Cederquist Wine Company was founded by long time winemaker Dan Cederquist. He started his winery career at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and then was head winemaker at De Loach Vineyards in Santa Rosa for many years and more recently started making his own wine. His first vintage was released in 2002. His focus is to make high quality red wines from both Sonoma and Napa counties. Initially his winery was known in the wine industry as a “garagist” winery where his garage in Calistoga was actually a bonded winery. More recently he moved to the Napa/Sonoma county line in the Mayacamas Mountains and has planted his own vineyards on site.
As of the time of this review, all his fruit is sourced from very high end vineyards along the Russian River area in Sonoma County and from a Diamond Mountain vineyard in Napa. Unlike other new vintners to the industry who source fruit where they can get it, Cederquist has a long history in the industry and as a result has formed contacts with several very high end growers. In addition, Cederquist walks the vineyards, checks the soil type, determines when to pick and has a say in the actual vineyard management. His Pinot noir is sourced from some of the best real estate in the Russian River area.
His philosophy with Pinot noir is to make a wine from this varietal that is not overly extracted, rather it is more light bodied and can easily be consumed without food. Natural yeast is used during the fermentation. It is a wine that is very representative of its specific soil type. We tried the 2006 Starfish vintage; it is a light colored Pinot noir made from two clones, each of which brings a specific component to the wine. This wine is a pleasure to drink and is full of cherry and raspberry flavors. A Zinfandel and a Diamond Mountain sourced Cabernet Sauvignon will be released in the next few years. Right now their production is around several hundred cases of each varietal but may grow slightly.
Cederquist uses a very unique cork which totally eliminates cork taint. These corks called “DIAM” are made by OENEO Closures out of Napa and are an excellent option for those wineries who want stay away from screw caps while continuing to use corks for their wine. These corks are made from real cork but are treated with a specific process that totally eliminates TCA which is the abbreviation for the primary chemical compound which causes cork taint. You can find their wines locally at Calmart Supermarket in Calistoga. Additionally the high-end resort Solage, and the restaurant Brannans in Calistoga also carry their wine.
NOTE: This review has been archived.
REASON: All non Napa wines – wines not made in Napa County
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