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2380 visitors
| Longboard vineyards started as the journey of a surfer who stumbled into a winemaking career and wished to close a circle and pay homage to what he finds important in life. This little wine producer has evolved, growing organically, and in 2006 became a partnership between three individuals who, between them, have close to 60 years of experience with the premium wine industry. | Healdsburg, CA
Phone: (707) 433-3473
Website: http://www.longboardvineyards.com
Appellation: Russian River Valley
Tasting Room: Open Daily, except Tuesdays from 11 to 7
Map to Longboard Vineyards
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Syrah
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2004 Syrah - Dakine Vineyard
Russian River Valley
DaKine is a Hawaiian Pidgin word that means "the best". Need we say more? This special Syrah is traditionally farmed by hand, producing a true field blend. After harvest, all grape ... mores are crushed then fermented in the same tank with a blend of Zinfandel for spiciness, Malbec for deep berry notes, Petite Syrah for structured tannins, and Carignane and Grenache to bring out earthiness. This is a wine that honors the simple life, and is meant to be shared with closest friends and family. Or, the occasional attractive stranger, of course.
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Syrah
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2004 Syrah
Russian River
The 2004 vintage in the Russian River Valley was is remembered as one that delivered a small crop of high quality grapes. The vines budded very early and heat spikes in mid summer ... moreassured the crop ripened well with ample natural acidity. Grapes from Jim Ledbetter’s Preston Ranch Vineyard, a hillside vineyard overlooking the Russian River, make about 40% of this wine. Grapes from Scott Kerson’s vineyard on Fitch mountain, Vino Farm’s Silk Road Vineyard and Jeff Webber’s ranch on Chalk Hill Road make up the rest.
This release of the RRV Syrah shows an inviting minty note that blends into the dark berry character as the wine opens up in the glass. A wild fennel spiciness leads to a lush, velvety mid-palate and reappears on the long finish. As with all the wines of Longboard, the point of this wine is to strike a balance of components that delivers a complex and layered experience that is true to the variety and the growing season.
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Cabernet Sauvignon
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2005 Cabernet Sauvignon - Redgrav Vineyard
Alexander Valley
Dennis Delamontanya owns and farms this little vineyard just north of the town of Healdsburg. A lone Gravenstein apple tree still stands on the property. This Cabernet explodes wit ... moreh dark berry aromas and a spicy fennel note. An ensemble of blueberry, plum and lightly toasted oak flavors finish with a touch of vanilla and cassis. This wine reminds us why we loved Cabernet to begin with.
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Cabernet Sauvignon
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2005 Cabernet Sauvignon - Rochioi Vineyard
Russian River Valley
This little hillside vineyard was planted by the Rochioli family in the 1960s. The vines are planted to St. George roostock, producing tiny berries full of flavor. At release, the ... morewine displayed a lovely aroma of blueberries and violets layered with light hazelnut and vanilla. The wine finishes with a long black currant and spicy note. The acidity in the wine is just enough to balance the sweet tannins, ensuring it will age gracefully for many years.
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Merlot
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2005 Merlot - Dakine Vineyard
Russian River Valley
DaKine Vineyard, is nestled at the bottom of an east-facing hill on Westside Road in Healdsburg. The vineyard's original owner obtained budwood from the “3 Palms” Merlot vineya ... morerd in Napa Valley and planted 3 acres on AXR1 rootstock in 1988. In addition, ¾ acre of Malbec was established. In 1995 three more acres of Chardonnay (on 5C rootstock) were budded over to Merlot (unknown clone). In 2005, Oded bought the property from Mondavi/Arrowood and began farming the grapes. This is the first vintage Longboard made from these grapes.
“DaKine” (pronounced Dah-kine) comes from the Pidgin Hawaiian language and is often used to describe a great event. Unlike most Merlots destined to be blended into other wines, we decided this vineyard makes a wine that is superb by itself. The 2005 DaKine Merlot is lush with vanilla and blueberry aromas that lead to a generous mid-palate of full and sweet tannins, soy and dark chocolate flavors. The finish is long and slightly spicy, we believe it will age well in the next 7 years.
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Pinot Noir
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2006 Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley
More than any other variety, Pinot Noir is a wine that speaks for itself once it reaches your palate. Our 2006 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is a great example of a wine crafted ... morefrom perfect fruit. When grown with care, Pinot Noir in our region delivers a great balance of fruity and earthy aromas and flavors packaged in a velvety mouth feel. This wine is a mix of three clones of Pinot Noir grown in two vineyards. We pick the fruit when flavors are well developed but before any raisining or extremely high sugar levels show up. The fruit was picked at night in the O’neel vineyard and early in the morning at the Wholer vineyard. The grapes where destemmed and put into open-top tanks for fermentation. We pressed the wines as soon as the fermentation completed and racked them into French oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation completed in the winter of 2007, after which the wines were allowed to age and develop tertiary flavors on the light lees of fermentation.
Rose petal, plum, and slight bergamot aromas lead on the nose of this wine, a promise of what is to come with the first sip. On the palate, the wine starts with a cherry note and follows with wild berry flavors. The f
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Sauvignon Blanc
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2006 Sauvignon Blanc
Russian River Valley
The 2006 growing season in the Russian River Valley was as schizophrenic as they come… As farmers, we tend to always complain about the weather and this year gave us a lot to com ... moreplain about! The season began with a late budbreak followed by rain during early bloom and overall, very cool growing conditions. The crop levels were high, causing a need to go into the vineyard and thin crop (this means throwing fruit to the ground) at least three times before the grapes ripened. Choosing the right time to pick grapes in 2006 reminded me of trying to choose the right wave to paddle into after a major storm in the pacific (one leading to a close-out wave and inevitable wipeout and the other to an exhilarating tube trip). Enjoy the ride!
The 2006 Longboard Sauvignon Blanc fruit comes from two vineyards: 8.5% from the Delamontanya Vineyard and 91.5% from the O’Neel Vineyard. The wine displays peach and honeysuckle aromas and delivers a mouthful of fresh, crisp pear and apple flavors. The balanced acidity ensures the wine will match well with a variety of foods ranging from Dungeness Crab cakes to Thai dishes.
The grapes for this wine were pressed whole-cluster (without
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Updated on December 10, 2007
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