Check out the SF Vintner's Market at Ft. Mason April 10-11 (& get $10 off!)

We will be pouring at the Vintner's Market in San Francisco at Fort Mason on April 10th and 11th.  This is really a first of its kind event. Not only is it a massive wine tasting of over 200 wineries but you can buy any of the wines on the spot.  The "try it , buy it" model makes a lot of sense and I can see this becoming a really popular trend.  This is a great opportunity to taste some small production stuff (like Prime)

Super blogger Alder Yarrow writes about it here or go to the Vintner's Market site here.    Tickets are 25 bucks (but wait, there's more!) use this link to get a $10 discount: http://sfvintnersmarket.eventbrite.com/?discount=10bucksoff

Check it out and come by our table for a taste!

Sights from Coombsville

Today, as you can see from the close up, is what I'm officially calling budbreak at our Midoriya Hills Vineyard. Now visible are the tender pink Cab buds just emerging for the 2010 season. I love the fact that the Cabernet Sauvignon is already taking off, it really shows how unique this site is. This early (normal for this vineyard)budbreak means more days in the growing season before the fruit is ripe. Usually this translates to higher quality, and in this case some great color too!

These are the prunings from 2009's vine growth. Removing last year's growth assures the best conditions for this year's crop. Without pruning you get a bush. A bush will overly shade the fruit and cause the vine to spend too much energy making vegetation. We want all the focus to be on the grapes. Pic of the California state flower just for fun.

PRIME scores a 93 in Wine Enthusiast!

February's issue of the Enthusiast included a great review of our 2006 PRIME "District 4" Cabernet. As per West Coast Editor Steve Heimoff:

A beautiful Cabernet that gives a nod to Bordeaux in its earthy dryness and moderate alcohol. There are plenty of blackberries, cherries and currants, but also notes of violets, mushrooms and herbs that make it complex. Fresh acidity and thick tannins provide structure to this wine, which comes from the cooler districts of Oakville and Coombsville. Now–2014. - S.H. (1/31/2010) - 93

We have already had a great response from across the country, thanks to everyone that has looked us up!

Used Shippers?

Okay, perhaps some of you may have noticed that we have shipped you wine in old, worn, often with Styrofoam and messy looking cardboard wine shippers. Here's the story:

We looked for good alternatives to standard, landfill filling shippers and there are not many out there. The ones we found were so expensive it didn't make sense to buy them. At some point over a glass or two of Chardonnay it came to us to seek out people that have shippers that they don't want anymore.

Lucky for us there are plenty of members of various wine clubs out there that are now saving shippers for us. We even had an offer from the good people at Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine to save all their wine packaging for us. We've started adding stickers explaining whats going on (see pic)

The point is we are re-using these terrible shippers to keep them out of landfills and back in the service of safely getting wine to your door. I hope that this can become a trend in the industry, remember that Styrofoam can't be recycled so lets keep them in service.

If you have shippers to donate email us at: info@primenapa.com

Happy New Year!

A happy new year to all. 2009 was a great year for PRIME,(OK, economy issues aside) we made many new contacts got terrific placements and met some truly great people.

It amazes me how great our customers can be. We are very thankful for those people that have tried the wine and taken it upon themselves to spread the word to their friends and coworkers. Its your support that keeps the wine flowing...

Winery Update-All wines were laid down for a tasting and photo op. Unoffically, the end of the year is also the end of the winemaking season. Today marks the last day of the Malolactic fermentations for us at Prime. The Cabs have been done for several weeks but the last Chardonnay just finished up today. Actually, the PRIME Chard was arrested (SO2 added to prevent ML) but we did a small lot of full blown, new oak, full ML Chardonnay for a charity auction and that's what just finished.

Today I also tasted the '08 and '09 Cabernets. I was really amazed with the tannin levels in the '09 wines. They are babies, but way more tannin than I expected. Should age really well. The '08s are almost ready to go at this point. Very smooth and supple with great flavors. I think these are going to be some of the best wines yet. Only time will tell...

Forbes Mill Steakhouse Primes up

This week I had the pleasure of meeting up with Erin Shipp, wine buyer and sommelier at Forbes Mill in Danville. Forbes Mill is a beautiful steakhouse now in the space that I used to know as Tony Romas back in the day. I stumbled across an article in the examiner, apparently their sliders are excellent.

Erin is a delightful and extremely knowledgeable Certified Sommelier. It was great to get to talk wine with her and get some insight on how wine service works at her restaurant. Luckily, Erin liked what PRIME had going on and agreed put the D4 Cabernet on the list (and apparently secretly at the bar by the glass, if you know the secret handshake).

Erin really liked the D4 Chardonnay as well. In fact, she gave the wine some of the best compliments I could hope for. "Unfortunately, she said, I can't buy it." Funny thing about a steakhouse: they sell mostly red wine. Up to 97% red she figured. Well maybe we'll try again when the weather warms up...