CigarBQ

For those who love to pair great food and wine with cigars - check out www.cigarbq.com ! We certain enjoy our annual outing with Hans and crew from Rich Xiberta who provided our beautiful logo corks as featured in our 2003 Syrah. Atelier Winery has donated a couple bottles of wine for the auction that goes toward charitable causes in Sonoma County.

We hope to see you there!

Supreme Court Ruling - Interstate Wine Shipment

There is hope... read the latest about the Supreme Court Ruling on interstate wine shipments.

CNN Article on Supreme Court Ruling

Colorado Wine News Review

In the April - June 2005 issue of the Colorado Wine News, Volume 15, No. 2., Harold J. Baer writes:

"The 2001 Syrah, Alexander Valley, $24, has smooth, round, almost creamy aromas of black cherry, caramel, vanilla, and black raspberry. the palate adds pepper, oak underneath, and very fine tannin and everything carries through the broad, medium-long finish. Light to medium bodied and nicely balanced, structured, and integrated. Tasty. The 2002 Zinfandel, Contra Costa County, $18, has a big, rich nose of dark fruit with boysenberry, blackberry and caramel most prominent now. Flavors of pepper, cherry, cranberry, and raspberry are laced with bright acidity and a significant amount of somewhat rough tannin. The finish is medium-broad, medium-long, and nicely persistent with just a touch of alcohol at the end. Light to medium bodied now, it is well balanced, integrated, and structured and should gain in weight and depth and become smoohter if you give it another year or so in the bottle.

Atelier is a new producer which bears watching and whose first releases are well worth the effort to find. If you can't locate the wines, contact the winery...www.atelierwinery.com"

Piedmont Post Review

Much to our delight, upon our return from vacation we received a copy of the April 13th edition of the Piedmont Post. The wine editor kindly mailed us a copy of their article entitled, "California Syrah - the next big thing," written by Pierre DuMont. Here are some excerpts from the article:

"Syrah's original home is the northern Rhone valley in France...it is revered for making huge, long-lived wines...Of the 126 wineries pouring Syrah at the recent Rhone Ranger tasting, the following were the cream of the crop - the most memorable wines of the day."

"2003 Atelier Syrah, Alexander Valley...This tiny new winery is doing an impressive job. The wine's opulent aromatics jumped out of the glass (blackberry liquer, honeysuckle, truffles, and a bit of bacon). Full bodied on the palate with great intensity and purity. This is a winery to watch."

Wine in India

During our India adventure we had the opportunity to try a couple of the wines of India. To our surprise wine was frequently not available as parts of India have "dry state" regulations, and the heat of the country certainly does not encourage one to go for the red wines. We enjoyed Kingfisher beer at an occasional stop and at the end of our trip sampled two wines at the beautiful J.W. Marriot in Mumbai's Juhu Beach area. Truly an oasis among the madness.

Vivek was our waiter and he was very knowledgeable about Indian wines. We enjoyed a Chenin Blanc from Sula and a Viognier from Grover. The Sula Chenin Blanc was crisp, pure, and lovely in the Mumbai heat with flavors of green apple. We're told by Vivek that it comes from a region not far from Mumbai. The Grover Viognier had a lovely and classic viognier aroma with good weight that allowed it to linger pleasantly on the palat. Grover Winery comes from Southern India closer to Bangalore.

If you have the opportunity to try these wines, we highly recommend them on a hot summer's day in India or wherever you may be. The Kingfisher is also very nice ;-)

Back from vacation

Atelier Winery is back from vacation - a wonderful and exotic 2 1/2 weeks in India. In pursuit of our passion for world culture, we arranged our self-guided tour of Western India with touches of both northern and southern India. The sub-continent's incredible people, architecture, cuisine, and geography never ceased to amaze us. Along with sharing our wine with friends, we also enjoy sharing our travel experiences and photos. Please take a look via the link below and enjoy some of the highlights along:

• The temples of Elephanta Island, Mumbai
• Asian Lions of the Gir Forest, Sasan Gir
• The Taj Mahal (aka "The Taj"), Agra
• Udaipur's Monsoon Palace
• The backwaters and coconut palms of Kerala, "God's own country"

See highlights of our journey at www.atelierwinery.com/india