Fall Wine Selection
Reminder: We keep notes on special requests and requirements, so some of these wines may be different in your personal shipment.
Lily Hays Wines – 2020 “Gramay” Gamay Noir
Toast to Family
Lily Hays Wines “Gramay” Gamay is rooted in family, tradition, and celebration - and it will absolutely be on my Thanksgiving table. It’s the only wine Lily makes, a singular and deeply personal tribute to her grandmother Ada, who she calls “the raddest woman I’ve ever known.” If Thanksgiving to you is about family, memories, and raising a glass to the people who shaped you - this is the bottle. Light-bodied and super bright with snappy red fruits, it should glide effortlessly through the feast - turkey, ham, green bean casserole, and yes, the stuffing. Oh, the stuffing… But honestly, it might be even better with the next-day leftovers sandwich.
Fate’s Lieutenant – Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard
Lazy Afternoon with a Good Book
Winemaker Jeff Wooledge crafted a classic Santa Maria Pinot Noir from historic Bien Nacido vineyard. Named after a line from Moby-Dick, Fate’s Lieutenant is the wine you open when life calms down for a minute. Think lazy afternoon, cold outside, couch claimed, book in hand - maybe it’s a classic, maybe it’s a science fiction novel, doesn’t matter as long as it’s a book that draws you in. Allows you to disappear into it and lose track of time. I’m thinking the first week or two of January, holidays behind us, and spring is still just a rumor.
All my means are sane, my motive and my object mad.
Perluca Montepulciano - Massimo Barbieri
March Madness Game Night Wine
This is the wine you open when the game’s on, the volume’s up, and people are already yelling at the refs before the first commercial break. Perluca Montepulciano has perfect game-day energy - bold and beautiful enough for meatball subs and pepperoni pizza, smooth enough to keep pouring until the final buzzer. It’s the official answer to “what do we drink when the food is not for the faint of heart and we need Saint Mary’s to beat Gonzaga to win the bracket?”
Rustic, generous, and fully built to stand out amidst the chaos. This is the wine to pair with comfort food, loud friends and family, and everyone pretending they’re a college basketball expert.
Geaux Tigers! LSU!
Kleemeier – 2024 Aligoté
California Spiny Lobster and Kleemeier Aligoté
Aligoté is Burgundy’s other white grape - the bright, brilliant cousin of Chardonnay - lean, electric, and basically born to hang out with anything that came out of the ocean. Think Madeline Kahn in Blazing Saddles - glamorous, razor sharp, slips in and steals every scene without even trying.
Axel Kleemeier takes that seaside French energy and runs it straight through Santa Barbara - saline, citrusy, alive. I wait all year for California spiny lobster season - traps dropping in early October and the heartbreak when it ends in March. Lobster fresh off the grill? This is the wine I want in hand.
No lobster? No problem. Oysters, spot prawns, sea urchin, anything still tasting like the tide - Aligoté has got you.
Would you like another schnitzengruben?
Wandering Roots – 2023 Syrah
Wandering Roots Syrah and Winter Solstice
This is a wine best paired with big bowls of chili, an outdoor fireplace, heavy blankets, dogs watching the darkness, and the friends we didn’t just cross paths with - but kept. The ones we met by chance and held onto by choice. The ones who already know the story and laugh before the punchline.
An inaugural release from Meghan Sanders - one barrel, J&K Vineyard - and she nails it right out of the gate. I’m already looking forward to what comes next. If you ever get the chance to meet her, you’ll know she is someone special. This wine is special. This bottle belongs to any night when friends gather, stay late, and the warmth comes from more than the fire.
This bottle holds more than wine; it holds the rhythm of that night, the pulse of the earth, and the kind of friendship that only deepens with time. – Meghan Sanders, Winemaker
Kessler-Haak – 2018 Petite Syrah
Velvet, Vinyl & Petite Sirah
This wine pairs with an evening that refuses to be rushed.
The kind of night where dinner doesn’t have a start time. Braised short ribs that have been in the oven so long, you forgot who put them in. Jazz on vinyl – Coltrane, Miles, maybe Stan Getz - the kind that turns back time to another era. Wear that blue velvet jacket you pull out of the closet for holiday parties.
Petite Syrah is inky. Bold. A serious wine that spends years in barrel and bottle before it’s ready. It belongs with a night that doesn’t have a start time. A conversation no one tries to shorten. Maybe cigars. Maybe dark chocolate. Maybe the version of Hamlet with Denzel, or go darker and watch Nosferatu - something winter-dark, orchestral, stylish. This is a wine for nights that reward slowness.
Midnight Cellars – 2020 Petit Verdot Synnöve
Synnöve & Klaus
Every winter, we watch Christmas movies as a family. I may have mentioned it in past wine club shipments, but Klaus has quickly become one of our favorites. Movie on, everyone piled on the couch, fire in the hearth, TV trays unfolded - no formality whatsoever. Just comfort.
French onion soup and grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches - simple, perfect, nothing fussy, just delicious.
Synnöve Petit Verdot from Midnight Cellars is the bottle we open for nights just like this -rich, relaxing, and exactly right for a movie night.
Good food. A great Christmas movie. Family traditions. A fantastic bottle of wine. Sometimes that’s everything.
Ugh. Do I have to? That sounds like something involving effort.
Paix Sur Terre – 2024 Peace on Earth Vermentino
Vermentino & The Feast of the Seven Fishes
Christmas Eve, Italian-style (when we feel like going all in)
We don’t do the Feast of the Seven Fishes every year - but when we do, it’s an event. And before anyone asks - no, it’s not strict or formal. Just family, friends, food, and that electric feeling that Christmas has officially arrived.
Melissa’s version might include oysters, tuna sashimi, grilled shrimp, pasta with clams, and maybe we finish with cioppino. It’s a lot of food. It definitely helps that I’m married to a chef, and cooking happens to be her love language.
Paix Sur Terre Vermentino is made for nights like this - celebratory, luminous, and effortlessly joyful. The winery’s name literally means Peace on Earth - how much more Christmassy can you get?
Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.
Just make sure Uncle Lee doesn’t drive his car into the house.
Epiphany – 2021 Marsanne
Epiphany & Marsanne
January 6 - King Cake, Cajun roots, and the start of Mardi Gras season
For Chef Melissa, who grew up French Cajun in Louisiana, January 6th - Epiphany - is the official start of King Cake season. It’s considered bad luck to have King Cake before that day. It comes with rules, traditions, and strong opinions… but mostly, it’s just downright delicious.
I never really thought about pairing wine with King Cake, but why not? And what better than a Marsanne literally called Epiphany? Marsanne is a white grape from the Northern Rhône, often blended with Roussanne or Viognier. You don’t see many single-varietal Marsannes in Santa Barbara, which is one reason I’m so excited about this one. It’s golden, round, quietly festive - a winter white with a little sunshine in it - and a perfect match for the buttery, spiced richness of King Cake.
King Cake, nothing like it
King Cake, gotta try it
King Cake, from New Orleans
Bocce Ball – “Good Kisser” Chardonnay
A Fun and Flirtatious Gift
A classic California oaked Chardonnay - named for the “kiss” in bocce, and because this wine is literally kissed by oak. It’s a fun, flirtatious gift, but make no mistake, it’s also the real deal.
Adorn it with mistletoe at Christmas. Carry it into a New Year’s Eve party with midnight already on your mind. Hand it to your Valentine before a romantic dinner. It winks, but it holds its weight. Matt Kettman gave it 91 points, and that’s no lip service.
Bocce Ball – Cabernet Sauvignon
Bocce Ball Cabernet Sauvignon & National Chocolate Day
January 27 - Chocolate Fondue Night
There are a lot of questionable national holidays — and yes, “National Chocolate Day” on January 27th is definitely one of them. But this one? We celebrate anyway.
Bocce Ball Cabernet Sauvignon is a big, dark, unapologetically jammy Cab. I like to say it is juicy like good neighborhood gossip - juicy like neighborhood gossip you didn’t ask to hear but definitely aren’t leaving the room for. And it is ridiculously good with real chocolate. Not polite little chocolates. I mean gooey, truffle, fudge, sticky, Willy Wonka chocolate. The kind you lean back in your chair for.
But I am thinking chocolate fondue. Real molten chocolate - in a pot, warm, glossy, ready for dunking. Strawberries. Marshmallows. Salted pretzels if you’re wild. Lean back in your chair. Don’t apologize. National Chocolate Day. Bocce Ball Cabernet. Fondue. That’s the whole event. You’re welcome.
Bocce Ball – 2023 Volo Shot Super Tuscan
Bocce Ball Super Tuscan & The Quiet Sunday
The Sunday before the Super Bowl is one of the quietest Sundays of winter. No kickoff. No noise. Maybe some basketball or hockey in the background - but nothing that demands your attention. Just an open evening and the perfect excuse to actually cook.
Bocce Ball Volo Shot Super Tuscan is built for this kind of night. The kind where the pasta and the red sauce are made from scratch, the table is set, and the soundtrack is Frank, Dean, Tony… If you’re cooking, you’re singing. The best is yet to come and won't that be fine...50% Sangiovese. 50% Cabernet Sauvignon. 18 months in oak. Structured. Soulful. Powerful. The label alone turns heads before the cork is even pulled. It pours like the wedding scene in The Godfather - elegant, layered, low-key legendary.
The food? Handmade pasta. Freshly shaved Parmigiano from Cailoux. Maybe braised beef. Olive oil from Global Gardens. Bread from Baker’s Table. And when the plates are cleared? Maybe we open another bottle and watch The Godfather.
That’s an offer you can’t refuse…
La Lieff – 2021 “Valkerie” Grenache-Syrah
The Valkyrie - an evening made for Solvang in winter
La Lieff named this wine Valkyrie after the figures of Norse myth who rode between worlds, choosing who would rise again. It feels exactly right for Solvang in January - the evenings cold, the streets quiet, that time of year when the air carries more Denmark than California. A Grenache–Syrah blend from Gretchen Lieff’s estate, Alamo Creek Ranch, located in a small, pristine valley against the rugged edge of the Los Padres National Forest.
This wine calls for lamb searing in the Dutch oven before noon - onions, garlic, and rosemary from the garden. Root vegetables from Finley Farms. Warm sourdough on the counter. Maybe roasted mushrooms on the side.
Makes me want to watch Apocalypse Now.
I love the smell of napalm in the morning.