MARCHMADNESS Looking back on the last harvest of the millennium it proved to be a year to remember, where weather was nothing short of challenging, from bud break in the spring through a late harvest in the fall. This harvest will go down in California's winemaking history as one of the latest and longest, with spring rains and cool weather pushing harvest back four to six weeks. Fortunately, Mother Nature began to cooperate in September with a warming trend, thus ripening our grapes to maturity, despite the lateness of the harvest. Fruit flavors are very intense and colors are unbelievably black. Matt believes the 1999 reds are the best he has experienced, especially the Zinfandels. Winemaker Matt Cline with help from his assistant winemaker Jose Fernandez and Enologist Dawn Sacchetti are formulating the final blends for the 1999 red wine series. Long hours of vigorous tasting are spent on blending trails to determine what wines will be bottled into Cline Cellars' vineyard designated wines and the Ancient Vines program, only the strong will survive. Matt and his winemaking team has managed to complete some of the final blends for our 1999 vintage, including the Ancient Vines Zinfandel and all Los Carneros varietal series (Viognier and Syrah). The 1999 Bridgehead Zinfandel from Contra Costa County will be back in the program after a brief sabbatical from the 1998 vintage. This vineyard exemplifies all qualities for a single vineyard bottling - true varietal character, a distinguished and identifiable aspect where the grape are grown (other known as terrior). They are still diligently working on the Mourvedre and Carignane blends…tough job but someone has to do it. Along with the close watch on the final blends at the winery, Matt is keeping an eye on the upcoming selection for NCAA Basketball Tournament. A proud blue and gold graduate from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in entomology, he is excited about the potential berth for CAL - GO BEARS! While visiting the winery enjoy sampling our award-winning wines. Come visit CLINE CELLARS' beautiful winery, located in the Carneros District in Sonoma Valley.Tours everyday at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m..Call our Tasting Room for a reservation 800/546-2070 or 707/935-4310.Cline Cellars 24737 Hwy. 121, Sonoma, CA Visit Cline Cellars' Distributors Websites Bacchus Importers Ltd. - Maryland and Washington D.C. Martin Scott - New York City Distributor Southern Wines & Spirits - California Vinsouth - Atlanta, Florida, Texas WineAccess The Wine Treasury - United Kingdom Wordens Market and Deli in Missoula, MT Margot-Schmitt - Germany Distributor

2001: a Rhone Odyssey Fourth Annual Rhone Ranger Tasting March 31, 2001 Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason in San Francisco Over 100 member wineries of The Rhone Rangers will be pouring barrel samples and new releases of American Rhone wines. Bread, cheese and foods to compliment the wines will also be presented by Bay Area food purveyors and restaurants. A special highlight of the event is the Silent Auction, featuring many unique, one-of-a-kind lots and large format bottles. This Tasting represents the largest gathering in the world of American Rhone wine producers and has become a not-to-be-missed event for the growing fans of these food-friendly wines TICKETS: $45 in advance and $60 day of event. Call the Fort Mason Box Office at (415) 441-3687, or order on-line visiting the Rhone Ranger website QuestionoftheMonth? What does it mean by old vine? I read it on the back label of a wine bottle. "Old vines" is generally understood to mean a vine that is more than 50 years old and that produces very low yields of grapes per acre. Cline Cellars controls a large amount of vineyards in Contra Costa County where the average age is100 years old. These century old vineyards consist of Mourvedre, Carignane and Zinfandel…now these are that we call old! F.Y.I. Cline Cellars coined the term "ancient vines" since some producer's claim "old vine" on vineyards that in some cases are only 20 years old. Our intention is to only use fruit from vines that are at least 60 years or older. Wine Question? E-mail epcline@sonic.net For Cline Cellars wine reviews visit our Current Accolades page. Check-out The Wine Skinny and ijamming websites for their reviews on Cline Cellar wines.

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