla and oak.  This mouthwatering wine was soft, but had that young tartness which dissipated into a long finish!  With a few more years this wine will excel!

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2015 Trinchero Red Wine

2015 Trinchero Forte, a Bordeaux style blend from Trinchero Napa Valley just north of St Helena on Hwy 29. This blend of Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot was perfect for watching the Sunday sunset by our fire pit.

Did you know that the Trinchero family is the largest family winery with over 200 acres in Napa Valley. It all started in 1947 with the purchase of Sutter Home and the Trinchero brothers introduction of the White Zinfandel wine and as we say, the rest is history!

The wine has only been released to club members and I expect it to be available to the public very soon. The Malbec is from their Mt Veeder’s Cloud Nest Vineyard and Atlas Mountain Haystack Vineyard, you can definitely taste the mountain dark berries! The Petit Verdot is sourced from the Central Park West Vineyard in St Helena and the Merlot comes from Vera’s Vineyard in South Napa Valley.

This mouthwatering wine was smooth from start to finish with a nice long finish! What a way to start the weekend!

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2018 Acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon

We decided to spend Friday Eve with a nice ribeye and filet mignon, roasted brussel sprouts, accompanied by a Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon from Acclaimed – another QPR wine from Costco!  For under $20, this wine really paired well with the steaks I cooked on my Camp Chef pellet grill.
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Don’t know if you have grilled with a pellet grill but, Richard and I are true believers that Camp Chef is our choice for grilling and smoking!
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This a big bold wine with aromas of blackberries and cherries and tons of vanilla that greets your taste buds with mouthwatering fruits.  Give this young wine a good 2 hours to open up and enjoy.
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Bring on the weekend! What’s your favorite pairing with Cabernet?

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2019 Malbec – Kirkland Signature

QPR alert! This Malbec from the Argentina Mendoza region is aged 12 months in French oak!  What a steal at under $10!  We were truly shocked by the quality of this deep purple color gem with aromas of dark cherries, juicy plums and just a hint of chocolate.

This was just a nice drinking wine from first sip to a nice rounded finish!

Malbec was first introduced to Argentina in 1851 and I honestly think they have proven that Malbec is best from the Mendoza region.  Malbec may have come from France but no disrespect to the French, the Argentinians have perfected the Malbec!

Pick this up at Costco while they still have it. You will be happy you did!

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