|
|
|
The Toad Hollow Gazette
Since 1983
"All the News That's Hoppinin' in The Hollow"
1996, Issue 5
Toad Hollow, CA -- Looking back over this past year's success, with
September just days away, it's hard to believe harvest has begun, and another season will
produce yet another vintage of our much-awaited Toad Hollow Chardonnay!
The future remains bright and full of promise. Though we lamented rain and frost in May,
thus realizing a loss of forty percent in Francine's Vineyard, the grape quality is
excellent.
This year has been one of firsts for us here in the Hollow. It started off with our
first offering of a non-vintage proprietary red blend called, appropriately, Apropos.
Next came the opportunity to create a dry rosé -- a Pinot Noir rebesh with a splash of
Syrah -- sequiturily called the Eye of the Toad. Then, with perfect
timing (April Fool's Day) the 1995 Chardonnay was released. All three wines were extremely
well-received, not only by you, our much appreciated wine friends, but by wine writers
across the country.
Diane Teitelbaum, The Dallas Morning News, said of the Chardonnay,
"Delicious and well-balanced;" and of the Rosé, "Clean berry flavors are
brilliant on the tongue."
Jerry Mead, Mead on Wine, picked Apropos as his Best Wine Buy
of the Week, describing it with, "Big, bold, spicy, black fruit, long on plum and
blackberry flavors." (92 points!)
Dan Berger, Berger's Vintage Experience, describes the Rosé
as having, "Orange peel and Asian spiced tea aromas and a long, very dry
finish."
Bill Stephens, San Antonio Express-News, in his Food and Wine article writes
of the Apropos that it, " ... is a field blend of primarily Rhône
varietals with big blackberry and plum flavors. Let it breathe, and it gets a lot better
than its $10 price tag."
Robert Lawrence Balzer, from an article in Outlook, writes, "You have but
to inhale the wondrously complex bouquet of Eye of the Toad Rosé to
realize there is a fine breed behind this cuvée ... " and, " ... knowledgeable
wine lovers will declare [it] to be nothing short of great!"
The National Retailer Wine Panel gathered by The Beverage & Food Dynamics
magazine rated the 1995 Toad Hollow Chardonnay Five Stars (*****
Top-flight wine, superior in taste and character and providing an outstanding price /
value relationship), "Refreshing and youthful, bone dry with citrus fruit notes of
lemon and grapefruit."
We thank you one and all!
September will be the month of release for the Apropos - Lot 62 (1996 - 2nd offering),
a true Rhône blend of 76% Mourvedre, 17% Carignane, and 7% Syrah. We finally found a
rhythm -- now, each and every September will see some variation on the red blend theme --
guaranteed to be the best and always unique. Starting out the new year will be the Eye of
the Toad Dry Rosé, with release planned for late January, timed as a perfect Valentine's
Day celebration wine. The climactic annual April 1st release of the Chardonnay seems like
a long way off.
Amazingly, we've been out here for over a year and a half, and Mrs. Badger (Dancing
Badger's wife, of course) has done an incredible job of transforming the grounds around
our office house. Besides the resident rose bush, there are more roses, lavender and
verbena, as well as natural grasses, all of it replete with butterflies and (we're
sure) a growing population of toads.
Throughout the year, we've had the pleasure of meeting many of you as you visit the
wine country. We thank you for taking the time to come out to the ranch, marvel at the
vigorous year-old Merlot vineyard, then gaze wistfully with us as we envision the Pinot
Noir acreage to be planted next spring. We always have time to sit and sip one of the
wines that maybe you haven't had a chance to experience yet. As always, we must ask that
you please call in advance to make an appointment.
|
