Happy Holidays

 

Wishing you Happy Holidays and a Merry New Year.

(A Christmas Circular Letter) By Robert Frost
 
The city had withdrawn into itself
And left at last the country to the country;
When between whirls of snow not come to lie
And whirls of foliage not yet laid, there drove
A stranger to our yard, who looked the city,
Yet did in country fashion in that there
He sat and waited till he drew us out
A-buttoning coats to ask him who he was.
He proved to be the city come again
To look for something it had left behind
And could not do without and keep its Christmas.
He asked if I would sell my Christmas trees;
My woods—the young fir balsams like a place
Where houses all are churches and have spires.
I hadn’t thought of them as Christmas Trees.
I doubt if I was tempted for a moment
To sell them off their feet to go in cars
And leave the slope behind the house all bare,
Where the sun shines now no warmer than the moon.
I’d hate to have them know it if I was.
Yet more I’d hate to hold my trees except
As others hold theirs or refuse for them,
Beyond the time of profitable growth,
The trial by market everything must come to.
I dallied so much with the thought of selling.
Then whether from mistaken courtesy
And fear of seeming short of speech, or whether
From hope of hearing good of what was mine, I said,
“There aren’t enough to be worth while.”
“I could soon tell how many they would cut,
You let me look them over.”
 
                                                     “You could look.
But don’t expect I’m going to let you have them.”
Pasture they spring in, some in clumps too close
That lop each other of boughs, but not a few
Quite solitary and having equal boughs
All round and round. The latter he nodded “Yes” to,
Or paused to say beneath some lovelier one,
With a buyer’s moderation, “That would do.”
I thought so too, but wasn’t there to say so.
We climbed the pasture on the south, crossed over,
And came down on the north. He said, “A thousand.”
 
“A thousand Christmas trees!—at what apiece?”
 
He felt some need of softening that to me:
“A thousand trees would come to thirty dollars.”
 
Then I was certain I had never meant
To let him have them. Never show surprise!
But thirty dollars seemed so small beside
The extent of pasture I should strip, three cents
(For that was all they figured out apiece),
Three cents so small beside the dollar friends
I should be writing to within the hour
Would pay in cities for good trees like those,
Regular vestry-trees whole Sunday Schools
Could hang enough on to pick off enough.
A thousand Christmas trees I didn’t know I had!
Worth three cents more to give away than sell,
As may be shown by a simple calculation.
Too bad I couldn’t lay one in a letter.
I can’t help wishing I could send you one,
In wishing you herewith a Merry Christmas.
 

Crazy Good Vibes

 

As the 2022 harvest slowly comes to an end, the only thing we feel that we can say is that there are crazy good vibes. True, the end of harvest is always bittersweet -- We will miss the simple promise of a new vintage, and the sweet and musky scents of fermentation in the mornings, but the wines of 2022 are taught, succulent, and voluptuous, and we could not be more excited.

Visit us soon to taste the new vintage.

 

We are proud to introduce Silvano "Trino" Herrera as Crosby Roamann's Cellar Master. Trino has worked with us off and on for the past three years, only matriculating to maître de chai for the 2022 harvest season. Trino has been instrumental in growing our wine program, establishing new winery protocols, and overall improving the quality of the winery's trajectory.

We are amped to have him.

 

Sell the house. Sell the car. Sell the kids. This is a not to be missed event. Organized on extremely short notice ... Like most of the best things we do. We will be pouring a vertical of Sauvignon Blanc and some splashes of Chardonnay from large format (pictured at top).

$50/person. Members free.

If you cannot make it, we will miss you. If you can, RSVP below. Space is limited.

Saturday

November 5, 2022

4-7 pm

 

 

 

Harvest Update 2022

Harvest Update

What a whirlwind, crazy summer it has been! Exciting and challenging but full of joy. Tending to grapes is a year-round process, but it all comes to fruition this time of year:  Harvest season is when the whole Napa Valley really comes alive, and like the rest of the valley, the Crosby Roamann family harvest is fully underway.

Mostly cooler temperatures prevailed throughout the early summer, only to become blistering last week, forcing us to bring in as much fruit as possible in a very short period of time. To date, we have harvested all three vineyards of Pinot Noir from Sonoma County, as well as Sauvignon Blanc from our Estate Vineyard in Napa Valley, Chardonnay from Laoise and Maeve Vineyards, as well as Sangiovese and Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley.

We also took the end of August to bottle two Chardonnay wines with new vintages of Laoise Vineyard Napa Valley and Maeve Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains (a new release from us, and a vineyard that we are very excited to be working with).

We hope you will appreciate the fruits of our labor, enjoy our handcrafted wines and visit us soon. This month we are featuring the 2019 Old Saint George Pinot Noir Anderson Valley. On the palate the wine is still quite young and chalky, with notes of toasted oak, smoke, and clove, finishing with typical Anderson Valley forest floor flavors -- wet earth, funghi -- and a succinct minerality.

THANK YOU for being a part of the Crosby Roamann life. If you can't connect with us in person, you can find us on Instagram @crosbyroamann

Join Us July 4 for a Chocolate Tasting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join us on Monday July 4 for a special Chocolate Pairing included with your Tasting Salon Experience. Tastings available from 10am-2pm.
 

The Chocolate Tasting Experience

Partnering with local chocolatier Kollar Chocolates -- this Tasting Salon Experience includes a sixty-minute seated tasting of five wines from our current releases paired with fine chocolate truffles from Napa Valley. Our wine tasting includes both our Napa Valley Estate Bottled Crosby Roamann wines and a selection of single vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Book now for parties up to 6. For large parties, please Contact Us.
 

Don't miss it: The White Room Gallery Event, Bridgehampton, NY

We will also be at the White Room Gallery in Bridgehampton, NY for wine tastings and bottles to go (bags to the beach!) all weekend long - Thursday, July 14th to Sunday, July 17th. RSVP HERE for our opening night event, or just pop in 11am-5pm all weekend long.

Enjoying Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Month with Grilled Flank Steak and Chimichurri Sauce

Enjoying Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Month
with Grilled Flank Steak and Chimichurri

We love this simple steak recipe for so many reasons. For one thing, flank steak grilled over charcoal in a Webster BBQ was one of my father’s staples on the weekend. I think we must have eaten this at least three times a month during the summer. Flank steak grilled over a very high heat will develop a wonderfully smoky thick crust while maintaining a perfectly-pink medium temperature when sliced into. It makes a perfect Memorial Day or Father’s Day centerpiece.
 
We pair our flank steak these days with a chimichurri sauce inspired by our friends from Argentina, who came to visit us in Napa in 2015 for a week and prepared a true Argentinian steak night feast with multiple cuts of beef paired with this wonderful sauce. We adapted our own version of this from Bon Appetit, below.
 
There are few things in life as pleasurable as simple recipes like this one. It’s a hard recipe to go wrong with, and very easy to customize to your liking. Make it as spicy or mild as you prefer. The Fresno chile adds a delightful red sparkle.
 
This time of year, we are pairing most of our evening meals with various shades of Pinot Noir. In honor of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir month, try our 2018 China Block Pinot Noir Anderson Valley Produced & Bottled by Sean W. McBride – available online for a limited time.

$1 Shipping on 12-bottle boxes through June

Crosby Roamann has $1 shipping on all cases through June. Put a case together now and enjoy our wines all summer long!

 

Chimichurri with Grilled Flank Steak

#CookingWithCrosbyRoamann

Ingredients:

• Chopped finely:
  • 1/2 Fresno chili
  • 1 medium Shallot
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • ½ bunch cilantro
  • ½ bunch Italian parsley
  • 2 Tbspn. Oregano
• ½ cup red wine vinegar (we make our own)
• 1 Tsp. Kosher salt
• ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:

• Stir the chili, shallot, and garlic, with a pinch of cilantro, in a medium bowl with the salt and vinegar. Let sit for 15 minutes.
• Stir in the remaining greens and oregano.
• Using a fork, whisk in the olive oil to make to make a chunky paste.
• Use half of the sauce to coat your flank steak on all sides. Set this aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to a half day. Transfer the remaining half of the sauce to a large (2 cup) liquid measuring cup.
• Using a handheld blender on high speed, puree the remaining half of the sauce to a form a lightly chunky paste. Serve this with your grilled flank steak.

 
 
Enjoy in good cheer,
Juliana & Sean

What is Barrel Aged Sauvignon Blanc?

Stimulating and crisp, Sauvignon Blanc evokes the fine flavor of the “wild white” natural beauty. The green-skinned grape is, after all, prized for its refreshingly high acidity and bold herbaceous aromas of citrus, grapefruit, and gooseberry. 

But that isn't to say that Sauvignon Blanc is a variety that can't be aged in oak. A bit of barrel fermentation and handpicking of slightly riper grapes can result in a sophisticated bottling designed for a longer life.

It’s not surprising that Sauvignon Blanc is quite a polarizing wine. Some believe it’s the best white wine, while others wouldn't dare put it in their glass, let alone keep a bottle in their cellars. And there's the common misconception that Sauvignon does not make a wine for aging. But perhaps, we’d wager, it’s this varietal prejudice that keeps wine lovers from indulging in the real potential of Sauvignon Blanc.

Ageing Sauvignon Blanc

Dry, complex, creamy, and full-bodied – these words describe the perfectly aged bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

Nearly all the world’s best red and white wines see oak in some form before making their way into a bottle. Oak barrels have tannin, which helps a wine mellow with time, softening and rounding out the flavors. While it’s fun to catch Sauvignons while they’re young, they develop beautifully when aged in French oak barrels. They offer warmth and smokiness on the nose but still retain some of the crisp, green fruit flavors of unoaked Sauvignon Blanc.

Barrel-aged Sauvignon Blanc is a rare specialty. We know from experience that different food flavor combinations have natural affinities for one another, like strawberries and chocolate or a mustard and dill dressing for smoked salmon. In the same way, Sauvignon Blanc has an affinity to French oak. The French oak tends to impart elegant flavors of candied nuts, berries, and a hint of vanilla onto Sauvignon Blanc. Wood also molds the wine to feel creamier and broader on the palate for a rich, lasting finish.

Sauvignons from Pouilly-Fumés and Sancerre are deliberately designed for a longer life, displaying pleasant truffle aromas after a couple of years in the bottle. These wines can remain alive for decades and retain a remarkable bouquet.

Intriguingly, Sauvignon Blanc maintains its pale color throughout aging. As other whites take on a darker yellow the longer they sit in oak, barrel-aged Sauvignons remain indiscernible from current vintages.

Experience The Richness and Finesse of Barrel-Aged Sauvignon Blanc

Oaked Sauvignons have remained a sideshow in the Sauvignon Blanc story for far too long. As Sauvignon Blanc Day approaches on the 7th of May, come to our boutique Napa Winery experience new varietals of Sauvignon Blanc that focus on complexity and longevity.

Our estate bottled 2017 Sauvignon Blanc was fermented on native yeast in a combination of one-third new oak, one-third once-used oak, and one-third stainless steel, giving the wine a richer, creamier texture. Having aged 12 months in French oak, the SB17 has a rich complexity that’s striking yet taut on the palate. With softly integrated flavors of acacia, hyacinth, lemon, and vanilla bean, this wine is the perfect introduction to barrel-aged Sauvignon Blanc.

For those who treasure unoaked Sauvignons for their crispy acidity, the 2020 Sauvignon Blanc is a must-try. Having been aged in French oak barrels and stainless-steel drums for six months, the 2020 SB is wonderful now and age-worthy for up to five years.

CO2 Sequestration Efforts with Amorim Cork, a cool by-product of natural cork closures

 

 

We are proud to be honored by Amorim with this CO2 Sequestration Certificate for our use of all natural cork stoppers in Crosby Roamann wines. This number has been independently validated by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (and/or Ernest and Young). The findings, are the only ones to date that underwent a multi-closure comparative peer review, indicating when considering sequestration by the ecosystem made feasible by the cyclic extraction of cork, a retention capacity up to 309 grams of CO2 is associated with every natural cork stopper and as much as 562 grams with a sparkling wine stopper. 

Estate Bottled White Wine and New Member Shipments Spring/Summer 2021

“After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, love, and so on — have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear — what remains? Nature remains; to bring out from their torpid recesses, the affinities of a man or woman with the open air, the trees, fields, the changes of seasons — the sun by day and the stars of heaven by night.” — Walt Whitman  

---

We have lost sense of time. The days pass languidly. Everything is slow here in wine country. Most mornings you can find us briefly in the vineyard. The sun rises around six and the early mornings are still cool, routinely in the 40s, sometimes dropping into frost territory on the coldest nights. We are marking out the end posts, measuring off the distance between the grape stakes. We love the feeling of the dust on our hands, love the wisp of dust cloud it makes as we clap our hands together. We have taken to digging up the strangest rocks we can find on the property. All of it is endlessly new. The days are growing slowly warmer. The vines are just beginning to flower.
 
We are replanting the vineyard to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, and there are two new rows of Bordelaise clone 317 Sauvignon Blanc clone at the entrance to the vineyard. Where some of the oldest vines died over the winter, we are spot-replanting with cuttings we made in early spring of the healthiest vines. We are cultivating the soil with the lush organic cover crop of peas and barley we planted in November and let develop into April. Everything is progressing smoothly.
 
It is hard to contain the sense of excitement and thrill we have about the wines for release in the new member shipment: the 2020 Estate Bottled Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley and the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley.
 
2020 Estate Bottled White Wine Napa Valley
 
We harvested 1.9 tons of Sauvignon Blanc from our estate vineyard on September 5, 2020, a mix of Musque and clone 317, 23.5 Brix at harvest. We gently whole-cluster pressed the juice to concrete, and fermented on native yeast for five weeks. The wine then aged seven months in one-third new oak, one-third neutral oak, and one-third stainless steel. We performed a light pad filtration and cold stabilization prior to bottling by hand at the winery, with minimal sulfur. Delightful now, the wine will gain complexity over the next year and reach its apogee in 2022-2023. 117 cases produced.
 
2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
 
Our Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard sources are in Coombsville – Harmony School Vineyard, a one acre block of clone 6 – and Calistoga, one and a half acres of clone 337 at the edge of the Vaca Mountains. The grapes are sorted and destemmed by hand into stainless steel and receive a five-day cold soak. Temperatures rise and native fermentation initiates by day seven, with an average 35 days in tank. We press entirely by hand in our old hand-crank press, and the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in barrel, aging twenty-four months in mostly new French oak. Cabernet Franc from Summer Hill Vineyard and a small amount of Merlot is added during aging for spice and complexity. This very small production cuvee is destined for eight-ten years of development in bottle, with at least three years to reach full maturity. 107 cases produced.
 
The Spring/Summer 2021 Membership includes a mix of Estate Bottled White Wine and Cabernet Sauvignon. Premier Members receive three bottles each, shipping included with a 10% discount -- $270. Collector members receive six bottles, shipping included with a 20% discount -- $480. (Crosby’s Reserve Club Members may opt in or out of this release with shipping included and a 10% discount.) Please contact us here to add the SS21 shipment to your Membership.

Memberships will be charged May 10, 2020. All boxes will begin to ship the last week of May, weather permitting.

All our best,
Juliana & Sean 

What Does It Mean to Be Carbon Neutral?

We've received a couple of questions from customers about what it means when we say this or that wine is "Carbon Neutral," so we decided to forward along this explanation from our Carbon Neutrality partner www.cooleffect.com,

"The terms ‘carbon neutral’ and ‘carbon neutrality’ have been the terminology used for describing sustainability practices using offsets for the past 20 years. However, times are changing and so are claims that can be made. Scientists are becoming more specific about the requirements associated with those terms, but these requirements are causing unintended consequences in the market. 

"Let’s start with the definitions. Currently, scientists associated with the IPCC have defined the following: 

• Climate Neutral: A state in which human activities result in no net effect on the climate system (all GHGs + radiative forcing).
• Net Zero: When carbon emissions (including emissions beyond carbon dioxide) are balanced by anthropogenic removals over a specified period of time (all GHGs).
• Carbon Neutral or Net Zero CO2: When anthropogenic CO2 emissions are balanced globally by anthropogenic CO2 removal over a specified period of time.
• Carbon Negative: When a business removes more carbon from the atmosphere than it generates (Forbes).

"Whether these definitions will apply to offsetting in general is still under consideration. This is extremely important because credits that meet the strict scientific definition of ‘removals’ required for ‘carbon neutrality’ or ‘net zero’ are in short supply."

Crosby Roamann wines marked "Carbon Neutral" were produced in a year in which we paid to offset our Carbon footprint 100%. We estimate certain factors like farming CO2 production and the cost of shipping one case of wine cross-country, and add those estimates to specific values we have at the winery, such as total electricity, miles driven, etc., to come up with our Carbon load. We then invest that value in offsetting technologies. To learn more, please visit www.cooleffect.com.

Harvest Update 2020

Dear Friends,

We hope this letter finds you and your friends and family doing well. Perhaps it goes without saying – it’s been a crazy vintage!

If time is short, here's the release in a nutshell:

• Life is good ... but we miss you in the winery! Schedule a tasting here.
• We purchased a vineyard in Carneros and are transitioning to 100% estate fruit.
• We have a new website for our Pinot Noir wines, www.seanwmcbride.com
• The New Release: Members receive a six-bottle wood box of Crosby's Reserve 2017 the last week of October, $360 (shipping included)
• All wines are carbon neutral
• Each membership plants 10 trees in California
• Collectors (12 bottles+) also adopt an African Elephant
• Spread The Word.

Here in Napa, we have so much to be grateful for. We have been spared the worst of the fires this year, and the past week has seen clear blue skies and mild fall weather, but let us start with you, our dear friends who have been on this winemaking journey with us for the past … oh, let’s just call it the past decade – we could not do this without you and are so grateful for your continued support. If you would like to stop by the winery for a tasting, check our schedule here or email the winery.

The News from Napa Valley.
First, we are so excited and thrilled to be making an estate wine this year from a vineyard we purchased in Los Carneros, Napa Valley. This Sauvignon Blanc is tasting so deliciously already we cannot wait to share it with you – but that will have to be in the Spring Release!
 
And despite the difficult growing conditions this year, we are making lots of rosé and red wine, and our first sparkling wine. We pressed Old Saint George into rosé for a sparkling wine, and also pressed a portion of Gremlin Vineyard into a light bodied rosé for everyday drinking. 2020 will also see single vineyard designate Pinot Noirs from The China Block and Gremlin Vineyard. We are also producing a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon from two vineyards we have worked with for a long time, and fermentations are nearly complete – fingers crossed!

The New Website.
As Crosby Roamann begins the transition to 100% estate fruit, we have also taken the next big step in expanding and differentiating our set of single vineyard wines under the Sean W. McBride label. Going forward, you will find all the new Pinot Noir wines at our new website -- www.seanwmcbride.com. Please check it out! Members with existing Pinot Noir Memberships will transition to the new site by the end of the year. We will be sending more news and information about this process as we go.

The New Releases.
This season, we are offering Premier Members our six-bottle wood boxes of 2017 Crosby’s Reserve Cabernet SauvignonNapa Valley, shipping included, at $360/box (regular price $540). Premier Members may also purchase additional bottles of our current releases at a 10% discount. Collectors will receive a six-bottle wood box of 2017 Crosby’s Reserve Cabernet SauvignonNapa Valley plus three bottles of 2017 Merlot and three bottles of 2018 Chardonnay.

Find the new wines here.
 
All boxes will ship the last week of October, weather permitting.

Giving Back.
Every Member Plants Ten Trees In California – In response to this year’s fire season and the state of California’s natural forests, this year the purchase of each Membership box will plant ten trees in California. It’s our goal to plant 2500 trees before the end of the year.
 
Collectors and Additional Purchases Adopt An African Elephant – Working in concert with the World Wildlife Foundation, this year Collector Members and Members who purchase an additional six bottles of new releases will also see a portion of their purchase price placed towards the adoption of an African Elephant at https://www.worldwildlife.org. It is our goal to adopt a herd of African Elephants by the end of the year – that’s 100 Elephants! You can help by purchasing a Membership here.
 
We are Carbon Neutral – And last but certainly not least, rest assured that your purchase of Crosby Roamann wines is a net-zero carbon transaction. By working with www.cooleffect.org, we have paid to offset our carbon footprint 100% -- including all energy, production, and shipping. All the wines in this year’s release were produced and shipped Carbon Neutral by purchasing winery carbon off-sets through cooleffect.org, so you can feel good about your purchase.

Spread The Word.
Perhaps you like the idea of planting a tree with every bottle of Crosby Roamann wine? Perhaps you enjoy the idea of adopting a herd of African Elephants as a part of your membership in our winery? And perhaps you have a friend or loved one whom you think might benefit from enjoying the same privileges of Membership that you do? If that’s the case, then forward our missive along! Most of our Members arrive at us by word of mouth, so if you know someone who you think may enjoy saving the planet and enjoying some great wine along the way, then please forward our email along.

With all our hearts,
Juliana & Sean