Metro Wines Blog

About: August Briggs Wine Tasting @MetroWines

 

Please join us on Tuesday, January 30th from 4 to 6pm for a tasting of wines from August Briggs Winery, Calistoga, California. And meet the Owner of August Briggs, Matt Gasco! Gwen Bell will pour and discuss these well-made wines "at the bar" and "on the house" with no reservations necessary.

 

"We have chosen wines that represent the new grapes coming from Napa Valley," says John Kerr, co-owner of MetroWines.

 

Winery Notes: "This is our seventh release of Pinot Blanc and has now settled into the August Briggs portfolio as one of our favorites and definitely our customer’s favorite for the Spring and Summer. We once again purchased the Pinot Blanc grapes from the Dutton family and one of their oldest properties. This sustainable and dry-farmed vineyard has cool coastal air and moderate daytime temperatures which highlights the brightness of this European styled wine. The color is a light shade of straw with hints of green around the edges of the wine. This vintage is loaded with bright fruit flavors of grapefruit and pear and has a hint of minerals on the finish. It is a lovely and mouthwatering wine so be sure to order a bunch before summer is here!"

 

Winery Notes: "Pinot Meunier is one of a few grapes that are more well-known for making sparkling wines than still ones. We have made a scintillating dry wine from these grapes for over 15 years and have found the wine to be grapes to be very aromatic much like pinot noir, as well as exuding an exotic spicy aroma as found in Rhone varieties. This wine makes a great porch quaffer, as well as, a perfect match with light to medium menu items.For the 2018 Pinot Meunier is an elegant vintage that shows the feminine side of this wonderful grape. The aromas and flavors are of cherry blossom, cranberry & orange peel. The palate has a satiny texture with nice balancing tannins that gives it a long and memorable finish. This is just great to drink and show off to friends.After hand sorting, the clusters were destemmed into a small open-top fermenter. After a two-day cold soak, the must was inoculated with Assmanhausen yeast. The cap was punched-down by hand, twice daily. Following primary fermentation the wine was inoculated for malolactic fermentation and barreled down to traditional burgundian barrels. The barrels used were 33% new French oak and 67% two year old French barrels. The wine was aged in barrel for 9 months."

 

Winery Notes; "Utilizing a “kitchen sink” approach we played with blending various amounts of Syrah, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Charbono from a mix of vineyards planted throughout the Napa Valley. The components of this wine change every year so be sure to sample this vintage and see if it hits your sweet spot! This wine has a deep saturated color of dark purple with rich aromas of blueberry, black fig, spice and pepper. The wine is medium in body which makes it accessible for drinking young and the fruit character is bold but balanced by bright acidity. The finish is lengthy across the palate with moderate fruit and oak tannins. This wine is a big bruiser if you want to match it with a porterhouse tonight or if you prefer it can be aged for additional complexity with another 3-5 years in bottle. The wine was aged in a variety of American and French oak barrels for 16 months then blended together for additional aging before bottling. Only 100 cases produced." 

 

   August Briggs Winery is an owner-managed craft producer of small lot and sustainably produced wines showcasing some of Napa and Sonoma’s premier vineyards focused on a restrained winemaking philosophy that highlights wines of provenance, not pretense. When you come visit us, it is likely you will meet with one of our welcoming owners, Matt and Colette, who live by their hands-on management style, ‘You get back what you put in’.