Fall 2007 Release

What's in a name?

Pronounced "FAY-la", ours comes from the Italian island of Sicily, a melting pot of southern Europeans, so it's often mistaken for Spanish or French heritage. Since we launched our website, dozens of Failla's have joined our mailing list, many during searches for ancestors and long-lost family members. Few can resist the discovery of an eponymously-named wine.

If we’ve learned anything during the process of building our winery, it would have to be “Nothing is set in stone”. When we broke ground on the caves in 2005 our blueprints called for 3,000 square feet of underground barrel storage with an adjacent 4,000 square foot winery building. Today, those blueprints line the cage bottom of the canary the drillers followed into the now 12,000 square foot cave they dug out of the rocky soil to accommodate Ehren’s new master plan for gravity-flow, subterranean production facilities as well as barrel storage and hospitality areas. Even the bloomin’ bathrooms are underground. So I guess you could say, in our case “Everything is set in stone”. With relatively constant humidity, and temperatures averaging 55-65º year-round, wine caves utilize the earth’s insulation properties to cut energy costs and reduce losses from barrel evaporation by 5-10 %. It’s rather a “no-brainer” to forsake the sunshine and go below ground. Oh, did I mention that caves cost 20% less to build than above-ground facilities and that you can cram down depreciation from 25 to 7 years? What’s not to love? Vitamin D is highly overrated.

We do plan to resurface on occasion and invite you to join us at the various events we’ll host this fall at our “Tasting Lodge”, the Adirondack Camp-inspired space we’ve created on the Silverado Trail. Consider joining us at our Fall Pickup Party (www.faillawines.com) scheduled for Saturday, October 27 from 10-4, and then head over the hill with us on Sunday for the Artisanal Pinot Noir Grand Tasting at Pinot on the River (www.pinotfestival.com October 26-28, 2007). The following weekend marks the semi-annual Silver Pass Weekend (www.silveradotrail.com) when wineries along the Silverado Trail open their doors for barrel samples, food pairings and library releases. And then the Windy City hosts the next Pinot Days (www.pinotdays.com) tasting November 9th and 10th.

With this release we are pleased to introduce Occidental Ridge Vineyard to our Pinot Noir portfolio. Owned by Richard and Darla Radcliffe, this former apple orchard, planted in 1999 by the legendary Warren Dutton, sits at an elevation of 800 ft directly above the town of Occidental on the east side of the valley. Formerly a chef in San Francisco, Richard is a hands-on grower who has been mentored by vineyard manager Scott Zellar of Summa Vineyard fame. The site is unique in that it faces exactly Northwest. The result is a sort of “sweet spot” of clear, dry, very sunny, breezy days, and cool, clear nights. The acidity of the soil, lack of plentiful water, and sunshine without heat all contribute to the intensity of dark color and spicy aromatics so evident in our 2005 release.

2005 Keefer Ranch, Russian River Valley, Chardonnay (325 cases produced) Ripe by October 5th, the fruit was whole-cluster pressed into French oak barrels, only one-third of which were new for a lean French-style Chardonnay. The wine’s long slow fermentation produced complex aroma combinations of caramel, citrus, green apple and wet stones, the last a classic hallmark of Chablis. Malolactic fermentation balances the wine’s crisp mouth-watering acidity for a lingering finish. This well-structured Chardonnay should still drink well in 4-6 years.

2005 Occidental Ridge, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir (250 cases produced) Harvested in two passes, on the 21st and 27th of September, the fruit is treated to the same “by-hand” regimen as our other Pinots, destemming into open-topped fermenters for daily punch-downs, the most gentle means of flavor and tannin extraction. French oak barrels, one-third new, receive the fermented wine for a full-year of aging. The resulting concentrated nose invites time and attention. Big explosive aromas of red stone fruit and berries like frais de bois give way to subtle wafts of smoke and rose petals. Solid yet smooth tannins create a rich mouthfeel redolent of exotic tea. This powerful pinot should age well for up to 12 years.

2005 Hirsch Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir (100 cases produced) We picked this fruit on the 5th and 6th of October, first the Pommard clone then the Mt. Eden. As always, we destemmed the fruit into open-topped fermenters where it was handled gently with daily manual punch-downs. We then aged the wine in all French oak barrels, one-third of which were new. The dramatic nose is marked by aromas of deep black-fruit liqueur, pomegranate and floral notes. Its dense, rich mouthfeel belays supple tannins that encourage drinking now but also offer structure enough to support cellaring for 7-10 years.

2005 Estate Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, Syrah (125 cases produced) After the fruit was picked on October 27th, 80% was added to open-topped vessels as whole clusters and the rest destemmed, then treated to daily punch-downs throughout fermentation before aging in 40% new French oak. Resting sur-lee until bottling imparts the Estate Syrah with the classic Northern Rhône aroma of black pepper which heads the parade of exotic Silk Road spices, violets and graphite in the nose. Chewy fine-grained tannins create rich palette presence that benefits from decanting. Expect this Syrah to cellar well for 10-15 years.

Spring 2007 Release Newsletter