A Comprehensive Tasting with Winemaker & Farmer Guy Davis of Davis Family Vineyards

Location: TasteLive Homepage & Davis Family Vineyards, Healdsburg, CA

Time: 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM PST

Detail:

Davis Family Vineyards ~ Creating Small-Lot Handcrafted Wines & Bringing New Meaning “Extended Family”

The team at TasteLive first met winemaker and farmer Guy Davis of Davis Family Vineyards through our good friend Ziggy, The Wine Gal back a couple years ago at one of her superb “house parties” in Sonoma County. We’ll never forget when she pulled us aside from a carnivorous pack of guests circling the BBQ ribs platter and said, “You’ve got to taste Guy Davis’ estate Zinfandel.”

That was it for us — we’ve been fans of Davis Family Vineyards ever since. Oh, you should know before you get too excited: the Old Vine Zinfandel is made from vines planted in 1896 on the family’s ridge top estate in the Russian River Valley, so they only make a handful of barrels each vintage, and most years only enough bottles for their wine club members. Of course, the solution to access is pretty clear, right?

Fast-forward to a few weeks ago: Guy sent us an email letting us know that he had a promotional program he’s developed that has taken on a life of its own. You see, “Davis” is the 6^th most common surname in the United States, so each year dozens of visitors to the tasting room and at special events would say, “Hey, I’m a Davis, too.”

Guy’s entrepreneurial instinct kicked in and he started the “Hey, I’m a Davis, too!” club with a host of special benefits. It took off, and now he’s expanding the program through Social Media outreach and adding contests that will include hosting wines for winning Davis family reunions and select charity events. If you know any “Davis” friends, share the word and stay close to them, because Guy has made it clear that, “Adoption is not an option.” [Insert smile.]

In his email, Guy also said that he wanted to engage with TasteLive to help reach more of the Davis Clan, as well as introduce his earth-friendly, small-lot wines to a new generation of influencers in today’s wine culture, i.e., wine bloggers. Far be it from us to get in the way of a good plan that calls for tasting fine wines from a great winemaker and sharing the news with our friends. Let’s get to it…

The Wines of Davis Family Vineyards

Though it’s true that Guy focuses on creating small-lot wines sourced from the family’s organically farmed estate — and select vineyards owned by a few close friends — which can be scarce like his Old Vine Zinfandel, there is good news. He’s one of those rare winemakers who consistently makes great wines from a wide-range of varietals. From Riesling to Chardonnay (and rosé) to a handful of Pinot Noirs to Cabernet Sauvignon to an estate Syrah that is one of the finest examples of the grape, in our opinion, out of California.

Guy has also dislayed a deft hand at blending, with his 2008 Cuvée Luke (49% Roussanne, 37% Marsanne, and 14% Viognier) awarded top honors at the California State Wine Competition with 94 points, Best of Class and Best of Region. His Barn D’Or, a Cab/Syrah blend, continues to win accolades and consistently making “Best Buy” lists.

As you can imagine, choosing a selection of just six wines for the Davis Family Vineyards’ inaugural TasteLive event was challenging, especially from a winemaker and farmer with innate desire to share his wines and break bread with everyone he meets. But he did it, with just a little emphasis on his 2009 new releases of Pinot Noir from the family’s Russian River Valley Estate.

So we invite you to join us on Thursday, October 27^th at 6:00pm PT, as we taste through the wines with Guy and our TasteLive blogger panel, and discuss his deeply passionate and hands-on farming and winemaking practices.

Guy, can we please reconsider the adoption issue?

Davis Family Vineyards Featured Wines

2009 Cuvée Luke, Sierra Foothills  $26 (new release link coming soon)

2008 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley Estate  $36

2009 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley Estate  $40 (new release link coming soon)

2009 Pinot Noir, Sole Patch, Russian River Valley Estate  $42 (new release link coming soon)

2008 Syrah, Russian River Valley Estate, Guyzer Block  $38

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley  $50