Save The Date!
January 31, 2012 by Katey Bacigalupi
Filed under News and Events
We know your calendar can fill up fast. Here are some upcoming events that you wont want to miss!
*To make a reservation and/or purchase tickets to any of these events e-mail tastingroom@johntylerwines.com or call us at 707-473-0115.
Special Valentines Day Tasting
February 11th, 2012 from 11:00-5:00 p.m.
Treat your valentine to a special vertical tasting and chocolate pairing. We will be offering our 2004-2006 vintage wines paired with Brix Chocolates.
Tasting fee: Complimentary for club members (2 per membership) / $15 guests
San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Public Tasting
February 18th, 2012 from 2:00-5:00 p.m.
Join us at the Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.
Purchase tickets here.
Preview Day! March 3rd from 11:00-4:00 p.m.
Spend the day with us previewing our upcoming releases for 2012 including our much anticipated 2011 Chardonnay.
Tickets: Complimentary for club members & $15 guests
Spring 2012 Wine Club Release Party
April 14th, 2012 from 3:00-6:00 p.m.
We will be featuring our new release the 2008 Pinot Noir paired with small bites. Take home your very own collection of seeds to get your garden started!
Tickets: Complimentary club members (2 per membership) & $15 guests.
One Year Anniversary Celebration
June 23rd, 2012 from 11:00-4:00 p.m.
Come and celebrate with the Bacigalupi Family as we cheers to 1 year!
Details: TBD
Bacigalupi Vineyard Designate Tasting
July 14th, 2012 11:00 – 4:00 p.m.
The Bacigalupi Family would like to invite you to participate in a very special and limited tasting featuring wines produced exclusively from Bacigalupi Vineyards. Passed appetizers provided by K.R. Catering.
Tickets: $65 per person and limited to 200 guests.
*To make a reservation and/or purchase tickets to any of these events e-mail tastingroom@johntylerwines.com or call us at 707-473-0115.
New Release 2007 Zinfandel
January 1, 2012 by Katey Bacigalupi
Filed under News and Events, Store, Wines, Zinfandel
GOLD MEDAL WINNER!!
Our 2007 Zinfandel was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. This is the largest wine competition held in North America and brings in upwards of 3,500 entries every year.
Read the full list of medal winners and get information on the Grand Tasting, February 18th from 2-5:00 p.m. at Fort Mason
Now avaliable for purchase
This much anticipated vintage has been well worth the wait! The 2007 harvest began early, stalled mid-way due to cool weather, and finished in late October to vintner accolades. Grape growers praised the high quality and winemakers were happy with the small berry size. Located in the middle of the Russian River Valley, our vineyard sees cool mornings and warm afternoons. This weather pattern benefits Zinfandel, since it leads to a longer growing season and even-ripened grape clusters.
Our 2007 Russian River Valley Zinfandel has aromas of oregano, cooking spices and a hint of white pepper complemented with subtle flavors of anise seed and bramble berry. Luscious deep fruit characteristics and a beautiful tannin structure on the mid palate with a long full finish.
Recommended cellaring 5-8 years
300 cases produced
Holiday and Winter Hours
November 29, 2011 by Katey Bacigalupi
Filed under Day to day, News and Events
The holiday season is here and we invite you to raise a glass with us!
Winter Hours beginning December 1st
Wednesday – Monday 11:00 a.m- 5:00 p.m.
Closed Tuesday
Holidays Hours
Christmas Eve – Closed
Christmas Day – Closed
New Years Eve – Close at 3:00 p.m
New Years Day – Closed.
Cheers to a wonderful holiday season!
The Tasting Panel- Personal Best
November 8, 2011 by Katey Bacigalupi
Filed under News and Events, Winemaking
Read the recent article featuring our winemaker Tyler Heck in the The Tasting Panel Magazine’s November issue. The article titled “Personal Best” details Tyler’s own winemaking style and what life influences have brought him to where he is today. Envisioning wines made in the classical Burgundian mold Tyler combines old world winemaking techniques with a personal touch.
“One thing I didn’t really put together until after my father passed away is the importance of how that fits into somebody’s life,” reflects Heck. “I think in anybody’s life you’re just trying to find a craft, find a way to practice that craft and hopefully get better at it is you go along and earn a living. Then, most importantly, leave something behind when you’re gone. What better way to do that than with wine? It brings people together and even now, when I open up a bottle of wine that my father made, people tell good stories about him.”
View the entire article here The Tasting Panel- Personal Best
Details from Harvest 2011
October 16, 2011 by Katey Bacigalupi
Filed under In the vineyard, News and Events
Harvest 2011
Celebrating 55 years of grape growing in the Russian River Valley
The 2011 vintage, a roller coaster of highs and lows will be remembered as one of the most climatically challenging vintages in recent memory. Our 55th harvest started out in the very early hours of the morning on Monday, September 19th, almost 3 weeks later then average after weeks of cool weather delayed ripening of the crop already thinned by mid-summer rains. Those rains knocked the flowers off the vines producing “hens and chicks” which are very small berries and very large berries on the same bunch.This caused the overall yield to be down 30% however the cooler weather allows for longer hang time than usual, which contributes greater depth and more complexity to the wine. Mid-way through harvest another hurdle to jump is the early fall rain combined with warm days, a perfect environment to encourage botrytis or bunch rot in the clusters. More thinning in the vineyards and hands in the bins during picking will ensure only the best grapes in the bottle.
We have and always will pick all our grapes by hand and at night. The cooler temperatures at night gives the fruit brighter flavors, higher acidity and lower sugars. During the daytime, the sugars increase meaning more alcohol after fermentation. We want to ensure the fruit and acids are complemented by lower alcohols, which make for a more food-friendly wine. Ensuring that the clusters arrive at the winery in the best state is only possible by the traditional age old method of hand harvesting. Although more expensive, hand harvesting is the most delicate way to harvest the grapes from the vines.
To celebrate this milestone and take a look back I asked my Grandma Helen what are the biggest changes she has seen in the wine industry. “The amount of wineries and vineyards in the area. Back then there were just a few; the Foppianio’s, Pedroncelli’s and the Seghesio’s. Even in Napa only maybe half a dozen. Gallo was here in the 50’s but he was buying bulk wine from the wineries.” She explained how the business of selling grapes has also progressed. “Gallo sometimes wouldn’t even tell you what they would pay until you harvested the grapes. Rod Strong was one of the first to start making contracts with payment dates and prices. We liked that change a lot.” Our family has come along way from our first harvest in 1956. Wood prune picking boxes are distant memories, but will remain a part of our history.
Written by Katey Bacigalupi
Quotes by Helen L. Bacigalupi
Marin Magazine- Travel Buzz
August 31, 2011 by Katey Bacigalupi
Filed under News and Events
Check out recommendations on Travel Buzz- The Line on Wine
3. Healdsburg
Visit the Bacigalupi family’s newly opened tasting room. The family was one of the first to plant pinot noir in Russian River Valley and has been growing award-winning grapes for over 55 years. After three years of planning, the family is showcasing their estate vineyard designate wines such as the John Tyler label.
Click here to read full article
Vertical Wine Tasting and Vineyard Tour Experience
August 9, 2011 by Katey Bacigalupi
Filed under Day to day, News and Events
Introducing our Private Vertical Tasting and Vineyard Tour Experience
Our vertical tasting experience begins with a short historical vineyard tour through some of our oldest Chardonnay plantings on the estate from 1964. This tour, hosted by one of the Bacigalupi family members, will give you a glimpse back in history documenting 55 years of premium grape growing in the Russian River Valley. After the tour, relish in a private vertical tasting on our outdoor patio with an offering of six wines, available only through the tasting room. Enjoy a selection of cheeses and chocolates thoughtfully paired with our wines.
By appointment only Friday- Sunday. Seatings begin at 11:00, 12:30, 2:00 and 3:30. Maximum of 8 guest seatings available. $25 per person. Club members enjoy two for one pricing, one per membership.
Contact
To schedule a visit please contact our tasting room at 707-473-0115 or by email at tastingroom@johntylerwines.com.
Cancellation Policy
Credit card number is required to hold the reservation. 24 hour cancellation policy.
John Tyler Wines on ThePatch.com
August 1, 2011 by Katey Bacigalupi
Filed under News and Events
Check out our new video on ThePatch.com by Monique Soltani
Wine-blog.org “Why I adore the Bacigalupis and John Tyler Wines”
July 21, 2011 by Katey Bacigalupi
Filed under News and Events
Check out an awesome blog post by Jo Diaz from wine-blog.org. A veteran in the wine industry her experience spans from Belvedere, to Robert Mondavi and Foppiano where she began the advocay group PS I LOVE YOU, an organization dedication to promoting the Petite Sirah varietal. Her blog is now a finalist in the Wine Blog Awards for Best Industry Blog.
John Tyler in the Bohemian.com
July 15, 2011 by Katey Bacigalupi
Filed under News and Events
John Tyler Wines
By James Knight
The ingenuous winetaster may not realize, on passing glance, that this brand-new tasting room tucked into a dell off Westside Road is very much more than the latest iteration of a contemporary trend. What makes the difference between a dream and a third-generation winegrowing concern of international acclaim? Time, good timing, and good grapes.
Santa Rosa native Charles Bacigalupi settled into a dentistry practice in town. Dreaming of country life, he purchased benchland vineyards above the Russian River in the 1950s, then turned to his clients for advice. Paul Heck, who had recently purchased Korbel, advised—as best he could in between gargling, surmises granddaughter Katey Bacigalupi—that he replace the old Chenin Blanc with Chardonnay, using budwood from Karl Wente. He did, and grapes from that vineyard composed a good portion of Chateau Montelena’s Chardonnay that won the famous “Judgment of Paris” tasting in 1976.
Napa generally gets the credit for that, but Katey and twin sister Nicole are quick to point to a copy of the original weigh tag from 1973 that’s displayed in the tasting room, below watercolors painted by their great-grandmother, Olive, in the 1940s and 50s. Depicting redwoods, historic wineries and a scene of downtown Healdsburg that looks as fresh as yesterday—vintage truck and all—her paintings offer both a window to the past, and a mirror for the present. Wine country watercolors? Dentists longing to rusticate amid the vineyards? Wine country hasn’t changed so much, after all.
A website and blog, of course, keep us up-to-date on what is new. Katey and Nicole are the new face of the family business, energetically building the brand while participating in next-generation events like Single Vineyard Night, and staffing the family-run tasting room. On the odd weekend, grandfather Charles may lend a hand, too.
Most Bacigalupi grapes go to long-time buyers, including Williams Selym. John Tyler wines (named for vineyard owner John Bacigalupi and winemaker Tyler Heck) are offered in mini verticals of Pinot and Zin. Most are aged in neutral oak and released several years after the local norm. The 2004 Russian River Valley, Bacigalupi Vineyard Pinot Noir ($52) shows graceful aging with orange peel, rhubarb and pepper jelly; the 2006 Pinot Noir ($45), earthy, Burgundian aromas of hay, cinnamon stick with cherry, pepper jelly flavors and wide, fine dry finish; while the 2006 Zinfandel ($38) has a minty, sweet herbal aroma that I just can’t place—is it anise, plus rose hip and dried raspberry? While the aroma haunts, the finish is dense, not hot; an agreeable table Zin with some ineffable extra. Old World twists on old California clones from a brand-new winery.
John Tyler Wines, 4353 Westside Road, Healdsburg. Open daily, 10:30am to 5pm. Tasting fee, $10. 707.473.0115.
