Single Vineyard Tasting Lounge -- Grand Opening, February 19th

Imagine the coziness of your living room with a wine bar stocked with our award-winning Single Vineyard wines, staffed by a friendly Artesa representative ready to pour and answer questions about each varietal. We have created a new private lounge that evokes the comfort of one's own home with a touch of our Old World heritage. And we invite you to come check out this space for yourself starting this President's Day weekend.

Make your reservation today by calling 707-254-2126 or book your reservation here.

In celebration of the Grand Opening of our Single Vineyard Tasting Lounge,
all Single Vineyard Cabernet Saugvignons are 20% off.
To access these savings, visit www.artesawinery.com, click shop and enter coupon code: SVWINES.

Single Vineyard Members receive complimentary access for up to four people per visit

Club Artesa Members: $18.75 per person (includes 25% discount off retail price)

General Admission: $25 per person

Not a Club Artesa member? Join today!

If you are already a Club Artesa member and would like to upgrade your membership to receive the Single Vineyard option, please call Club Services at 877-224-8309.

Our Single Vineyard Lounge is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30am to 4:30pm.

Although not required, reservations are recommended to ensure that we are able to accommodate your party at your desired time.

Winemaking Update, Winter 2011

After the flurry of harvest last autumn, this is the time of year when our winemaking team gets to catch their breath.

Most of the wines have finished malolactic fermentation. The Chardonnays take a little bit longer to go through the process so they are being kept in a temperature-controlled room that is a little warmer than our subterranean cellar otherwise would be, while they finish fermenting.

The aging wines are being stirred on their lees twice a week, as they develop the characteristics that you will see in the finished product.

The winemaking team is also starting to blend the 2009 red wines. This means that they are experimenting with different compositions and deciding on their favorites.

We can't wait for you to try these delicious wines!

Cellar Tags -- new for Club Artesa members!

Attention Club Artesa members: here's a treat to help you organize your wine collection better.

Cellar tags will now be included for all of the wines in your club selections, allowing you to keep all pertinent information about the wines (such as cellar dates, pricing, and reorder details) right at your fingertips! We have heard that many of our members would like this information to help manage their wine cellars, big and small. So we hope you enjoy this new benefit of being a Club Artesa member!

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!

Elevating The Artesa Experience: Pairing Fine Wines with Gourmet Cheese & Chocolates

As summer slips away, the kids are back in school and harvest season approaches in the wine country. Artesa’s Assistant Winemaker Nori Nakamura told us in the last Artesa blog entry that harvest this year will be late and fast. What better time than to see for yourself how the grapes are ripening with a “Vines and Wines” tour and tasting, one of several specialty programs available to visitors looking for an intimate experience away from the crowds and with your own assigned guide and wine educator.




While “Vines and Wines” is offered seasonally (for another few weeks or so) until workers descend into our vineyards practically around the clock, a number of additional tour options await groups looking for specialized attention leading to a truly memorable experience at Artesa Winery. Thanks to Vino Visit, a new online booking service available on Artesa’s website, you can reserve an educational tour and program, day or night, from the comfort of your home.

One of the newest specialty programs is “Chocolate Indulgence,” a daily-offered journey through five of Artesa’s finest reserve wines paired with five hand-produced chocolate truffles from local Napa chocolatier, Anette’s Chocolates. “It was extremely hard finding the right pairing between chocolate and wine,” said Tasting Room Manager Michael McKinley. Staff went through literally hundreds of chocolates finding just the right match with Artesa’s handcrafted ultra-premium wines, an endeavor anyone with a sweet tooth would envy.

“Vino con Queso” is Artesa’s intimate wine and cheese tasting which starts off with a glass of Codorniu Napa Grand Reserve sparkling wine. Artisan cheeses are purchased daily at Napa’s Oxbow Market to ensure maximum freshness, to be presented with Artesa’s small production Limited Release and Reserve wines.

Assistant Tasting Room Manager Rick Dudley pointed out that the staff selected to lead these educational tours and programs attended seminars and classes dedicated to this type of specialized pairings. Come see for yourself how locally produced gourmet chocolate can elevate one’s wine tasting experience. Or maybe fine cheese is more your style. Visit www.artesawinery.com/tours anytime to book your reservation for this or any other specialty program. You won’t forget the experience anytime soon.

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