Current Releases
2005 Pinot Noir
Rich, sweet cherry and pomegranate flavors fan out across the palate and carry all the way through the long finish. While there are plenty of fine tannins and balanced acidity to give the wine structure, there is a silkiness to the texture.
View Wine Note (PDF) Shelf talker
Precioso
Precioso is more than just wine; it is a testament to
the Keller family’s passion for creating outstanding
and original works of art. Presented in magnum
bottles, this wine will age beautifully for years to
come.
View Wine Note (PDF)
2006 Oro De Plata Chardonnay
With aromas or pure Chardonnay fruit, our new release makes us feel that spring is around the corner.
With its floral aromatics and crisp acidity, we are sure you will find this wine a treat.
View Wine Note (PDF)
2005 La Cruz Chardonnay
The La Cruz Chardonnay is crafted in the rich, full blown style frequently found in California
Chardonnays. The creamy viscosity of the wine is balanced with bright acidity and ripe fruit
flavors. Toasty caramel and vanilla flavors are achieved through barrel fermentation and oak
aging.
View Wine Note (PDF)
2006 La Cruz Pinot Gris
For some time, Deborah and Grace Keller had quietly been lobbying the rest of the family to plant some Pinot Gris on the ranch. So when I made the suggestion to bud over a couple of acres to a variety I had fallen in love with while working in Oregon, there was no hesitation. The ranch is ideally suited to growing Pinot Gris and we are looking forward to many more outstanding vintages.
View Wine Note (PDF)
2005 La Cruz Vineyard Syrah
Given the cool maritime climate influenced by the Petaluma Gap, some are surprised we grow Syrah on our estate, forgetting just how long our growing season can be. The Northern Rhône Valley, after all, is not particularly hot. What we lack in blazing heat, we make up in many more growing days, both early and late in the season. The extra hang time allows the grapes to completely ripen physiologically.
Cool, moist conditions presided over the beginning of our growing season. Flowering and fruit set occurred over a longer period of time, and our summer was mild. Harvest was cool and collected, allowing us to carefully select the best fruit. Judicious fruit thinning at veraison – we dropped over half of the clusters -- ensured full ripening and good concentration of flavors.
Hand-harvested in the cool morning, the fruit is destemmed, chilled to 50 degrees and allowed to cold soak between 5 and 7 days. Once the native yeast takes off and fermentation begins, punch downs are performed three times a day and the temperature is allowed to rise to 90 degrees. Only free-run wine was used for this bottling, which was drained by gravity overnight. The wine was aged for 15 months in 20 percent new French oak barrels before bottling.
At first glance, the striking feature of this wine is its color – opaque black with a vibrant, blue-red edge. The powerful aromas are of black fruits (blackberry and plum), clove, vanilla along with notes of black pepper, toasty oak and herbs. As the wine opens, it gains a floral quality. The wine is most impressive in the mouth, where descriptors are lavish, velvety, rich, thick, mouth coating, long and concentrated. Absolutely delicious now, but will reward the patient until 2016.
View Wine Note (PDF)