To Celebrate 28 Years, Dave Mason Rocked the House!!

June 30, 2011

This past Saturday at Castoro Cellars to celebrate our 28th Anniversary we were fortunate enough to welcome arguably the most established artist we have ever had perform at our tasting room. Dave Mason, formerly of the band Traffic, came to rock the house and that is exactly what he did! Dave has had an amazing musical career that has spanned over decades and has included playing with artists like Jimi Hendrix, all four Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton and many more. Due to his influence and success he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Being able to see such an amazing artist in such an intimate setting was a real treat for all who attended the sold out show, and believe me everyone was having a blast! It would have been one thing if Dave had come for a solo show (which would also have been awesome) but he brought his entire band of world-class musicians and their sound was so tight. By the end of the show there were two beach balls flying through the crowd (a first for a Castoro concert), plenty of dancers and a lot of happy faces. I think Niels really summed up when he said, “if you would have asked me when I was a teenager playing Traffic on my stereo if I thought one day I’d be introducing Dave Mason, one of my favorite artists, on stage at my own venue. I would have said not in a million years!” It’s amazing the opportunities life will throw at you, often when you least expect it, and having Dave at Castoro was one of those rare opportunities.

Throughout the night Dave played all of the old classics his fans have come to love over the years and he even mentioned that he refrains from playing newer material because the old stuff is what people really come to hear. I really don’t think anyone could complain about that, especially after he closed the show with his rendition of “All Along the Watchtower” a Bob Dylan song he recorded with Jimi Hendrix in the 70s. The bottom line is that the band delivered and they delivered all night long!

To sum it up, thanks to all of you who attended the event and please share the time you had at Castoro with your friends and family.

Cheers,

Luke

2010 Tango is Here!!

June 23, 2011

The long awaited 2010 Tango is finally in the bottle and will soon be ready to hit the shelf! Many of you have been inquiring about this wine for some time and we couldn’t be more excited about finally getting to share it with you! Many of you had a chance to sample this wine out of the barrel at the Wine Festival in May and after seeing your reactions we knew we had something special here.

The 2010 Tango is really a unique blend consisting of 43% Chardonnay, 29% Chenin Blanc, 24% Viognier, 4% Muscat Canelli. This wine has a tinge of sweetness and can be described as “off-dry” with a great sense of fruit coming from the Chenin Blanc and Viognier. The complexity in the fruit profile is complemented with a silky mouth feel, leaving you with hints of vanilla and butterscotch derived from the few months this wine spent in oak barrels.

The bottom line is, you gotta try this wine! According to our winemaker Tom, “The intensity and complexity is there with no bitterness or harshness and the 2010 is as good as ever!”

And remember “It takes two to Tango,” so make sure to share it with a friend!

Cheers,

Luke

June: A month of new releases and anticipation . . .

June 7, 2011

As wild as it may seem, we are now in the midst of June and thus far summer has yet to appear for more than a day or two at a time. As we looked over our data from past years we came to the conclusion that this is the coolest year on record for us since 1999. Although this is not all bad, we do really look forward to that summer heat Paso Robles is known for.

The heat pushes the grapes forward in their journey to becoming ripe and typically eliminates the chance of rain for at least a couple of months. The impact of the rains we experienced last week is yet to be known but is likely minimal. Rains this time of year can effect pollination but we won’t know for a couple more weeks if there is any major impact from this rain. We will, however, most likely experience an explosion of weeds sprouting in the vineyards but that is just the reality of farming, especially organic farming. In other vineyard news, we have just finished planting new lots at our Blind Faith vineyard and will soon be doing some more planting at our Whale Rock vineyard, ever increasing the quality and diversity of Castoro Cellars wines.

At the winery, June isn’t typically considered an extremely busy time of the year but it is an exciting time because we are preparing and bottling new releases. For example, the much-anticipated Tango is now ready and should be in bottle with in a week or two and on the shelves shortly thereafter. We have also recently bottled the 2009 Castoro Zinfandel and 2009 Blind Faith Syrah, both of which are sure to please. Our Blind Faith Pinot Noir has recently been transferred to barrels as well, in order to give the wine a couple months on oak before being bottled.

All in all, we are very excited to share our new wines with all of you! In the meantime we will continue to wait patiently for the summer heat to hit! As usual, don’t hesitate to check out the events page on our website because we’ve got a lot of fun in store for this summer.

http://www.castorocellars.com/events.php

Cheers,

Luke