I have written about the joys of the wine club that I joined on our first trip out to Carmel, California “A Taste of Monterey.”  I have also mentioned that that selections for the Private Reserve Club arrive every three months, and it allows us the chance to get some wines that I would not normally be able to secure locally, as some of the wineries are not big enough to demand the attention of the some of the distributors in my area.  One of the joys of receiving this shipment, besides the wines is a chance to look at the recipe that is offered as well, and this time it is for Shrimp Skewers with Orange Chardonnay Mojo Glaze.

The first bottle that I unpacked was a Scheid Hames Valley Vineyard Petite Sirah 2009.  This is a new AVA for me Hames Valley, located in the Southern part of Monterey County.  There is a write up about each of the wines featured and one note that caught my eye was that there may be a 50 degree temperature differential from day to night, which the winery claims is ideal for growing Petite Sirah.  The aging potential for this wine is from six to ten years.

The next bottle was a De Tierra Sargenti Chardonnay 2010.  I have already enjoyed a Pinot Noir from this winery, so I am looking forward to trying this wine.  This particular wine’s fruit all came from the Sargenti Vineyard, and the notes on this wine is that there is aging potential of four to seven years, which I find intriguing, as I have found the 2011 Chardonnay wines to be more robust then the 2010, from the Central Coast of California, but I do enjoy being proved wrong and getting a good surprise.

The last bottle that I unearthed from the shipping container was a bottle of Galante Blackjack Cabernet Sauvignon 2006.  The fruit for this particular wine all comes from the Blackjack Pasture in the Carmel Valley, and is grown without chemicals and the crop has been thinned to an average of two tons of grapes per valley.  This is more technical information then I usually list, but since I have not tried to this wine yet, I will list some additional facts, though I have had the Malbec wine from Galante.  This wine is also listed as having an aging potential of six to ten years, which seems very reasonable for a well crafted Cabernet Sauvignon.

I think that this is a fine mix of varietals to explore, and I look forward to trying them, and to share with you at a later time.