Safe from the Fire

First off, thank you to everyone who inquired about us during these horrible fires. With the vineyard in Lodi, the vines are fine. However, as many of you know, we do our winemaking in Napa, at Fontanella Family Winery’s facilities. We are indebted to the tireless efforts of the Fontanella team and the firefighters of Napa who saved the facility from these flames that were literally just thousands of feet away.

Secondly, we encourage those who can to make a donation to http://www.napavalleycf.org/supporting-napa-county-fire-relief-efforts/. Our thoughts are with those directly impacted by the fires.  Photo by Jeff Fontanella.

Summer Newsletter

Happy Summer! We have many updates from the vineyard and winery to share with you.  As always, thank you for your support of our family winery!
Vineyard Update
It’s been an “interesting” Spring and early start to Summer.  The Spring season saw relatively cool temperatures, with vigorous vine growth due to the extensive ground moisture from the drought ending rains of Winter.  Then, on June 11, a rare hailstorm was observed in parts of Lodi.  By contrast, just one week later on June 18, extreme temperatures over 105 degrees were recorded, beginning a heatwave that continues as I write this.  As a result, we have taken careful steps to manage the vine canopy to ensure better coverage for the west side of the vines but still opening up the vine for enhanced airflow. Veraison is now just around the corner when we will see the first color of this year’s fruit.

2016 Rosé – SOLD OUT
Thanks to overwhelming interest by all of you, we are completely sold out of our 2016 Rosé. For those interested in receiving an allocation next year, please remember that priority is given to those that buy a case or more of our flagship Zinfandel. While we are looking to increase production of the Rosé for 2017, it will still be in the “tens” of cases, so please make sure you stay alert when we open up pre-orders early next year.

2016 Petite Sirah
Last month, Kian and I barrel tasted our inaugural Petite Sirah vintage, and we can’t adequately describe how excited we are!  Harvested in September 2016, the wine demonstrates the deep color, rich tannins, and the fruity, blueberry notes you would expect from a PS. Like the Rosé, we expect this to sell out immediately.  Priority purchasing is given to those folks who purchase a case or more of the Zinfandel.  We will provide more details as we approach bottling in 2018.

2014 Zinfandel Awarded Double Gold by San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competiton

We are proud to announce that the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition has awarded our 2014 Mikami Vineyards Zinfandel a Double Gold Medal.  The largest and most prestigious wine competition in the United States, the SF Chronicle Competition tasted more than 7,000 entries from around the country.

This brings us now our 5th Gold Medal or better award over the past 6 years, and our 3rd Double Gold or Best of Class among those years.  Please let us know ASAP if you would like an order of the 2014.

Our recent San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition results for our vintages:

• 2014 – Double Gold
• 2013 – Double Gold
• 2012 – Gold
• 2010 – Best of Class
• 2009 – Gold

Wine Enthusiast Awards 2013 Zinfandel 90 Points

We are excited to announce that our 2013 Zinfandel has been rated 90 points by Wine Enthusiast. Together with our Double Gold Medal from the San Francisco Chronicle Competition, our Zinfandel continues its tradition of being well loved by both our customers and by the “experts.”

As you know, our aim with our startup is to produce wine that honors our family.  We are lucky to have the support from all of you that pushes us to make the very best wine possible each year.  Thank you!

The full tasting report for the wine can be read here.

Inaugural Rosé Released (And Sold Out)

We have released the first vintage of our Mikami Vineyards Rosé!

In 2008, we released our first Zinfandel, which would go on to earn multiple Gold Medals, 90+ point scores, and extremely loyal fans like you. Now 8 years later, we have our second wine and hope everyone enjoys this wine as much.

In keeping with our singular focus on quality, the 2015 Rosé was a minuscule first release, enabling us to manage every excruciating detail of the wine.  Contact with the skin lasted 3 days, giving this first vintage a unique, darker hue for a Rosé.  Fermentation took place in a neutral barrel with aging in stainless steel.  The result was a delicious, fully dry Rosé. Here’s Kian’s tasting notes:

Deep, brilliant dark pink color.  A lively, vibrant nose of raspberry and pomegranate aromatics, with subtle cinnamon spice notes. This wine is wonderfully refreshing on the palate, with balanced acidity that compliments the red fruit flavors beautifully; it finishes with a crisp, long finish. A versatile wine that will compliment many dishes.

Unfortunately, all of the Rosé is SOLD OUT until our 2016, which will be released in March of 2017.

As always, thank you for your support!

2013 Zinfandel named Double Gold winner at 2016 SF Chronicle Competition

For the 4th time in the past 5 years, our flagship Zinfandel has been recognized by the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.  This year, the 2013 Zinfandel won the honor of Double Gold.

As noted by Randy Caparoso, writer for the Lodi Wine Commission the SOMM Journal, “When you taste this Zinfandel, you understand why the discriminating San Francisco Chronicles judges have consistently loved this vineyard: it yields a voluminous red wine – bursting at the seams with classic Lodi style Zinfandel perfumes of strawberry, Bing cherry and black tea – yet remains even keeled and velvety in its medium-full bodied weight.”  For additional information, please see Randy’s complete article here.

We are currently shipping the 2013 so if you would like to purchase, please email us ASAP as we have limited inventory.

Here is the list of Gold or better awards from this competition over the past 5 years:

• 2013 – Double Gold
• 2012 – Gold
• 2010 – Best of Class, Zinfandel
• 2009 – Gold