SF Chronicle Wine Competition . . .

January 19, 2011

At Castoro Cellars we have always taken pride in the quality of our wines and we have also made an effort to keep our wines at an affordable price. This endeavor has led us to over 25 years of making high quality wines at great prices and nothing feels better than getting recognition for these achievements. Last week the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition results for 2011 were released and we at Castoro Cellars are very proud of what we received this year. Below I have listed the results for Castoro:

For Chardonnay – Our 2008 Central Coast Chardonnay Received a Bronze
For Viognier – Our 2009 Paso Robles Reserve Viognier Received Silver!!
For Pinot Noir – Our 2009 Paso Robles Blind Faith Pinot Noir Received Gold!!
For Zinfandel – Our 2008 Paso Robles Zinfandel Received Silver!!
For Zinfandel – Our 2008 Zinfandel Zinfusion Received Gold!!
For Primitivo – Our 2008 Paso Robles Primitivo Received Silver!!
For Syrah/Shiraz – Paso Robles Reserve Syrah was Double Gold “Best of Class”
For Cabernet Sauvignon – Our 2008 Paso Robles Cabernet Received Silver!!
For Tempranillo – Our 2008 Paso Robles Whale Rock Tempranillo Received Silver!!

That is Four Gold medals, five Silver medals, one Bronze and a Best of Class! We are so fortunate at Castoro Cellars to have such an awesome winemaking team. They work very hard to ensure that our wines are constantly improving and the hard work continues to pay off!

Cheers,

Luke

Happy 2011!?!?

January 10, 2011

First and foremost I want to wish you all a Happy New Year and I hope you were able to enjoy the holidays and spend time with friends and family. Christmas, New Years etc., can be a very hectic time but also a very uplifting and rewarding time. As usual, Niels and Bimmer (our fearless leaders) spent the Holidays in Kirkwood with friends and family and enjoyed many fresh tracks (it snowed a lot!!) and a lot of good food and wine.

At Castoro we strive to make each New Year better than the last and 2011 is no exception. We are very excited to continue developing new varietals and to continue learning how to do things even better. In the New Year we will be planting a 10 acre vineyard of the Italian varietal “Falanghina,” which Niels says to his knowledge might be the first commercial planting of the grape in the U.S. Falanghina grape varieties are believed to be among the oldest cultivated in Italy for winemaking and we are very excited to give this grape a shot on the central coast!

In 2011 we will also be introducing our new Tango, which is a 2010 vintage and as usual is a white blend with complex flavors and aromas. Our new Grape Juice has also been produced and bottled and some are saying it is the best one yet, and we have been making Castoro Cellars Grape Juice for quite some time. Tom has also been spending a lot of time lately, selecting new barrels and deciding which barrels will be best for our new vintages. For Tom this is a very exciting task because the type and age of barrels has a huge impact on the wines and so far he has selected some French, American, and Hungarian Oak barrels. Considering the amount of time and care Tom has put into selecting these barrels, they will without a doubt yield some fantastic flavors.

Finally, I would like to mention the venture I am most excited about for 2011. (Drum roll please) . . . If all goes to plan, we will be building an authentic Italian wood burning pizza oven at the tasting room this year! For those of you who have experienced handmade pizzas from a wood burning oven, you surely understand my excitement. They are sooooo good! Upon completion the oven will be used for concerts, events, festivals and big weekends at the tasting room, and I am sure it will be a big hit.

With all of that said, we at Castoro wish you all a Happy New Year and hope 2011 brings you all that you desire and maybe a bottle or two of Dam Fine Wine!! Remember, if you have pictures you would like to share from experiences at Castoro, e-mail them to luke@castorocellars.com and they WILL be posted to our facebook page and our website!

Cheers and Happy 2011,

Luke

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