By happenstance, back in 2003, my Bride and I were on holidays at having lunch at the famed Sardine Factory and in the Cannery Row district, that was written about by John Steinbeck.  We walked into “A Taste of Monterey” and they could ship local wines to Michigan, when others could not, that was until our governor at the time was sued and she lost.  We signed up for their Private Reserve Club, with the concept of getting limited released wines that would probably never make it to the shelves in Michigan.

Four times a year, we receive three bottles of wine, and the first wine out of the carton was Shale Canyon Estate Grown Tempranillo Arroyo Seco 2019.  In 2008 Shale Canyon Wines began creating hand-crafted estate-grown varietal wines.  The wines are hand-harvested and fermented in small batches and their current production is about a thousand cases of wines featuring about seven different estate grown grapes.  The winery is entirely “off grid,” a solar-powered facility, and they use well water for their water supply.  They also source fruit from other vineyards that maintain the same farming practices as they do for another four varietal offerings.  There were one hundred-twelve cases produced.  The tasting notes furnished state that the wine is a classic bold Tempranillo with dark berry fruit on the nose.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine offers tones of blackberry, cherry and fig, firm tannins, and a long finish of vanilla and leather 

The second wine from the carton was Scratch Pinot Noir KW Ranch Santa Lucia Highlands 2020.  Scratch is a project of winemaker Sabrine Rodems who produces small-lot single varietal wines from Monterey, Arroyo Seco, Santa Lucia Highlands and the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA’s.  She started in the theater, film and television and then went and earned a Masters in Viticulture from UC Davis.  The fruit is from Kirk Williams’ KW Ranch in Santa Lucia Highlands who has forty acres of Pinot Noir and Syrah.  The tasting notes furnished relate that the wine offers notes of dark raspberry and cherry, cola and geraniums.  On the palate the wine offers tones of roasted plum, light oak, spices and lively acidity. 

The final wine in the shipment was Folktale Winery Sparkling Rosé Monterey NV.  Folktale Winery and Vineyards was originally founded in 1982 by Bob and Patty Brower, as Chateau Julien Wine Estate and they wanted to replicate their wine experiences in France to the Carmel Valley.  In 1996 they expanded the property and structures to ensure that they were making great wines, and my Bride and I visited Chateau Julien each time we had holidays in Carmel-by-the-Sea.  In 2015, the property was purchased by local winemaker, Gregory Ahn, and renamed Folktale Winery and Vineyards; and as a side note, from what I gather the label Chateau Julien is still property of the Brower family.  The five-acre vineyard at the winery is one hundred percent organically farmed, and they are working towards this goal in the three-hundred acres in the Arroyo Seco that they maintain.  This wine is a blend of eighty percent Pinot Noir and twenty percent Chardonnay.   The grapes are picked about three weeks early so that they can harvest the grapes at a lower sugar level compared to their still wines.  After the Initial Fermentation the juice is then placed in a Stainless-Steel tank for the secondary fermentation similar to a Prosecco or a frizzante wine.  The tasting notes describe the wine as having aromas and flavors of watermelon, kiwi and yeasty notes with a mouthfeel of a soft Prosecco-like texture.