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January 2018

Crystal Basin Cellars Renegade Rag

Upcoming Events: Visit www.crystalbasin.com At Crystal Basin for event details and updates!

1/13 Goofy Hat Day! - We ‘See Food’ and We Eat It! Winter is seafood We skip February because the focus is on hearts, roses Prizes for Best Hats! season at Crystal and chocolate, but we’re coming back in March with Basin! Why? a ROAR. Customers from far and wide absolutely 1/27-1/28 We’re not exactly LOVE our Oysterfest event – it will be held this year on Crab & Cab! sure why, but we March 17th – St. Patrick’s Day. We hear tales of a Olde Fashioned love the stuff in legend where St. Patrick chased all of the oysters out Crab Feed all of its forms of Ireland way back when, so it is very lucky that we so maybe it are able celebration this historic extinction event on 2/17-2/19 doesn’t matter the very day of this birth. Dead Presidents too much. We all miss the Hate seafood? Need an epi-pen to enjoy that stuff? Weekend- Trade Bistro food that We’re hosting Pastafest on March 31st for more terra- Prez Pics for ! featured the bound fare. We’re going to be pairing traditional fruits of the sea: Italian specialties with our Italian – , 2/24 Carson Road Shrimp Tacos, Thai Shrimp Curry and that great Sangiovese, Primitivo and Pinot Grigio. - Bring out Salmon for Friday night dinner specials. Never fear, the Day! we have devised couple of ways to extend that warm and fuzzy feeling about the flavors we all 3/17 CBC’s Birthday Bash! miss a lot. OYSTER FEST We kick off our See Food Season in a Crabby way 3/31 Pasta Fest – with our annual two-day Crab Feed that we host on the last two weekend days in January. This Celebrate year – January 27th and 28th, we host “Crab and All Things Italian! Cab” for the third year. We are blessed with repeat visitors who fill the tables with good cheer, eat around 3 pounds of crab per person and go home with a bottle of our 2014 . Check other stuff on our Speaking of cheer, we ask each table to make schedule at up a ‘table cheer’ on the spot and share it with all www.crystalbasin.com the attendees at full volume! Then, our judges panel awards the Best Cheer award to the winners. Nothing like a little friendly competition to warm up In This Issue: the crowd! Best of all, in This we’ll see Chef Lisa make Upcoming Events...... 1 guest appearances We “See Food” and We Eat It!...... 1 Shipment on those evenings to get the flavors for the 2018’s Winter Wine Club Releases!.. 2 RENEGADE ASCENDANCE pasta and the feeling Vertical Integration – aka Farming... 2 right. Book your spot 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 at the table soon! What New Wine Should We Make?.. 2 2014 2015 Xpealidocious 2015 Sangiovese

Winery & Tasting Room 3550 Carson Road • Camino, CA 95709 530-647-1767 11am - 5pm daily Page 2 Renegade Rag

Camino To Lake Carson Rd. Tahoe 2018 Winter Wine Club! Cold nights and hearty meals set the stage for the big, flavorful wines included in your 2018 Winter Wine Release. Whether it’s a thick stew with beef and winter veggies, a pot roast or an ample serving of a cheesy lasagna, these Cedar wines will grace your table or make you a valued guest at a winter dinner party. We think that the 2014 wines will Grove be best in the next couple of years, as they have been in the bottle now for 21 months after being aged in Camino Exit for 18 months. The 2015 Sangiovese is a bright wine that tends to require less aging and can make a Wednesday Carson Rd. Exit Exit night dinner on a cold night something to remember! From Placerville 2014 Cabernet Franc - This Bordeaux is literally the ‘daddy’ of Cabernet Sauvignon. We think it tends to be blended into other wines a bit too much for the flavor and quality level it delivers. The two we use are Crystal Basin Cellars planted on decomposed granite soil with the resulting flavors favoring violets, rose petal and black cherries. Our 3550 Carson Road version is a customer favorite and you can use it to create converts – then bring ‘em up to Crystal Basin Camino, CA 95709 and we’ll seal the deal! Retail $28 Wine Club $22.40 530 647-1767 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon - Cab Sauvignon is the most widely planted red wine grape in the world and El www.crystalbasin.com Dorado County is no exception. The soils in our region don’t impart much and we don’t use acid additions in our . Add in neutral barrels that don’t impart flavors and you have an amazing 100% fruit signature. These aspects combine to create a soft, fruity and approachable Cabernet Sauvignon that we think shows off the best of the grape growing capabilities of our region. Retail $28 Wine Club $22.40 2015 Sangiovese - The Sangiovese grape is world-renown for creating the famous wines from central we know as . El Dorado County seems to have the perfect weather and soil conditions to coax the best flavors from this slightly finicky grape. Featuring a burst of natural acidity and a bright cherry aspect on the finish, this is made to complement your favorite pasta dish! Retail $32 Wine Club $25.60

2018 Ascendance Winter Wine Club! Coming in February 2015 Pinot Noir - We offer up this flavorful gem to those folks who are naysayers about Pinot Noir in the foothills. We are here to report a rousing success in creating classic cool-weather Pinot flavors from the soils and climate of a warm-weather region! Who’d a thunk? With a warm nose smelling faintly of cremini mushrooms and a distinct cherry-cough drop fruit signature, this wine will wow even the most hardened Pinot aficionados. The 2016 was smoke affected and the Georgetown bears ate the 2017 – So enjoy the 2015’s - it’ll be awhile before there’s more! Retail $50 Wine Club $40 2015 Xpealidocious - Our high spots at Crystal Basin are creativity and making great wines from El Dorado . These ‘core competencies’ collide in the best way possible in the creation of our Super Californian wine Xpealidocious. (say it fast) It’s a non-traditional mix of Petite Sirah, , , Cabernet Franc and Zin. No, we didn’t run out of stuff to put in it, we got to the perfect blend and quit. We won’t presume to tell you when or how to drink it – but pull this out when the situation calls for the best guns you’ve got! Retail $50 Wine Club $40

Remember - you can always Double Down on your club shipments and take home 3 more bottles for another $50 (Renegade Club) or 2 more bottles for $50 more (Ascendance Club)!

Vertical Integration! No, we’re not putting second story on our old building. 2018 is the year that our Farming Operations start at the Happy Valley we will be leasing this year. We are at the final stages of putting together our farming plan so that we continue to get amazingly high-quality grapes from the Sauber Vineyard. Risky? A bit. Whacky? Yup. Some of our most beloved and prize-winning grapes have come from this vineyard including Sangiovese, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. We want this grape source to continue providing amazing fruit for our so we can maintain our high quality levels. Wish us luck and Pray for Rain!

What Wine Would You Like Crystal Basin Cellars to Make? This year, we have a couple of vineyard owners asking us what grapes to plant! Interesting. Answer: How the #$@ do we know? Our customers drive the boat in terms of demand. So, we’re interested in hearing what wine YOU would be interested in buying and enjoying if we could get the grapes. Chime in on Facebook or via email or just tell us when you are tasting! Aim high! Don’t be afraid to ask for Charbono if you want Charbono. Just sayin’…

Check out other stuff we’re doing at www.carsonroadwineries.com