I just opened up my new carton of wines from “A Taste of Monterey” which is my wine club that we have belonged to for years. We opted for the Private Reserve Club which delivers three bottles of wine four times a year. Our thoughts were that we would get smaller boutique type wines that would not make it to Michigan otherwise and so far, we have been correct. I also have to say that we have been pleased with the selections and this shipment will make us smile in the future as well.

The first bottle is from a new winery to me, Comanche Cellars is a small winery that produces under a thousand cases of wine, and it is named after the horse that Michael Simon had when he was ten years old, and Comanche’s horse shoes are on the label. The bottle of Comanche Cellars Chevera Vineyard Pinot Noir 2015 comes from the Arroyo Seco AVA, and the vineyard is owned by Frank Stanek who named the vineyard after his two granddaughters Charlotte and Eva and the vineyard is high above the Arroyo Seco valley. The brochure claims that it has strong nose and flavors, as well as muscular tannins. The aging potential for this wine is six to seven years. There were one-hundred-thirty-four cases produced and the label even gives the count of the bottle, as was bottle 566 of 1675.

The second bottle was from a winery that I have had before and I am looking forward to this bottle. Joullian Vineyards is in the Carmel Valley and they grow multiple clones of each varietal at different elevations and soils to add extra nuance to their wines. The Joullian Family Reserve Syrah 2014 is from a one-acre parcel of the “Estrella River” clone grown at the highest elevation of the vineyard. The wine was aged for thirteen months in Center of France thin-staved barrels and racked every three months, it was then bottled unrefined and unfiltered, so it will probably require decanting when it is opened. There were one-hundred-ninety-nine cases produced and the aging potential is seven to eight years.

The last bottle was also from a new winery that was established in 2015 by a band of artists, craftspeople, and lovers of life brought their wandering imaginations to a piece of land in Carmel, California. They named this location Folktale Winery and Vineyards. The Folktale Arroyo Seco Chardonnay 2015 has a whimsical label truthful to the image of the winery. The wine began in a vat and then was aged for six months in French Oak of which twenty percent was new. The wine is described as creamy with mineral notes drawing from the Le Mistral Vineyard on their estate. This wine has the largest production of the three wines that I received at just under a thousand cases, and the aging potential is claimed for five to six years, though I hardly ever have a Chardonnay that long in the house. There will be three more wines that I will look forward to having in the forthcoming years.