A Tasting with Winemaker Robbie Meyer of Murrieta's Well

A few years ago I had the opportunity to try for the first time some wines from Murietta’s Well based in Livermore, CA.  Last fall I attended a virtual tasting organized by Snooth and was led by Murietta’s Well’s winemaker, Robbie Meyer.  This is the second time I have been impressed by the quality of their wines and am thrilled to share them with you today. 

The Winery ~ Murietta’s Well 

Murrieta’s Well has been producing grapes since the late 1800’s and their original vine cuttings hail from the renown French wineries, Chateau d’Yquem and Chateau Margeaux.  The winery changed hands in 1940 when it was sold to the Wente family that still remains today.  The grapes are grown on 100 estate acres among a few different soils and terrain.  The wines produced are made in small batches that are expressive of the plots of land from which they are grown. 

The Wine District ~ Livermore Valley 

The Livermore wine appellation of California is located about an hour drive from San Francisco.  The area’s history in the wine industry was commercially developed in the 1840’s by Robert Livermore.  With about 4,000 acres of land dedicated to vines the area boasts over 50 wineries with reputable long-standing producers like Wente, Concannon and Wetmore.  With gravel soils being the key component to many of the acres it “reduces the vines’ vigor and increases flavor concentration in the grapes.”  The climate of the Livermore Valley is influenced by the Pacific Ocean with cooling breezes on summer days along with the morning fog rolling through the hills.

Photo courtesy of Livermore Valley Wine Country

The Wines 

2018 Murietta’s Well Dry Orange Muscat – My favorite of the tasting.  Crafted in a dry style to be versatile with a number of foods before it reaches too much sweetness on the palette.  The color of this wine is so inviting in the glass.  A beautiful display of aromatics displaying enticing floral notes, orange blossom with some spice.  Medium-bodied, refreshing acidity, citrus, orange, white flowers with a touch of spice. Robbie recommends pairing it with seafood. ABV 14.5% SRP $38 

2018 Murietta’s well Dry Rose – A newer wine to Murrieta’s Well this dry rose’ is made from a blend of 25% grenache, 42% counoise and 33% mourvedre.  As Robbie describes this wine and I couldn’t agree more that as a rose’ “it’s clean, lively and refreshing with substance”.  This wine shows wild strawberries, stone fruit with some herbal nuances.  Recommended by Robbie to pair with butternut squash risotto, grilled salmon.  ABV 13.5% SRP $32 

2017 Murietta’s Well The Spur – A blend of 64% cabernet sauvignon, 13% merlot, 14% syrah and 9% petite verdot.  Robbie’s goal with this is to show sophistication.  Drawn in by the luscious black fruits including blackberries and plums.  Layer upon layer with licorice and spice combined with good acidity.  ABV 14.5% SRP $35 

2016 Murietta’s Well Merlot – Made of 95% merlot with 5% cabernet sauvignon.  Full-bodied with nice structure.  Lush flavors of black cherry, vanilla with hints of chocolate.  Recommendation of turkey piadina, pork or steak.  ABV 14% SRP $48 

Have you visited the Livermore Valley wine area?  If so, I’d love to hear about your journey through wine country.

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*Information sourced from Livermore Valley Wine Country & Murrieta's Well.  These wines were provided as samples, but opinions are always my own.

Holiday Wines with a Sicilian Flair #WinePW

I'll start off letting my readers know that Vino Travels welcomed a new member to my family, Lorenzo, born 2 weeks early on November 19th weighing in at 9 pounds 3 ounces and 21 ¼ in length.  We're all doing great and taking each day as it comes, but even more reason to jump back into the wine tasting game as we now have a 17 month old running around and a newborn.   

I'm joining our Wine Pairing Weekend crew as it's been awhile and we're featuring gift giving of holiday wines.  If you're a follower of Vino Travels you know I'm a fan of Sicilian wines for their value and unique qualities, especially those wines produced in the Mt. Etna area.  With such a strong presence in the market and quality wines to back up their reputation, today's holiday wine suggestions brings me to those from the winery, Donnafugata.  I won't repeat much history on the winery as you can reference my previous articles on them.  Overall, the winery began in 1983 by Giacomo and Gabriella Rallo and they produce their wines from 3 sites including Marsala where the family has a cellar since 1851, the island of Pantelleria known for the unique zibibbo grape and Contessa Entellina in southwestern Sicily. 

Per Folio Wine Partners "the winery was one of the first wineries in Italy to produce all of its electricity from solar energy, taking advantage of the bountiful Sicilian sunshine, and in 2015 the island of Pantelleria was given UNESCO certification recognizing its unique vine training method." 

Let's dig right in to the wines themselves.  Unfortunately due to the circumstances I wasn't able to prepare dishes themselves for each pairing, but recommendations provided. 

2012 Donnafugata Tancredi 

A blend of cabernet sauvignon with indigenous nero d'avola along with tannat and other varieties.  These grapes are hand harvested from their Contessa Entellina vineyard.  They're aged 14 months in new and old French oak barriques with an additional 30 months in the bottle.  Deep red in color with a fragrant nose. A combo of red and dark fruits with good structure and a lengthy finish.  Donnafugata recommends this wine can be aged over 10 years.  Give it some time breath in advance.  If you're one for ratings their previous 2011 vintage scored 90+ points plus was a winner of the Tre Bicchieri.  ABV 13% SRP $40 

Food pairing: Donnafugata recommends T-bone steak, game and burgers.  I'd even recommend pasta alla norma that I've prepared in the past, which is made with eggplant. 

2012 Donnafugata  Mille e una Notte 

Donnafugata's standout wine made up of nero d'avola, petit verdot, syrah and other grapes also sourced from the Contessa Entellina vineyard.  This is a wine with power and elegance that is rich in ripe dark fruits of plums and blackberries.  Finishing on the palate with persistence.  Aged 14 months in new French oak barriques and an additional 36 months in the bottle.  Recommended to age over 20 years.  ABV 14% SRP $80 

Food pairing: Donnafugata recommends rack of lamb, pappardelle with pork ragu and other roasts.  I think these are the perfect recommendations due to the weight and complexity of the wine.  Since the south is rich in vegetables maybe pair the meat with fagiolini alla peperonata, green beans with tomato in a bell pepper sauce.   

2015 Donnafugata Ben Rye 

This wine has been a previous pick for me in previous vintages.  A dessert wine after my heart.  Sourced from the island of Pantelleria off the western coast of Sicily.  Made from the zibibbo grape, also known as muscat.    What's unique about this wine is that part of the wine is made from dried grapes, which lend concentration and sweetness.  Aged in stainless steel for 7 months and an additional year in the bottle.  Deep golden/amber in color.  A luscious mouthfeel with apricots and peaches backed with acidity to balance off the sweetness.  Potential to age over 30 years if you care to hold onto it that long.  ABV 14% SRP $40 

Food pairing:  Donnafugata recommends pairing this wine with carmelized duck, foie gras and blue cheeses.  I also recommend a Sicilian Cassata, which is a sponge cake originating in Sicily consisting of layers of ricotta and candied fruit and nuts. 

*These wines shared were received as samples, but opinions are my own. 

Here are the other topics the #winePW crew will be covering:

Jade from The Tasting Pour will tell us "How to Choose a Wine Gift"

Jeff from foodwineclick will share "Holiday Wine Gift Ideas: Not Just Any Champagne"

Cindy from Grape Experiences will post "Wines from The Hess Collection – Will You be Naughty or Nice?"

Here on Cooking Chat we will write about "Christmas Wine Gifts: Tips and Bottles To Give"

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm will share "Spreading Christmas Cheer"

Michelle from Rockin Red Blog is telling us "How to Give the Gift of Wine"

Gwendolyn from Wine Predator will share "Good Gifts Have Good Stories: 4 Wineries from Napa"

Culinary Adventures with Camilla is talking about "Sips Worth Sharing"

Lauren from The Swirling Dervish is blogging about "Family, Food, and Wine: The Gift of Memories"

Jill from L'Occasion will share "Wine Wrapped Up: The L'occasion Gift Guide"

Be sure to check on Saturday morning for these great articles! We will also hold a live Twitter chat on Saturday, Dec. 9., 11 am Easter Time / 8 a.m. Pacific. Just tune into the #winePW hashtag on Twitter at that time to join the conversation. You can check out past and future #winePW topics by visiting this page.

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Crafting Small Lots at Murrieta's Well

Of course Vine Travels is all about educating on Italian wines, but every now and then I like to mix it up and share some other wines from around the world with you. This week we are venturing to Livermore, CA and sharing the wines of Murrieta's Well to you with an inside scope from winemaker Robbie Meyer. In full disclosure these wines were received as samples courtesy of Murrieta's Well and Snooth, but opinions shared and recommendations are personally my own.

The name Murrieta's Well stems from Joaquin Murrieta who discovered the Livermore Valley in the early 1800's. Robbie Meyer has been the winemaker at Murrieta's Well for 2 years now and believes in terroir driven wines that are produced in limited batches from small acres, but are of high quality. Through his career he has also produced over a hundred 90 point rated wines so without having the background knowledge going into the virtual tasting that I had with him he must be doing something right, wouldn't you say?! ; )

Murrieta's Well courtesy of Balzac Communications & Marketing

Actually never having been to California I don't know much about the Livermore area, but Robbie shared that the weather is relatively cool influenced by the fog at the bay, along with plenty of sunshine. Murrieta's Well has about 500 acres, but their grapes are sourced only from select blocks that they feel are performing at their best.

I tasted the following:

2014 Small Lot Chardonnay - retails about $44

2014 The Whip- retail about $24

2013 Small Lot Cabernet – retails about $58

2013 The Spur – retails about $30

The Murrieta's Well Small Lot wines are a small production of about 200-250 cases annually. Robbie believes in farming “acre by acre” and managing all aspects including canopy management. It's important for him to make sure there is some sunlight on some portion of the grapes for some part of the day.

The 2014 Murrieta's Well Small Lot Chardonnay is made in about 50-75% new French oak barrels, but Robbie believes in accenting the wine with oak and not dominating it so for those of you that like a hint of oak influence without completing taking over the wine you'll want to seek out this wine. Robbie actually mentioned that 80% of the chardonnay grapes in California originated from the Wente clone including these grapes. Picked at night, this wine goes through about a 3-8 week fermentation where the malolactic fermentation is innolcated. The target is to have a slow, consistent and cool fermentation that provides an integrated presence. It's then aged for 15 months in barrel to provide a silky wine combined with plenty of tropical fruit and peach and that hint of oak. Robbie suggested pairing this week a flaky fish, maybe halibut.

The 2013 Murrieta's Well Small Lot Cabernet goes through a whole berry fermentation where it is aged about 22 months in barrel. Inky purple in the glass with ripe dark fruit, nice structure and notes of dark chocolate. Who doesn't like some dark chocolate in their glass?! Robbie thinks this wine can be enjoyed up to about 10 years of age and is best paired with some grilled meats.

For value 2014 Murrieta's Well The Whip and 2013 Murrieta's Well The Spur are the wines to consider. With The Whip containing some muscat and viognier that provide a beautifully, aromatic wine. The semillon and chardonnay grapes give it that mouth feel and body. Lastly, the sauvignon blanc gives it some of that acid and zest.

 
















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The sweetness of enjoying Moscato d'Asti

I don't know about you, but I have a sweet tooth and when I can combine that need with wine it's a win win situation.  The solution, Muscat.  There are many varieties of grapes from the Muscat family, but one of the most popular is Muscat Bianc a' Petits Grains, which is the grape that makes up Moscato d'Asti.    This variety is also known as moscato bianco in Italy or Moscato Canelli with Canelli being one of the main locations near Asti in Italy where it's produced.  

Continue learning about Moscato d'Asti in Piedmont and what you can pair it with......

You can find more about the Italian wine regions including Asti in Piedmont using this beautiful and detailed map.
 

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