Husch Vineyards/Anderson Valley Paradise

This is Husch Vineyards and Anderson Valley at it's best!We will start out by checking out the tasting notes and select history for this pioneer winery.Husch Vineyards is a small, family owned and operated winery. It is the oldest winery in the Anderson Valley appellation, located in Mendocino County (Northern California) just 2 1/2 hours north of San Francisco. Under the direction of 3rd generation family members Husch produces 22 different wines , of which six are distributed nationally. Small lots of special wines are available exclusively at our tasting room, a converted pony barn dating back to the late 1800s. Quality is the key word at Husch: in the vineyards, in our winemaking and in our friendly customer service. It all starts in the vineyard. Our wines are made from grapes grown on vineyards managed by the winery, allowing us to bring consistent, high-quality fruit to the bottle. Our winemaking team pays careful attention to the fruit as it comes off the vine at harvest. All grapes are hand-harvested. Using specific clonal selections and yeast strains allows us to consistently produce world-class estate bottled wines from vintage to vintage. The friendly and knowledgeable tasting room staff strives to make your visit to Anderson Valley memorable. With our long farming heritage, Husch wines showcase the fruit in each bottle and reflect a true commitment to quality and value.In the world of wine making, the keys to success are the grapes and people that you work with. Thus the land, climate, and farming input are the most important factors for making high quality wines. Having been pear and grape farmers for three generations prior to purchasing the winery in 1979, our family already understood the most important aspect of wine making. Here at Husch Vineyards, our wines are an extension of our farming heritage, amazing Mendocino terroir, and dedicated work force. 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Since the Anderson Valley is not warm enough to grow world-class Cabernet Sauvignon, we have always grown our fruit further inland--at La Ribera Vineyards--where the cooling ocean fog is less common. We reserve the most rocky and alluvial soils at this location for our Cabernet. The vines struggle in this setting, resulting in low yields of grapes with exceptional flavor. 2011 was a challenging yet rewarding vintage for Mendocino. Springtime was cool and wet with rains that carried into June. The resulting crop was smaller than average, but one with excellent flavor development and vibrantly bold color. To best capture the varietal character, we de-stemmed and crushed each hand-picked cluster into temperature controlled stainless steel fermentation tanks and the resulting wine was then aged in a mixture of French and American oak barrels (25% new) for a 16-month maturation period. Finally, we blended from four different clonal selections (4, 6, 21, and 337) to find the perfect balance point that highlights the true nature of Mendocino Cabernet Sauvignon. Our 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon is a Mendocino classic. From the first swirl, this wine opens with lovely aromatics of black cherry, black berry, crème de cassis, earth, and fresh herbs. These notes gracefully introduce the rich and enticing palate with layers of bright berry fruits, and well-integrated tannins. A great wine to enjoy on its own, or a perfect match with pepper-encrusted steak, pot roast, or aged English cheddar. 2011 'Reserve' Cabernet Sauvignon Husch’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon represents an “only the best” approach to winemaking. We carefully select the barrels, the fruit lots and winemaking approach to yield the best possible Cabernet. In some years the wine doesn’t meet our highest expectation and we simply skip the vintage. When we do bottle a Reserve Cabernet you can always expect a wine with intense fruit, soft tannins, great balance and plenty of structure for aging. 2011 was a cooler year where we went from spring to fall without much of a summer. The mild summer forced a slower ripening and allowed for greater hang time. The resulting grapes showed a wonderful balance between flavor, sugar and acid. Our Cabernet blocks are planted to clonal selections 4, 6, 21, and 337. In order to make the best wine we can, each clone is fermented and aged individually, allowing us to understand each component and blend to the perfect balance point. A kiss of Merlot was also blended to fill in the mid-palate and provide a wine that has interest from start to finish. Our 2011 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon has complexity that intrigues the senses. Layered with enticing aromas of mulberry, cassis, mocha, earth, vanilla and spice, it is hard to keep your nose out of the glass. Wonderful fruit flavors and silky tannins make the wine a joy to drink. Consider pairing with Beef Wellington, BBQ Brisket, or dark chocolate. A great wine for the cellar! Click here and join us,we saved you a seat. Click here and grab a glass as we are now tasting the CabSav Reserve from Husch Vineyards.