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Newsletter 0700 T HE Gold Medal Wine Club Newsletter: Vol. 10 No. 7 Atlerra and Moss Creek Wineries Edition Special AALTERRALTERRA Double MMOSSOSSCCREEKREEKKKEEPSEEPS WWINEINEOOFFERSFFERSNNAPAAPA Edition FFOCUSOCUS ON ONSSMALLMALL NOBILITYOBILITY AT ATMODESTODESTPRICERICE PRODUCTIONRODUCTION,HIGHIGHQUALITYUALITY N M P ALTERRA P ,H Q WINERY Page 1 “Why?” “Who says it has to be done If there was ever a sure thing in a MOSS CREEK this way?” “Has anyone tried it this way?” WINERY start-up winery, George and Ann “It will probably work better if . .” You Page 1 Moskowite’s Moss Creek Winery might be it. “We will always be a small winery,” can almost hear David Coleman’s brain THIS MONTH’S churning away, questioning, testing the WINES states owner George Moskowite. “We Page 2 conventional wisdom, wanting to find want to run a hands-on business and ensure a high quality product each year.” The another way. To the people who know SPOTLIGHT PROFILES Page 3 plan, George revealed, is to keep overall David Coleman, that’s typically the way he production under 3,000 cases per year approaches just about everything. To the WINE WIZARD Page 6 and no more than 1,000 cases will be wine industry, known to be somewhat produced of any one wine. Not that stodgy and conventional, that kind of ARE YOU OUT OF staying small and hands-on will ensure thinking borders on blasphemy. YOUR CORKIN’ MIND?! success, but the rest of the story may Page 5 convince you that these two have nothing Why do you have to have wine labels but upside potential. that are white and square and nondescript? FOOD FOR THOUGHT Page 10 Why do you have to grow your own The Moskowite Ranch in Napa Valley grapes to make great wine? Why do you JUDGE-THE-WINES is long and rich in family tradition. Four Page 11 have to be an enologist to make great generations of Moskowites have called this wine? The answer to these and many other REORDERS Napa ranch their home since the early Page 12 questions David has asked along the way 1900s. In 1917, George’s great grandfather, is “You don’t.” William Moskowite, moved to northern California from New York. Back east he David’s first foray into the wine trained as a medical doctor, but was then industry was while he worked as a graphic lured to California’s promise of wide-open designer for a Santa Rosa ad agency. He spaces and cheap land. After a brief stay in was in the right place at the right time San Francisco where he and his brother opened up one of the city’s first five and when he bumped into Dick Arrowood, “With Gold Medal Wine Club, dime stores, William headed north to owner of Chateau St. Jean Winery. “I asked The Road to Great Wine Begins at Your Door.” Sonoma’s untouched territory. him if he needed any design work done,” www.goldmedalwine.com Continued on Page 8 Continued on Page 6 1-800-266-8888 Gold Medal Wine Club • 3463 State Street # 280 • Santa Barbara • California • 93105 Page 1 Gold Medal Wine Club features two wines each month from only the best small wineries of California. Featured wines include those which have earned medals in the top wine-industry competitions or have been highly rated by a respected national wine publication. On occasion we feature a wine which is of high medal-quality, but due to its very limited availability or by preference of the wine producer, may not be submitted to these venues for review. Each and every selection is a superb wine made in small quantities and with limited distribution. There are over 1,000 wineries in California producing thousands of different wines. Only wines fitting the above criteria are considered in choosing the featured selections each month. 1997 CABERNET SAUVIGNON 1996 CHARDONNAY A Gold Medal Wine Club exclusive offering! The 1997 vintage in California and especially Napa Valley is widely considered to be one of the best vintages of the 90s. The long warm, sunny days and warm nights allowed the fruit to develop to a full, unhurried maturity. Rich vanillin oak, sweet currants and a touch of loamy spice combine nicely Estate grown and crafted by one of the country’s most in both the deep, carefully respected winemakers, Nils Venge. Crisp with notes of focused aromas and creamy marshmallow, pineapple, honeydew melon, honeysuckle, well-filled flavors of this and Fuji-apple combine to create an exotic array of mellow generous Cabernet. Its fruit aromas and flavors. Round, firm, clean and compact in flavors present a neatly the mouth, the wine has a good sense of weight and overall layered mix of fruit, oak richness without ever wandering off. The finish is smooth and spice that create a and pleasant. The Moss Creek Chardonnay is tank fermented picture of polish and focus without malolactic fermentation. Barrel aging for 12 in the mouth. Deep flavored months in French oak allows for complexity to come from and supple, low in tannins the oak without dominating the wine. This allows the delicate and a long finish with an aftertaste of ripe varietal fruit varietal and vineyard characteristics of the Chardonnay that goes on and on. A Napa Valley Cabernet this good to be the focal point of this wine. Characteristic with and at this kind of value is virtually unheard of these days. mountain fruit, this still shows as a young wine and is 100% Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. beginning to open up beautifully in the bottle. Low Production Alert! Low Production Alert! WINE CREDENTIAL HIGHLIGHTS 1997 VINTAGE: Gold Medal Special Selection—Exclusive 1996 VINTAGE: Gold Medal Special Selection—Due to very offering to members of the Gold Medal Wine Club and low production and availability, the winery has chosen not visitors to the winery tasting room. Due to the exclusivity to enter this wine into competitions. and extremely low production, this wine was not sent to LEGACY: Moss Creek Winery has chosen Gold Medal competitions. Wine Club to showcase their inaugural Chardonnay LEGACY: This is a new wine offering produced strictly for release. the winery tasting room and select wholesale customers of the winery. Just the facts: Just the facts: pH . 3.45 pH . 3.45 Total Acid . .76 g/100 mls Total Acid . .64 g/100 mls Alcohol . 13.8% Alcohol . 13.95% Cases Produced . 840 Cases Produced . 824 Aged in French & American Oak . 24 Months Aged in French Oak . 12 Months Drink Now or Up to Year. 2008 Drink Now or Up to Year . 2002 1-800-266-8888 Gold Medal Wine Club Page 2 GGOLDOLD MMEDALEDAL SSPOTLIGHTPOTLIGHT Ayn & David Coleman Ann & George Some winemakers come to their profession out Moskowite of a passion for wine, some come about as a part of a family tradition, others find the occupation to be the One thing that is clear is that the Moskowites are culmination of a life-long dream, and then there is a hard-working, high-achieving family. George’s great David Coleman. The founder of Adler Fels came grandfather amassed a land fortune building his sheep to the wine business out of a love of design, of machinery, and a simple curiosity about the process of winemaking. It began in 1971 when David, who had graduated from M.I.T. with a Chemical Engineering degree and a design degree from the prestigious Pratt Institute and Parsons School of Design, moved to Santa Rosa, California to be the creative director of a small advertising agency. Prior to this fortuitous move, David had designed furniture, first in Chicago and then in Laguna Beach. He found the jobs boring and felt that the agency might provide the creative freedom and challenge he was looking for. The agency was smack dab in the middle of wine country so it didn’t take long to land a few winery accounts. It was here that David designed his first wine labels. Skilled at creating innovative bottle art that utilized a The Moskowite Family in front of the stone bridge on their property. (George, Ann, 5-year-old revolutionary Madison, and Crystal, the winery dog.) new die cutting and cattle empire. George’s Dad put the land to and foil stamping work in creative ways, he added vineyards, leased Continued on Page 4 land for a hunting camp, built an airstrip, constructed a full-fledged winery facility, and carved caves out of the mountainside. Harold also established a restaurant and bar down the road, where he would tend bar after working on the ranch all day. And as if that wasn’t enough, Harold was also a skilled heavy equipment operator, working as a contractor in addition to overseeing the ranch. Winery owners, Ayn and David Coleman have been crafting Continued on Page 5 award-winning wines for over 20 years. 1-800-266-8888 Gold Medal Wine Club Page 3 Coleman—Continued from Page 3 Ayn supported the idea and before of life, David and Ayn found process, he soon gained a loyal long they had created architectural themselves either tearing down and following. Building on David’s plans for their new winery. rebuilding, or remodeling to make reputation, the agency flourished, way for more winery space. With For the next couple of years capitalizing on the niche business of each passing year, this frenetic pace David worked at the agency and wine packaging design. His success continued as production evolved in this field captured international attention, and over the next seven years he produced scores of award-winning wine labels.
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