2009 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir and Chardonnay Release is coming!

Below is the e-mail that I received from Rivers-Marie today!  This is always a must buy for us as we really enjoy their wines!  Check out the letter, and keep an eye on your Inbox!  This release will have the 2009 wines!

As much as we love these wines, we still haven't touched the last two releases, with the exception of a Sonoma Coast from both the 2007 and 2008 vintage.  Other than that, they have been resting nicely in the cellar as we love these with some bottle time!  This will join those as we get prepared to take all that we're offered!  Cheers!
Dear Jersey Foodies :

The release of our 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs and Chardonnay will begin one week from today, on Tuesday January 18th at 9am Pacific Time. As in the past, this release is via email only. You will receive an email with your username and password as the offer goes live. We did our best to offer a 12 bottle allocation this year, but production levels in '09 were down substantially from '08 and some wines will definitely go fast. The release email will also contain a special announcement. We're always excited to share good news with you and this is something truly exciting.

If you need to change your contact email in advance of the release, please email Nat Gunter at natgunter@riversmarie.com or call 707.963.4270 and we'll be happy to update your information.

Thank you for your support!

Thomas Rivers Brown and Genevieve Marie Welsh

2008 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Popped and poured tonight with sushi and noodle bowls at Tsukasa in Bordentown, NJ.  It seems tradition to pop a Sonoma Coast right after the first of the year as I know the next vintage will be released in just a matter of days.  That said, we did it again, and I am sure the offering for the 2009’s will be coming any day!

Nice red/purple color in the glass, thinning towards the rim and showing its youth.  The nose is big and gorgeous, with nice hints of cherries, cola, spice, and pomegranate.  The nose is rounded out with some vanilla and hints of orange zest.

On the palate, this was tight for the first 30 minutes, but I continued to aerate this in the glass, and it continued to open over the course of an hour and a half while we were at Tsukasa.   Definitely young on the palate, with a combination of both bright cherry, as well as tart cherry.  It sounds crazy, but both elements are there.   Some cranberry and strawberry rear their heads a bit on the palate as well.  There is nice spice on this wine, with hints of nutmeg and baking spice.

The finish has some heat on it, but again, this has only been in the cellar for 11 months now.  The long and short of this wine is that for $25, this could be one of the best QPR’s out there, and a heck of a good representation of a great Sonoma Coast pinot noir.  Year in, year out, this is a solid QPR, and I only wish that we were allocated more of them!  91 points, gaining a point or two with more time in the bottle.  Cheers!

Food and Wine Names 2010 Winemaker of the Year - Thomas Rivers Brown

What is there to say other than well deserved congratulation go to Thomas Rivers Brown! Anyone who reads our blog on a regular basis knows how much we love the wines of "TRB," and this is an absolute honor that is well deserved, as Thomas was named Food and Wine's Winemaker of the Year!
Over the years, we have been following Thomas through many different ventures, and new projects. Some of our favorite wines that Thomas has his hands in include Maybach and Rivers-Marie, which are two of our must buy wines every year! Maybach is his high end cabernet sauvignon, that is absolutely amazing, and will continue to age for 10-20 years and beyond. We started purchasing Maybach with the '05 vintage, and we have enjoyed this wine on several occasions by ourselves, and with friends as well. In my opinion, they even warrant the $100+ price tag!

Our other favorite from Thomas Rivers Brown, is Rivers-Marie. This label was started by Thomas and his wife Genevieve Marie Welsh, and they produce pinot noir, chardonnay, and cabernet sauvignon. They do two offerings a year, with the cabernet being offered in the fall, and the pinot noir being offered in the spring. We actually just placed our order for a half a case of the 2008 cabernet, and we've bought all that we have been offered from their Spring offering for the last 3 years. We started buying these wines with the '06 vintage, and every bottle we open reminds us why we love their wines!

Aside from these two labels, Thomas has some other amazing ventures as well. He has his hands in 15 different projects, and these include Schrader Cellars and Outpost Estate, and these labels speak for themselves. He also has his hands in Two Hands Charlie's Patch, which is another Napa Valley project from the Aussie based winery. Aside from these, he also makes the wine for Michael Chiarello of the Food Network, at Chiarello Vineyards. I can say that the zinfandel he is making there is absolutely amazing, and quite possibly one of my favorite zins, not that we drink enough of it. But Thomas definitely knows zinfandel as his first job out of college was working for zin producer Turley under the hand of Ehran Jordan.

Other labels he has his hands in include Nicholson Ranch, Seaver Vineyards (baseball great Tom Seaver), Diamond Terrace, Policy Vineyards (former 49ers general manager), Bisou Wines, and Tamber Bey. Needless to say, he has an incredible resume, and keeps himself extremely busy! But he is going to get even busier yet as from the looks in the news, he is also now a vineyard owner as well! Stay tuned for that post next! Cheers! -F. Scott

2007 Maybach Family Vineyards - RELEASE ALERT

Today was the day that many, including myself have been waiting for, release day for the 2007 Maybach Family Vineyards Materium Cabernet Sauvignon! There are not that many of what I consider high end cabernet's that we purchase from California anymore, but Maybach is one that just cannot be passed up, especially based on the quality of the 2007 vintage! Information below from: 2007 MAYBACH MATERIUM Weitz Vineyard, Oakville 100% Cabernet Sauvignon 460 cases produced FOURTH RELEASE of Maybach Materium, from a single block of the Weitz Vineyard, which sits at 1000 feet elevation on the eastern hillside of Oakville, a bonded growing area unique in all the world. The vines here struggle to grow among boulders and stones and in shallow soil, giving deep concentration to the fruit. “The sheer size of the 2007 Materium makesit the best Maybach yet. Still, the trademark balance of the Weitz Vineyard is evident, and once again the wine is light on its feet.”— Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown Also released today: 2008 MAYBACH ETERIUM Sonoma Coast Chardonnay - B. Thieriot Vineyard 48 cases produced FROM A HILLSIDE vineyard a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, near Occidental. Burgundian in style, mineral, and floral qualities are met with an undeniably Californian personality rich with notes of stone fruit, pine needles, nuts and citrus. . What is there to say about the wines of Thomas Rivers Brown other than awesome? We're huge fans of his wines, and if there is one big cabernet that I have been holding my breath for, it was this one. Release price on these was $125 this year, with a minimal price increase of $15 per bottle from last years release. Considering how much other wineries are raising their prices, this really is not that bad. . The Eterium chardonnay was released at $78 per bottle, and unfortunately, I had to pass on these for now, but that doesn't mean that I won't go back and get some when the funds become available, if there are still wines available. Time will tell! . But for now, I am happy that I was able to log on and secure my cabernet sauvignon allocation. This is going to be a great vintage, and an amazing wine! I look forward to posting tasting notes on this wine sometime around 2020 ;-) Cheers! -F. Scott

Rivers-Marie Spring 2010 Allocation! 2008 Vintage Wines to be Released

To all of you Rivers-Marie fans out there, today marks the one week countdown to the 2010 Spring Release of the 2008 vintage chardonnay, as well as the 2008 pinot noir. As usual, this is a release that I am really looking forward to, and even with cutting back on purchases in 2010, this is definitely one that I will jump on. I am a HUGE fan of Thomas Rivers Brown, and he is one of my favorite winemakers out there these days. His work and triumphs are many, and the wines he is crafting are outstanding. That being said, here are the notes from the Rivers-Marie Website: The 2008 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay release letter will go out Wednesday January 20th. The offering will consist of 3 bottles each of the Sonoma Coast, Occidental Ridge, Summa and Summa Old Vines and 2 bottles of the B. Thieriot Chardonnay. The prices will remain the same as last year and everyone who received a Cabernet offering in the fall will receive this offer. Winter 2010 We feel pretty fortunate to be releasing 2008 Sonoma Coast wines. After avoiding a wicked spring frost and the worst smoke taint in recent memory in the fall, making the wine was the easy part. We did deal with some pretty intense heat at the tail end of the growing season but the closer the vineyard was to the coast, the better it handled it. We began harvesting September 5th (the earliest since 2004) and finished with Summa Old Vines end of September. The mention of the 2004 vintage is apt here both as a comment on the weather and the characteristics of the wines. The verve and nervosity that existed in those wines early is present in the 2008s. They are certainly tightly wound now but the textbook sappy mid palate is present. There’s not much talk about this vintage right now. It seems to be lost in the afterglow of 2007. Whereas those wines were approachable young with all of their structure underneath the baby fat, the 2008s begin with their backbone and will take some time to round out, not dissimilar to the 2004s. For us, it’s definitely a more red/orange fruit focused year and acidities across the board are a bit higher than 2006 and 2007. We are still in a wait and see mode for the 2009s. About half the lots are finished with ML, racked and sulfured with the other half dry and in various stages of ML completion. We can say as usual the Summa Old Vines lot looks strong with its usual kaleidoscopic aromatics and very broad palate. The other early front runner is a new vineyard for us, Silver Eagle, which comes courtesy of Ulises Valdez. The bad news is that the quantity of potential vineyard designate lots is off by at least 50% in all cases. We’ll know more as the wines develop but it’s looking like it could be a Sonoma Coast heavy allocation next year. For this release we’ve gone back to charging for shipping though at a heavily discounted rate. To make things simple, we’ve scaled it down to $2 a bottle ground for CA and OR and $3 a bottle ground for everywhere else we can ship. 2 day air will be $4 a bottle mainland-wide and $5 a bottle to HI and AK. Unfortunately there’s not enough margin on $25 Pinot to offer free shipping but we will return to that with the 2008 Cabernet offer in early fall. This offer will be open through February 19th but we do have some concern about how long the wines will last once released, especially the Chardonnay. Everything should stick around for at least a week but with allocations being an inexact science it’s hard to say for sure. We anticipate shipping beginning February 22nd weather permitting. As in the past, if you have a magnum request please forward it in a separate e mail at riversmarie@sbcglobal.net. Now for the wines: 2008 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 225 cases, 13.8% alcohol, 25% new French oak This is the $25 Pinot we first set out to make. Combining all the Willow Creek, the two youngest blocks of Summa and two barrels from Occidental Ridge, the 2008 Sonoma Coast captures everything we love about the fruit from Occidental. It’s already the most aromatically complete of the bunch jumping out of the glass with sassafras, pine needles, orange peel and a light floral note. Whereas the 2007 version was the drinker of the vintage, the 2008 may take a little time to unwind unless it’s given ample air. It’s always a snapshot into what the vintage holds and this shows the higher toned nature of the year perfectly. 2008 Rivers-Marie Occidental Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 225 cases, 14.4% alcohol, 40% new French oak Our one offering from the east side of Occidental, this wine is always a study in contrast. It’s the warmest site but it has the highest acid. It has the longest growing season but the lowest pH. The fruit here gets riper than any other site but the wine features the greatest quantity of fruit tannin. These are the things now four years into it that make this site special. The wine has a seamlessness to it right now that the other three Pinots in this offering don’t have. It’s the most mouth coating of the bunch as well with a bigness that is buffered nicely by its 3.5 pH. Being on the border of Sonoma Coast and Russian River it features qualities of both retaining a sour cherry coastal flavor while flirting with blacker fruits of a more plummy nature. 2008 Rivers-Marie Summa Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 200 cases, 14.1% alcohol, 60% new French oak We continue to be impressed by the evolution of this block within Summa Vineyard. You can always taste the kinship between this wine and its old vine sibling but now there’s a firm identity present here. The regular Summa bottling shows mineral notes, pomegranate, red/orange fruit peel, forest floor like the Old Vines but this wine is deeper, denser and rounder. It has a mid-palate sappiness to it that we shoot for in all our wines, a trait we’ve come to love in great Burgundies. There’s more generosity in this wine right now and like the Occidental Ridge bottling might be the wine to open first in 2008. 2008 Rivers-Marie Summa Old Vines Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 175 cases, 13.0% alcohol, 100% new French oak The most focused wine of the 2008 vintage, the Summa Old Vines tastes like a wine that has been fully realized. As we said above, there is similarity between the two Summa bottlings but the Old Vines has a broader palate due, we assume, to vine age. This is always a wine to contemplate and the 2008 is no different. Beginning with notes of white and red flowers, orange peel, licorice and kirsch, the nose has an ethereal quality that makes Pinot Noir so seductive. There’s a big mid palate acid blast that more than balances the brooding nature of the wine. The acidity helps to flesh out the finish and give the wine its verve. We like the tautness of the wine right now but there’s no doubt it will age gracefully and add some sweetness as it develops. 2008 Rivers-Marie B. Thieriot Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 126 cases, 13.5% alcohol, 70% new French oak Without talking overall quality, we simply did a better job of making this wine in 2008. The raw material and potential quality of the two vintages was very similar. Though instead of treating the 2008 as one lot, we monitored every barrel as individual wines to make sure we could track fermentation completion as it happened. In hindsight I believe our lack of this approach for the 2007 allowed too much of that wine to sit unsulfured for way too long. The 2008 has a strong acid spine and features a more green-gold color and a freshness to the palate that the 2007 is missing. Otherwise the notes are very similar between the two vintages: lime blossoms, Meyer lemon, wet stones, lightly toasted hazelnuts and a hint of white chocolate at the end. There is more persistence to the finish of this wine than any other wine we’ve ever made. The 2007 seemed like a wine that would require patience, the 2008 definitely will. Thank you once again for all the support and for making what we love to do possible. Thomas Rivers Brown and Genevieve Marie Welsh Once again, this is a release that I am really looking forward to, and from the sounds of it, the wines will once again be killer! They may take a little longer in the bottle to come around, but once they do, I am willing to bet they will magnificent. That being said, gie them a try and let me know what you think! Cheers!

2007 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Now here is a wine that I have been dying to try since I placed my order this time last year, and it has been hard to wait this long, but I figured the wait from their arrival last March would be worth it. Needless to say, it was indeed! If I didn’t have a few more of these young babies sleeping in the cellar, I would probably be a little hesitant to pop one, but with a few more, it is always fun to try a wine in its infant stages. We have not had many ’07 pinot noir yet, and this is by far the best that we have had. Popped and poured tonight with sushi at Wasabi in Mount Lauren, NJ, this had a gorgeous dark purple ruby color in the glass. Absolutely gorgeous. We let it “decant” in the glass for a good 20 minutes as we were waiting for others to show up, and from just 2 feet away, you could smell it’s enormous nose. Tons of jammy cherries on the nose, with subtle hints of raspberry and citrus notes. There were also hints of vanilla and spice, which I attribute to the oak used on this wine. On the palate, the first glass almost seemed a bit thin and was disappointed. I drank about ½ of the glass, and refilled, and wow what a different. I have no idea why the first glass may have been so thin, but the refill was nothing at all like the first, and boy what a pleasure it was. This wine is BIG, with lots of nice fruit that I did not find over-ripe, or candied in the least. More HUGE cherry, strawberry, and raspberry notes that exploded in your mouth. At $25 a bottle, this is by far one of the best pinot noir I have had in this price range. You can tell that TRB put some heart and soul into this wine, and he really does know these grapes, and knows how to make something beautiful from them. The finish was as pleasant as pleasant can be, with a mild acidity, the perfect amount of tannin, and next to no heat at all. This bottle was really in a great place, and I look forward to the rest. One thing I will note is that there was a ton of sediment in this bottle, but it didn’t show until there was next to nothing in the bottom of my glass, and this is no worry whatsoever. All in all, a great pinot for the money that I would love to find some more of. Gorgeous and worthy of 92 points. Cheers!