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Where do your grapes come from?
You can only make great wine if you start with great fruit, and we have
been fortunate to source grapes from premier Napa Valley vineyards. Our
Cabernet Sauvignon sources include Napa Valley's historic ToKalon Vineyard
in Oakville, Vineyard X, another superb Oakville site down
the road; Ink Grade Vineyard (Howell Mountain appellation),
which supplies us with our mountain fruit, and is also the site where we
snapped the banner and home page photos shortly before harvest 2007; Godspeed Vineyard on Mt. Veeder; Coombsville Vineyard; and Rafael
Vineyard in Oak Knoll. Our
Merlot is from Lake Cynthia Vineyard in the southern part of Napa
Valley, which produces small concentrated Merlot grapes, and Coombsville Vineyard.
Our Pinot Noir comes from select Central Coast vineyards in Santa Rita
Hills (La Encantada Vineyard), and Santa Lucia Highlands (Sleepy
Hollow Vineyard and Doctors Vineyard).
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How can a micro-producer like you get such great fruit, grapes that
great Napa Valley wineries are clamoring for?
We have formed a partnership with a small group of visionaries and several
dozen other committed winemakers. Together we have been able to put
together a state of the art winery in Napa Valley. Grape growers at some of
the finest vineyards in California,
after seeing the high quality of award-winning wines we can produce, have
been anxious to partner with us. Our
goal at Bon Coeur Cellars is to make (and drink) world class wine
from world class vineyards, produced in our own distinctive style.
When will you be releasing your next vintage?
Our aim each year is to release our wines in time for the Holidays if
possible. Some wines we feel we need to hold until spring.
When should we drink them?
I once asked a winemaker with over 50 vintages to his credit when I should
drink one of his wines. "Well that depends," he said, "on
how empty your cellar is." Decant the young Cabernets and let them
open up for a couple hours and you will enjoy them on release, but giving
them a year or two in bottle after release would be much better, and if you
can hold them 5 years your patience will be rewarded. Our Pinot Noirs are
lovely a few months after release, especially Nicole’s Reserve; we think
Nathan’s Reserve takes a bit longer to open up, and suggest waiting at
least a year for some vintages.
How much wine do you make?
We are staying small and highly focused on producing luxury hand-crafted
wines, so we limit production to about 300 cases.
Whoaa! I hope there will be enough left for me.
We want as many of our friends as possible to be able to enjoy our wines,
but it is first come, first serve, so we recommend joining our mailing list
so you can be the first to have access to new releases and pre-release
offers.
Can you ship to all states?
The majority of them, but some states will not permit direct shipping (like
the state we live in). If you have trouble ordering, send us an email
(info@boncoeurcellars.com). Sometimes we can find a legal way to get our
wine to you. (We ourselves have learned to make new best friends in our
bordering states which do allow direct shipping). Laws are constantly
changing, but at the moment we are able to ship to the following states:
AK, AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IA, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, NH,
NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY. We will add new
states as soon as the law permits.
How much does shipping cost?
We pay the ground shipping on orders over $250 (except on some special large
discounts). 2 Day and overnight shipping is available for additional cost.
In general, cost per bottle is considerably reduced by purchasing by the
case. For 2010 shipping rates click
here
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