FALL 2022
wine club newsletter
Dear friends and family, A glass of Zinfandel and smokey BBQ, what could be better? In our early days of winemaking, we navigated towards big, bold Zinfandels that paired well with many great cuisines. Sextant became known for producing world-class Zins using a similar Old World Italian tradition of blending in Petite Sirah, which adds another layer of color, tannin, and body. Our spin is the addition of Syrah, accentuating the wine with great aroma, bold fruit, and inky color. The history of Zinfandel began in Eastern Europe, which the Croatians called Crljenak Kaštelanski. The variety was brought to America and planted by Italian farmers, some of who inter-planted with Petite Sirah (a variety thought to have come from France). Today Zinfandel is hailed as California’s heritage grape, a quintessentially American phenomenon. We love sharing our favorite Zins this time of year, and we recommend serving them at cellar temperature with Italian foods and great BBQ. Our team is excited and set to begin harvest, our earliest on record. Things are moving along quickly in the vineyard following long days and high temperatures, and our team has manicured the vines to perfection before the ripening season. Our fruit set was very healthy, and Winemaker Alex Frost has high hopes for the 2022 vintage. In other news, we are thrilled to announce the highly-anticipated release of Sextant Astrolabe. This stunning Bordeaux-Rhone-influenced wine is artisanally blended from our reserve estate-grown Syrah and Cabernet hillside blocks in Paso Robles. We look forward to releasing it exclusively to our wine club members later this year. We invite you to sit back and enjoy the wines in this shipment. Until then, we hope to see you in our tasting rooms soon. Cheers,
Nancy & Craig Stoller