Each Spring we throw a party at the ranch to give our customers a chance to see the vineyard and taste new wines. And give ourselves a chance to say “thank you” to people who have shelled out their hard-earned cash to enjoy MacLeod Family Vineyard wines.

Most of the family turns up to “work” the party. While there is a lot of work that goes in to putting on the party, you wouldn’t know it at the event itself. Looks more like a lot of wine drinking, oyster eating, friendly chatting and general good timing. Here are just a few photos to share. From the top: The scene outside the barn. It was a beautiful day, warm but with a cooling afternoon breeze (just like the grapes like it).

That’s Gail running the tasting room. It was hard to tell who was having more fun, the people tasting the wine or Gail and Rich pouring it for them.

The true hit of the afternoon, however, were the “ranch tours” led by George himself. Having built the vineyard himself from bare land, George seems to know every rock, every emitter, and every grape vine. The stories that come from 30 years of this labor of love are a joy. And, we think, add extra enjoyment to each bottle of MacLeod Family Vineyard wine.

MacLeod Family Vineyard Set to Add Zinfandel & Merlot

2008 is shaping up to be an exciting year at MacLeod Family Vineyard. As many of you know, we’ve been growing grapes on this exquisite patch of Sonoma Valley for over 25 years. Most of that time selling all we grew to some of the region’s finest wineries.

Three years ago we started our own adventure into wine making. Continuing to sell the majority of our crop to other wineries, but partnering with the excellent wine makers at Mauritson Winery to produce to bottle wines under our own “MacLeod Family Vineyard” label.

Our Sauvignon Blanc was the first come to market. With vintages 2005 and 2006 we produced less than 300 cases. To our delight, we discovered that there were real customers out there, interested in tasting our effort at capturing our terroir in a bottle.

This year we have the high pleasure of offering our customers our first MacLeod Family Vineyard Zinfandel and Merlot - from grapes grown exclusively on our beloved Indian Springs Ranch. These wines will be released later this Spring, and we can hardly wait to share it with you.

Vintage 2006 has introduced many new customers to our Sauvignon Blanc, and we’re both proud and a little nostalgic that the 330 cases are now all gone. We even celebrated with a family trip to realize one of Greta’s longstanding dreams of being in Hawaii with all her grandchildren.

All eyes (and noses and palattes) are now on vintage 2007. We’ve been barrel tasting our Zinfandel which has wonderful aromas and flavors of blackberry and raspberry- beautiful color and great mouth feel. Almost zero astringency.. Both Clay and Charlie (winemaker at Cline) think wine will be spectacular after three or four more months of bottle ageing.

George and winemaker Clay Mauritson tasted our ‘07 Sauvignon Blanc the other day and concluded that it may be our best yet. Really superb mouth feel and finish, with flavors that go on and on, and a minerality that is distinctively Sonoma Valley. Bottling date for the SB will be in March.

Click on the “Join Wine Club” link if you’d like us to send you a notification when the new vintage becomes available.

For the first time this year we entered our Sauvignon Blanc in the prestigious “North of the Gate” wine festival.  To our delight, we won the Silver Ribbon.

The Wine Exchange of Sonoma says, “We became fans of the MacLeod Sauvignon Blanc with the first release in 2005, and the 2006 is a crisp and zesty beauty!  Subtle fragrances and flavors of apricot, melon, pear and pineapple delight the nose and palate, and underlying notes of honeysuckle, minerals and citrus linger in the finish.  This is the perfect wine for summer – delicious by itself or with fresh oysters, grilled vegetables and fish, and cheese platters. This is a refreshingly complex and flavorful Sauvignon Blanc.”  (Personally, I enjoy our Sauvignon Blanc with foods of spice such as Thai or Indian food.)

We love to hear what foods you enjoy eating with Sauv Blanc.  Comment on this blog and let us know.