A little news about the Benzigers from the local paper.

jaykid007 wrote:Where did you get teh shipping discount coupon?

Pretty sure it's the Woot Birthday coupon. Go check it out!

cheron98 wrote:Pretty sure it's the Woot Birthday coupon. Go check it out!

I need to get over to that board more regularly. Alot of nice information and discussion going on.

schuey wrote:Kathy,
Could you maybe tell us how the Cab in this offering stacks up to the other 2005 single vineyard Cabs that are shown on your website? (What makes them unique from each other, etc.)
Also, could you please provide a drinking window for the trio?
Thanks!

Sure - the Cab is from a really great vineyard that is actually just down the street from us. Stone Farm gets its name from large stones found throughout the property. The rocky soils stress the vines, and we feel, produce concentrated flavors in the grapes. The 12 acre vineyard is managed by a dear friend of ours, who also believes in the tenets of Biodynamic farming. The vineyard is currently in the process of certification - but the same practices we use on our estate ie biodiversity, composting etc - were used here.

As for cellaring, I find this wine very approachable now and love it with steak or something off the grill. But with the tannin profile, I'd say you could lay it down for 5-7 years and see some softening.

The Winemaker's Claret probably 3-5 years and the Feingold Merlot 4-5.

pfcouvar wrote:Wow, slow week on the boards. I'll ask the usual question of the winemaker, then: what's the cellaring potential for each of these wines, and when would you expect them to be at their best?

Secondly, are the (strictly economic) costs of biodynamic farming changing? I wonder as water becomes scarcer and fuel prices rise if the techniques is becoming more cost-effective relative to conventional farming. Or do you have extra labor and/or unusual inputs which are getting more expensive along with everything else? I'm just curious if your approach is becoming more or less lucrative vs. the alternatives.Thanks Kathy! I'm looking forward to these wines...

You're right - labor costs are higher with Biodynamic farming. And we tend to get smaller yields per acre. But the fruit is so good, we feel it works out in the end. After you transition and get certified, its not tremendously different from conventional farming in terms of cost. Just spending money on different things. As for water - we created wetlands on our estate. Two ponds that recycle wastewater from our production building. The water travels through an embankment from the top pond to the lower pond and the root structures of the plants act as a kind of filter. By the time the water reaches the second pond its super clean and can be used to help irrigate if we need it. Saves us over a million gallons of water a year.

cheron98 wrote:Yeah, sorry darlin'. 11am is the cutoff time for those of us on the east side. Just a wee bit late there

I got it !! The Cabernet and the wonderful bonus bottle of Savignon Blanc -just like winning the lottery. I have already invited friends over to share and will report tomorrow

dianefreda wrote:I got it !! The Cabernet and the wonderful bonus bottle of Savignon Blanc -just like winning the lottery. I have already invited friends over to share and will report tomorrow

You might want to report on both bottles - I sense a dual Labrat here.

andyduncan wrote:Hi Kathy I'm curious about the numbers on the cab, the 15.5% would generally indicate a ripe fruit-forward wine, but a 3.36 ph is pretty acidic for a "fruit bomb". Can you talk a little about the cab and where you think it fits in the new vs old world continuum?

Personally, I would NEVER guess that the Cab is 15.5% by tasting it. It comes off very balanced and nuanced. I wouldn't neccessarily compare it to an old world Bordeaux though. It does have dark fruit components that are more typical of a Californian style.

woopdedoo wrote:You might want to report on both bottles - I sense a dual Labrat here.

Whooohoooo, my idea come to life. Though I doubt it had anything to do with me

dianefreda wrote:I got it !! The Cabernet and the wonderful bonus bottle of Savignon Blanc -just like winning the lottery. I have already invited friends over to share and will report tomorrow

Any chance you could get that report up tonight?

Wait, Sauv Blanc too? Guess we know what's coming Thursday!

cheron98 wrote:Any chance you could get that report up tonight?

Wait, Sauv Blanc too? Guess we know what's coming Thursday!

Another double-secret probation?

Great week to be a rat!

Winedavid39 wrote:She didn't get the memo. no biggie.

No more TPS reports for her...take away her red stapler, too!

thrawn1020 wrote: as my shipping discount coupon

Happy Woot Birthday!

woopdedoo wrote:You might want to report on both bottles - I sense a dual Labrat here.

I already decided to do that- I had already planned chicken enchladias for supper. My friends are bringing venison sausage and cheese to have with the cab and the white will go with the meal.

dianefreda wrote:I already decided to do that- I had already planned chicken enchladias for supper. My friends are bringing venison sausage and cheese to have with the cab and the white will go with the meal.

don't give your rat report on the white until Thursday though. It's evidently part of the new offering.

ddeuddeg wrote:Happy Woot Birthday!

And so it is! Crazy! And I got my Ursa PS half-case today too! Maybe I should open one...

bhodilee wrote:don't give your rat report on the white until Thursday though. It's evidently part of the new offering.

We don't KNOW that - bring it on!

woopdedoo wrote:We don't KNOW that - bring it on!

When in doubt, listen to woop

Why is the shipping so high?

Merd! My first labrat and I missed the shipment. Actually, WineDavid sent an email to me,"hinting" that a package might be headed my way (and included the FedEd tracking number). Due to unavoidable issues, I wasn't able to get emails yesterday, but what a great idea to let people know that they won a golden ticket. Sorry to be a party pooper.

The saving grace here is that I'm staying home tomorrow, so I'll have it with lunch so I can get my comments out to the community early (I'm in NC).

Stay tuned..........

In for two!

iceeblue7 wrote:Great week to be a rat!

Does this mean you received the Golden Ticket?

InHoc wrote:Merd! My first labrat and I missed the shipment. Actually, WineDavid sent an email to me,"hinting" that a package might be headed my way (and included the FedEd tracking number). Due to unavoidable issues, I wasn't able to get emails yesterday, but what a great idea to let people know that they won a golden ticket. Sorry to be a party pooper.

The saving grace here is that I'm staying home tomorrow, so I'll have it with lunch so I can get my comments out to the community early (I'm in NC).

Stay tuned..........

Hilarious, so much for the if we got e-mails in advance, it'd all be solved argument

Winedavid39 wrote:She didn't get the memo. no biggie.

I read and re-read the ticket and it didn't say anything about not mentioning the second bottle. Anyway, as i said we called friends over and had the Stone Farm Cab with venison sausage and cheese. de-canted for 1 1/2 hours in the decanter and 1/2 hour in the glass. It was WONDERFUL and even though the alcohol content seemed high it was not apparent at all. It only got better as we went along and I can't wait until my regular order gets here. Moving on to the meal it was chicken so we opened the Sauvignon Blanc, it was perfect! Very crisp and quite nice. This has been a great experience and such fun! Everyone has alot to look forward to. I am not good at picking out specific flavors, I just know what I like and I liked these.

dianefreda wrote:I read and re-read the ticket and it didn't say anything about not mentioning the second bottle. Anyway, as i said we called friends over and had the Stone Farm Cab with venison sausage and cheese. de-canted for 1 1/2 hours in the decanter and 1/2 hour in the glass. It was WONDERFUL and even though the alcohol content seemed high it was not apparent at all. It only got better as we went along and I can't wait until my regular order gets here. Moving on to the meal it was chicken so we opened the Sauvignon Blanc, it was perfect! Very crisp and quite nice. This has been a great experience and such fun! Everyone has alot to look forward to. I am not good at picking out specific flavors, I just know what I like and I liked these.

Thanks for the post! You've been packed!

Done deal.

Benziger Family Winery Red Trio
Current numbers (updated each minute):
First sucker: cbloszinsky
Speed to first woot: 0m -9.-220s

Last wooter to woot: nyesq54

mainal50 wrote:Why is the shipping so high?

If by high, you mean $7, summer shipping is in effect where necessary.

Hi Kathy
Thanks for taking the time to answer questions during such a busy time in the vineyard.

Does your vineyard use all nine different preparations for fertilization or do you just employ 500 & 501?

So curious about these wines. In for 1.

Krugsters wrote:Hi Kathy
Thanks for taking the time to answer questions during such a busy time in the vineyard.

Does your vineyard use all nine different preparations for fertilization or do you just employ 500 & 501?

So curious about these wines. In for 1.

Must... not... give in... to ... temptation... should... be polite... to... winemakers... ARGH

Loweeel wrote:Must... not... give in... to ... temptation... should... be polite... to... winemakers... ARGH

BEE-HAVE!!!

In for one. Sad I must violate the sacred rules of the wine church, but with the shipping discount coupon and the significant discount anyway, tough to resist.

But Happy w00t Birthday to me! Party Time!

First sucker: cbloszinsky
Speed to first woot: 0m -9.-220s

Last wooter to woot: thrawn1020

In for 1...

Still hoping for a little more labrat input. Interested in these despite all of the *ahem* side commentary over in the pub. If it's good juice...I'm in.

In for one, good excuse to check my woot birthday.

opened a bottle of the Ursa vineyard-vineyard blend-PS last night. what a great wine! very dark maroon color, alcohol on the nose initially and then it went away after some decanting. Smells of licorice,white pepper and blackberry. After an hour this wine really opened up and still had plenty of tannin punch. My mother and wife both gave this wine two thumbs up!! Probably going to let these cellar another 2 years and let those bodacious tannins simmer on down. thank you WCC and WD!! tally ho!

Loweeel wrote:Must... not... give in... to ... temptation... should... be polite... to... winemakers... ARGH

Yes, be nice.

kylemittskus wrote:If by high, you mean $7, summer shipping is in effect where necessary.

Also, compare $7 to the cost of having this wine shipped by any other means than w.w.