<<

Our History established 1964

1970’s label

1979: LAWRENCE BARGETTO in the

The CHAUCER’S dessert story begins on the banks of Soquel “Her mouth was sweet as or Creek, California. In 1964, president, Lawrence Bargetto, saw say a hand of lying an opportunity to create a new style of made from fresh, in the hay” locally-grown in Santa Cruz County. —THE MILLERS TALE With an abundant supply of local plums, Lawrence decided to make “They fetched him first the sweetest wine from the Santa Rosa Plums growing on the winery property. wine. Then Mead in mazers they combine” Using the skills he learned from his father, he picked the —TALE OF SIR TOPAZ fresh plums into 40 lb. lug boxes and dumped them into the empty W open-top redwood fermentation tanks. Since it was summer, the fer- The above passages were taken from mentation tanks were empty and could be used for this new dessert ’s Canterbury Tales, wine experiment. a great literary achievement filled with rich images of Medieval life in Merry ole’ England. Immediately after the fermentation began, the cellars were filled with the delicate and sensuous aromas of the Santa Rosa Plum. Lawrence Throughout the rhyming tales one had not smelled this aroma in the cellars before and he was exhilarated finds Mead to be enjoyed by com- moner and royalty alike. with the possibilities.

After finishing the fermentation, clarification, stabilization and sweet- ening, he bottled the wine in clear glass to highlight the alluring color of crimson.

While winning award after award for this plum wine, Lawrence de- cided he would try his hand at other fruit including blackberry, , peach, pear, olallieberry, cherry, and honey.

His commitment to quality and perseverance have paid off with the ongoing growth of the CHAUCER'S wines over the decades. e ienc per CHAUCER'S CELLARS, part of the BARGETTO WINERY, has Ex produced gold medal winning dessert-style wines since 1964. These elegant wines are produced from 100% pure fruit or natural honey without the addition of arti- ficial flavors. At CHAUCER’S CELLARS we believe that these delightful wines are as tasty to the palate as Chaucer’s poetry is music to the ears. Mead

RELIVE THE MOMENT Take a step back in time and enjoy the flavors of this popular Medieval Elixir. Our Mead is made TECHNICAL DATA with similar recipes used in Medieval Times.

Honey Sources PURE HONEY TASTE Sierra Nevada Mountains Our Mead is made from fresh honey without the Mountain Wildflower and Sage addition of artificial flavorings, concentrates or

Southern California, artificial colorings. The honey for this specialty Alfalfa and Blossom dessert–style wine is produced in hives throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is composed of a Season blend of four types of honey: orange blossom, May 15 – July 15 mountain wildflower, sage and alfalfa. Each brings a unique quality to the blend and contributes to the Total Acidity in Wine overall complexity of the Mead. 8.3 g/100 mls ENJOY CHILLED OR WITH OUR HOT Residual A Mead for all seasons. Our Mead can be enjoyed 10% by weight chilled by itself or use the organic spices to enjoy the , orange peel and flavors. It is incredibly tasty hot or cold spiced. Paired with 11% an India Pale (IPA), it makes a blissfully bittersweet . Retail Price Pairing Suggestions $16.00/750ml bottle ENJOY ITS NATURAL & RICH FLAVOR Although this w ine exhibits richness similar to a  Serve warm with spices or cold for a summer sipper. fine , it is not fortified and contains only  Enjoy with dried and 11% alcohol. To enjoy the full qualities of this nuts. wine, it should be consumed shortly after purchase.  Serve alongside a pear tart or desserts prepared with nuts.  Enjoy with some cheeses Gold Gold/ having a strong taste (blue North 95 Pts American Beer or aged cheeses). California Competition State Fair

CHAUCER’S CELLARS 3535 North Main Street Soquel, CA 95073 phone: 1.800.422.7438 website: www.chaucerswine.com Raspberry Mead

CRISP, FRUITY AND REFRESHING The flavor of this wine explodes with raspberry TECHNICAL DATA and honeysuckle. The wine is a blend of our Mead and a small portion of our Raspberry Honey Sources Sierras Nevada Mountains Wine. Less sweet than our regular Mead, this Mountain Wildflower & Sage wine finishes with a lingering crisp raspberry Southern California and honeysuckle impression. Alfalfa, Orange Blossom A blend of honey wine and fruit such as Raspberry Source raspberry is known as Melomel. This blend of Driscoll’s, Watsonville, CA fruit and honey has been enjoyed for centuries.

Blend 85% Honey Mead THE FRUIT 15% Raspberry Wine The for this wine are from Driscoll’s Harvest Season berry growers in the Watsonville, CA area. May 15 – July 15 The honey used to make the Mead is a blend of alfalfa, orange blossom, sage and mountain Total Acidity in Wine wildflower collected from our local bee keepers .79 grams/100mls in Northern California.

Residual Sugar 11.2% by weight ENJOY THE NATURAL, FRUIT FLAVORS Alcohol Although this wine exhibits richness similar to 10% Pairing Suggestions a fine liqueur, it is not fortified and contains Retail Price only 10% alcohol. To enjoy the full qualities of  Enjoy with dried fruits and $16.00 / 750 ml this wine, it should be consumed shortly after nuts.  Great with chocolate purchase. mousse and other chocolate desserts.  Enjoy mixed in a cocktail

91 Highly For a great selection of original Points Recommended food and recipes visit California State World Wine chaucerswine.com. Fair Championships/

BTI

CHAUCER’S CELLARS 3535 North Main Street Soquel, CA 95073 phone: 1.800.422.7438 website: www.chaucerswine.com Apricot Wine

NATURALLY RICH & FRUITY Transforming golden rays of sunshine into TECHNICAL DATA edible fruit, the juicy aromas of this ripe apricot Apricot Source wine will take you back into a midsummer’s B & R Farms, Hollister CA dream. Youthful, rich, and golden, pair this mouthwatering wine with the finest of cheeses Harvest Season as the perfect aperitif. June15 – July 15

Total Acidity in Wine THE FRUIT .8 g/100 mls The fruit for this luscious wine was grown in

orchards near Hollister, CA. Alluvial soils from Residual Sugar the San Benito River have created rich soils to 10% by weight allow these apricots to reach maximum flavor development. Warm days and cool nights help Alcohol 10.5% to further develop the distinctive apricot flavors.

Retail Price $17.00/500ml bottle ENJOY THE FLAVORS Although this wine exhibits richness similar to a fine liqueur, it is not fortified and contains only 10.5% alcohol. To enjoy the full qualities of this wine, it should be consumed shortly after purchase. Pairing Suggestions

• Spicy Dishes, Including Indian Food. • BBQ Chicken or Pork • Brie Cheese • Mix up a cocktail. (recipes at www.chaucerswine.com

95pts/Gold California State Fair

CHAUCER’S CELLARS 3535 North Main Street Soquel, CA 95073 phone: 1.800.422.7438 website: www.chaucerswine.com MichaelMichael SonesSones Introducing…Introducing… ourour WinemakerWinemaker

Pomegranate Wine

THE FRUIT The were grown in orchards in the dry, arid portion of the southern San Joaquin Valley of California. The fruit TECHNICAL DATA was delicately pressed without macerating the rinds or seeds. This brilliant, Fruit Source ruby - colored wine disp lays a silky elegance San Joaquin Valley, CA in the flavor profile, punctuated by its

Harvest Season spunky, acidic backbone. October ENJOY THE FLAVORS Total Acidity in Wine This wine is fantastic straight-up and chilled, 1.84 gms/ml paired with a favorite entrée or dessert...or even mixed in a cocktail. As a key flavor Residual Sugar 9.50% by weight component, pomegranate has supplied the giddy-up to a Roy Rogers, the twinkle to a Alcohol Shirley Temple and the flash in a 11.0% Sunrise.

Retail Price For delicious Pomegranate Wine drink $17.00/500ml bottle recipes see www.chaucerswine.com.

Although this wine exhibits richness similar to a fine liqueur, it is not fortified and Pairing Suggestions contains only 11% alcohol. To enjoy the full “...The bouquet is pure qualities of this wine, it should be consumed  Mix up a cocktail (recipes at www.chaucerswine.com) pomegranate. There is shortly after purchase. *Wine may need to be a slight tartness, and  Pairs well with spicy Thai decanted. food, spicy Southwest cuisine, just enough acidity to spicy curry and salads. provide a bit of a *pomegranate wine is a naturally fresh product made with  Enjoy with dried fruits and contrast to the 100% fruit and has a tendency to throw sediment that will nuts. of the fruit.” not affect the quality or the taste of the wine. In this case we  Pairs well with soft cheeses. recommend that the wine be decanted.

89 Pts CA State Fair Wine wine.woot.com Competition

CHAUCER’S CELLARS 3535 North Main Street Soquel, CA 95073 phone: 1.800.422.7438 website: www.chaucerswine.com Blackberry Wine

NATURALLY RICH & FRUITY Our Blackberry wine is made from 100% pure TECHNICAL DATA blackberry varieties. The dark, rich berry aromas leap from the glass. The flavors are reminiscent Blackberry Source of grandma’s blackberry pie. This wine is always Primary California: Gizdich Ranch & a pleasure to be enjoyed with friends and family. Driscolls, Watsonville THE FRUIT Harvest Season The majority of fruit for this elegant wine was June 1 - July 15 grown in an orchard near Watsonville, California - a cool region with seasonal morning Total Acidity in Wine fog during the summer, ideal for the production 1.4 g/100 mls of quality berries. Well-drained, sandy loam Residual Sugar soils along the Pajaro River and Corralitos 10% by weight Creek continue to yield berries with naturally Alcohol high acids and intense flavor. 10.5%

Retail Price ENJOY THE FLAVORS $17.00/500ml bottle Although this wine exhibits richness similar to a fine liqueur, this specialty dessert-style beverage is not fortified and contains only 10.5% alcohol. To enjoy the full qualities of this wine, it should Pairing Suggestions be consumed shortly after purchase.  Pairs well with spicy Thai food, roasted pork tenderloin and spicy brisket, chocolate desserts.  Drink alongside or drizzle over a cheesecake for a rich and delicious dessert.  Great for baking. Make a blackberry pie or cobbler.

Double Gold 90 pts/Gold 92 pts/Silver Fingerlakes World Wine California International Championships/ State Fair BTI

CHAUCER’S CELLARS 3535 North Main Street Soquel, CA 95073 phone: 1.800.422.7438 website: www.chaucerswine.com Raspberry Wine

RICH AND SENSUAL Our Raspberry Wine is like a first kiss, innocent TECHNICAL DATA and impressionable. Made from 100% pure Raspberry Source fruit, there is a clear, light crimson color and Driscoll’s the flavor is bursting with enticing aromas of Watsonville, CA freshly crushed raspberries

Harvest Season THE FRUIT May 15 – November 14 The fruit for this elegant wine was grown in an Total Acidity in Wine orchard near Watsonville, CA – a cool region 1.6 g/100mls with seasonal morning fog during the summer, ideal for the production of quality berries. The Residual Sugar varieties of raspberry grown in this area have a 10% by weight very firm texture and an intense flavor.

Alcohol Well–drained, sandy loam soils along 10 % the Pajaro River and Corralitos Creek yield berries with naturally high acids with adequate Retail Price sugar levels. The cool microclimate near $17.00/500ml bottle Watsonville enables growers to use minimal amounts of water during the growing season to ensuring the delicate character of this fine berry is not lost. Pairing Suggestions ENJOY THE FLAVORS • Pairs well with white fish dishes, This is not fortified and contains only Vietnamese cuisine and 10% alcohol. Hence, this wine should be vegetarian . • Serve with chocolate or consumed shortly after purchase to enjoy its cheesecake for a delicious natural and rich flavor. dessert accompaniment. • Great for baking. Try baking a raspberry chocolate or raspberry muffins. Recipes at: www.chaucerswine.com/recipes Gold 90 Points & Spirits State Fair Magazine

CHAUCER’S CELLARS 3535 North Main Street Soquel, CA 95073 phone: 1.800.422.7438 website: www.chaucerswine.com Renaissance and CHAUCER’S Festivals

TAKE A STEP BACK IN TIME with a glass of CHAUCER’S Mead. CHAUCER’S wines are featured at many Renaissance Festivals and Faires across the United States

Arizona Arizona Renaissance Festival www.royalfaires.com

North Carolina California Carolina Renaissance Festival Big Bear City Renaissance Faire www.royalfaires.com/carolina www.bigbearrenfair.com

Massachusetts Florida King Richards Faire Bay Area Renaissance Faire www.kingrichardsfaire.net/ Mead was a staple www.renaissancefest.com/BARF

Texas Sarasota Medieval Faire of life in www.sarasotamedievalfair.com Texas Renaissance Festival www.texrenfest.com Renaissance and Louisiana Wisconsin Louisiana Renaissance Faire Milwaukee Irish Music Festival www.larf.org Medieval times. http://irishfest.com/Irishfest.htm

Relive the

moment with

CHAUCER’S Mead Honey Wine.

Enjoy a mug of CHAUCER’S Mead at a renaissance festival or faire near you. Our Mead is made from similar recipes used in Medieval times, and one sip will send you back in time. CHAUCER’S CELLARS has In the News been mentioned in many newspapers, magazine articles and T.V. shows.

“Mead A Taste of Honey” “Mead-The Drink of Yesterday Video: CBS Sunday Mornings with No Boundaries For Today” Mead is a popular drink from the Today, kicking their original mar- past finding new life in places keting rules to the side, Chaucer’s like Silicon Valley, where the realized recent success by pitch- honey-based beverage was redis- ing their honeyed beverage as a covered on Sunday Morning. friendly partner to . Creating shaken and stirred reci- pes for each of their libations, Chaucer’s has tapped into a mar- ket beer and wine companies Honestcooking.com CBS Sunday Mornings generally ignore. Nov. 24, 2014 & Sept. 21, 2014 September 2014 –By Annelise McAuliffe, honestcooking.com

The Food Network’s cameras “BARGETTO Returns to and crew visited CHAUCER’S Making Pomegranate” CELLARS to get a glimpse at "There's a lot of interest right now the production of CHAUCER’S in people drinking pomegranate Mead. Our CHAUCER’S Mead . I think because of the health was featured on the national aspect of antioxidants people are television program well aware of eating and drinking “The Secret Life of Honey” things that are good for them. I'm glad we're resurrecting the pome- granate wine." (Michael Sones, Food Network Television Santa Cruz Sentinel BARGETTO WINERY March, April, May 2005 November 2007 Winemaker )

—Kirsten Fairchild, Santa Cruz Sentinel

CHAUCER’S Mead The Baltimore Sun, “...will be a real surprise to anyone who is expecting something intensely sweet and obviously made from honey. In fact, its sugar level is quite restrained and its flavors are not unlike those of a good (not great) Rhine Auslese. The give-away that it is not wine is its lack of acidity– the one deficiency of honey that is particularly hard to correct.” North American Beer Awards 2009, Gold Medal Winner, Judges Comments “Brilliantly clear with nice clarity…soft floral notes…sweet finish with subtle honey notes…very nice!” “Sweet, crisp, fruity aroma…with nice soft flavors…very drinkable.”

CHAUCER’S Raspberry Mead McAuliffe, Annelise. “How to Pair ,” Honestcooking.com, September 2014, A jammy nose sets you up for success with this rosy hon- ey drink. A blend of Chaucer’s Raspberry wine and mead. This will leave a crisp and slightly-sweet impression in your mouth... With a lower alcohol level compared to other meads, this drink is easy to enjoy in the summer sun. Pairing: A tried and true pal to fried chicken and barbecued meats. Passmore, Nick. “Taste of Honey,” usairwaymag.com, November 2013, Our Favorite(s), Raspberry Mead from Chaucer’s Cellars, a rarity among melomels in that you can still taste lovely honey flavors through the assertive raspberry. Drink with fresh raspberries and cream.

CHAUCER’S Raspberry Wine Schneider, Derrick. San Francisco Chronicle, July 2007, “This wine smells and tastes of pure raspberry and has a spine-tingling, mouth- puckering acidity. Though it has a fruit wine’s characteristic residual sugar, this fruit wine sits on the dry end of the spectrum.” Giannatempo, Laura. “A Bottle Full of Raspberries” Fine Cooking Magazine, July 2006, “Made from locally grown berries, this wine is like a fragrant mouthful of raspberries; less sweet than most dessert wines, it has a nice dry finish.”

Raspber ry Decadence Ingred created by: ients for Pie Beth Paiva 1 (4 oz) dark chocolate ba 3 oz cream r, chopped

6 oz butte r 5 large egg S s, room temp S 1/3 c erature E up IPPE sugar I 3/4 cup C C C HAUCER E 'S E 1/ Raspber R 2 cu ry W R p all pur ine p ose flour

Dire ctions for P sug ie. Pre-heat ov ar in a mixer en to 325°. m on high and Grease a 12 elt chocola mix until li inch cake p te, butter an ght yellow, a an, set aside mixture. S d cream to bout 5– 10 m . Put eggs a tir until inco gether. Stir inutes. Wh nd brown rporated. Po in Chaucer’ ile eggs are m ie like cake o ur into cake s Raspberry ixing r cold for a t pan and bak Wine flour ruffle like cak e for about 1 and egg e. hour. Serve warm for a

Ginger Mead Cookies created by: Beth Paiva

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients CELLARS 2 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar CHAUCER’S 1/2 cup butter 1/3 cup molasses ooking with 1/3 tsp. baking soda 2 T. ground c 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. allspice 3/4 cup CHAUCER'S Mead pinch of

Directions Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter and sugar together until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix in molasses. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix in the CHAUCER'S Mead. (should be moist). Add and mix in all dry ingredients, mix until everything is incorpo- rated. Scoop onto a greased sheet pan, and bake for about 16 minutes. Cookies should be slightly firm to the touch when done. Serve warm.

Pom Beach Spritzer

Ingredients 4 oz CHAUCE R’S Pomegranate 1.5 oz club Wine About the Chef soda or sparkling Big sp water lash of a sparkling fr soda esh lime squeeze optional lim e wheel garnish

Beth Paiva studied at the Califor- Directions Combine in gredients in a Co nia Culinary Academy in 2000. screen! llins style glass w ith ice...stir and p Upon graduation, Beth went lease don’t forget your sun-

straight to work at Seascape Re- * recipes are based on single servings a adjusted based nd, of course, we wo sort in Aptos, CA as a Pastry on your taste and/ n't be offended if t or preferred stemwa he ingredient percen Chef. After a year at the resort, re. tages are Beth took a month off to travel Europe and to study European pastries. for MORE great food & drink RECIPES Beth currently works as a cake decorator at Beckman’s Bakery. Visit www.chaucerswine.com 3535 North Main Street Soquel, CA 95073

CHAUCER’S CELLARS part of BARGETTO WINERY

Toll Free: 1.800.422.7438 Fax: 831.475.2664 Website: www.chaucerswine.com

Add a little extra pizzazz to any occasion with our premium fruit wines:

Mead Raspberry Mead Apricot Blackberry Raspberry Pomegranate