Carneros Run Brings Out Young & Old Despite Threatening Weather

Artesa sponsored and hosted another successful Carneros Vineyard 5K/10K Run on March 26th. The race, benefiting the Carneros Volunteer Fire Department, featured kids and adults including 90-year-old Lois Gammon (pictured here and featured in a Napa Valley Register article).

All braved spring rainy conditions to walk, run and cheer on participants from the winery down the hill, around Carneros and back again. Then they were treated to massages, wine and breakfast (and birthday cake with Lois, who had became a nonagenarian -- the term for someone entering their nineties -- the day before the race) in Artesa's subterranean barrel room.

"It was fun to bring everyone together and see the adventuresome spirit and everyone's high energy level," said Artesa Vice President & General Manager Rich Richardson, who took these posted pictures and had early on encouraged the staff to lace up running shoes for the occasion.

Thanks to everyone who turned out, walked, ran, volunteered and cheered. Hope to see you next year!

The Sheep Are Back! The Sheep Are Back!

Upon arriving at our Carneros estate, many notice right away our "green roof," the dirt and native grasses that cover our subterranean winery.

We at Artesa pride ourselves on sustainable farming and responsible land stewardship that minimize the carbon footprint we leave on the 850 acres that comprise our estates in Carneros, Atlas Peak and Alexander Valley (350 of which are planted vineyard).

As a way of maintaining our green practices, hoof marks annually grace us with their presence and do the natural things they do to trim our foliage and fertilize the soil. Starting February 9th, the sheep are back in Carneros, roaming in our largest estate!

The Rocky Mountain Wooly Weeders, an open-range herding company based out of Loveland, Colorado, provides environmentally sensitive mowing service for vineyards and open lands.

Serving areas from the Pacific to the Rockies, the Wooly Weeders are more talented than any other mower we know of, mowing and fertilizing at the same time!

They are capable of turning almost any grassland into the likes of a well-manicured ballpark in just a matter of days.

We are so glad the Wooly Wedders are here to help us stay green, by digesting some green and leaving some brown (sorry for the Crayola-hued imagery).

You can catch the Wooly Weeders live and in person at Artesa Winery for a short period of time. Come by and bring a camera, before they move on to their next assignment. Baaaaaaaa!

Artesa scores 91+ ratings in Wine Enthusiast

With a new year comes new accolades for Artesa's stellar lineup of wines.

We are proud to receive a 91/Editors' Choice rating from Wine Enthusiast's February 2011 issue for the 2009 Limited Release Albarino, Carneros Estate:

"The combination of stainless-steel and oak-barrel fermentation has been good for this wine. It’s bright and steely in acidity, and lifts the variety’s mineral and citrus flavors to new heights, adding a rich level of smoky cream. Just beautiful and versatile at the table, a sommelier’s dream wine. Production was a mere 850 cases."

Also very humbling is the 92-point rating that Wine Enthusiast gave us for the 2009 Pinot Blanc, Carneros Estate (pictured above):

"One of the best Pinot Blancs of this or any vintage. It was mostly fermented in stainless steel, with about one-fifth in new French oak. Just beautiful, with the creamy lushness of a fine Chardonnay. The fruit flavor is all about ripe, zesty citrus, spicy pears, tangerines and tangy green apples."

In their "Best of Year 2010" special issue released on December 31st, Wine Enthusiast conferred 92 points to the 2008 Pinot Noir Block 91D, Carneros:

"Made from a small block in Artesa's estate vineyard, this low production (250 cases) Pinot is rich and concentrated in bright raspberry, cherry, licorice and bacon flavors. It's powerful enough to support lots of new French oak, yet is balanced and refined in the mouth. Should develop over the next 4-5 years."

The February 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast also awarded Artesa's 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley (Winemaker Mark Beringer's inaugural release) with 91 points; it is considered by many to be our best ever vintage of that varietal.

Last but certainly not least, the same issue of Wine Enthusiast recognized a perennial favorite, the 2009 Chardonnay, Carneros, with a 91-point rating (pictured right). Artesa's Chardonnay consistently wows fans looking for a more crisp and fruity Napa Chardonnay, made in the Old World tradition of balanced acidity with a touch of oak and butter derived from stainless steel as well as French oak barrel fermentation.

Try these wines for yourself to see how they measure up on your ratings scale!

Vineyard Update from Artesa's Assistant Winemaker

A cold, wet spring pushed back bud break for three weeks this year and we are now finally experiencing a full bloom everywhere in the Napa Valley. With the current vine growth, the 2010 harvest may start very late and will likely be very hectic.

We have already hired our harvest interns from USA, Spain, Italy, and Australia for this year and we are excited for their arrival. To be honest, we would like to think that harvest is still three more months away but we know it will be upon us very soon.

In preparation, we are busy bottling our '09 Chardonnay, Carneros and '09 Pinot Noir, Carneros and we cannot wait to show you these beautiful wines.

-Nori Nakamura, Assistant Winemaker, Artesa Vineyards & Winery, Carneros, Napa

Artesa Hosts Carneros Run Benefit

"Please check out the following pictures from our Carneros 5K & 10K Run/ pancake breakfast on Saturday, March 26th. Very successful and fun event. We had 1,000 people turn out for the event this year.

For next year’s event we will field an ARTESA “running” team. We would also like to have a running category for Wine Club members. First-place finisher for the 10K and 5K get a prize, same with the ARTESA running team.

Excellent team effort to pull this off so well. Great event for a great cause, the Carneros Volunteer Fire Department!"

- Rich Richardson, Artesa Vice President & General Manager