Open Season

Ahhhhh...it's springtime here in South Louisiana, and that means LSU baseball, crawfish boils, Abita strawberry lager, and Lent (just...33...more...days...).  For wine enthusiasts, spring is also a time when many wineries offer their latest releases to their wine clubs or mailing lists.  It's a veritable open season and, like duck hunting in Stuttgart, the bounty can almost be too much to handle.  I have had to learn to be a "sportsman" (if you remember those old hunter's ed videos), not shooting at everything out there, but picking my targets carefully.

I think wine clubs and mailing lists are great for wineries and wines that I couldn't easily get otherwise, meaning they are extremely limited or just not available in my market.  Most artisan wineries conduct two major releases:  a spring release of predominately appellation wines (i.e. Russian River Valley), and a fall release of predominantly single-vineyard or proprietary blend wines.  Appellation wines are usually a little less expensive and a bit more approachable.  Single-vineyard wines and fancy blends are usually more concentrated and need a little more time in the barrel and/or bottle.  If there is a waiting list for a wine club you are after, you are usually more likely to get an allocation in a spring release (though I'm still waiting on you, Kosta Browne).

It is pretty easy to get on most wineries' mailing lists - usually as simple as supplying an address or email online.  Some enroll you immediately.  Others have a "waiting list".  Either way, once you are in, expect at least bi-annual newsletters filled with colorful vineyard photos and lots of hyperbole.  As is always the case, know your producer so that you don't get caught up in the winemaker's or proprietor's "remarks" about biodynamic farming, aging on the lees, or high notes of old shoes dipped in cranberry sauce.  If they make good wine, they make good wine.  Some are just more verbose than others.  The real fun comes when you strike up a relationship with the folks and actually know what they are talking about, or better yet can call them up and ask them about their latest release.


Of those clubs/lists that I participate in, Williams Selyem, Lucia, DiStefano, Siduri & Novy, and Dehlinger (pronounced "day-linger"...which is fun to say) have already announced their spring releases.  I'm still waiting to hear from the likes of MacPhail, Grey Stack, Pine Ridge, and Mueller.  Most of these wineries are releasing their 2010s, which should be interesting.  We were out in Napa/Sonoma in November 2010, just after harvest, and most winemakers were cautiously optimistic about the vintage.  It was a cool year, with intense bouts of heat and rain just before harvest.

If the early results are any indication, 2010 is going to turn out some mighty fine wines.  Novy's 2010 RRV Zinfandel and Four Mile Creek red and white blends are delicious.  Crisp and complex, indicative of a cooler vintage.  My friends at MacPhail also told me recently that their 2010 Pinot Noirs are showing very nicely as well.

As my shipments start rolling in, I think it fun to taste the latest wines against the previous release(s) to get a feel for the characteristics of the vintage (those identified in appellation blends will likely be amplified in the single-vineyard wines).  Plus, it's another excuse to drink good juice with friends.

Enjoy the sporting fun of wine drinking during this "open season".  To which wine clubs and/or mailing lists do you belong?