Dear Rucksack Cellars’ Wine Club Members,

Our long-awaited second release of wines from Rucksack Cellars is now available. The July (well now August) Shipment has almost squeaked into July on wines that are predominantly sold out. In other words, we’ve held back some wines just for our Club Members.

You can pick up your wines at Rucksack Cellars, Friday through Sunday from 12-5pm. If you happen to be in the area on one of the days we’re closed, we also have your shipment available at Madroña during tasting room hours. (The cost of this shipment of three bottles is $57.60 plus tax, and you have until September 30^th to pick up your wine. But you’ll want it before then!)

The theme for this offering is no doubt Summer Wines!  With temperatures approaching 100 degrees today, we lean very much towards wines we can chill and enjoy on a warm evening. Alas, here is your shipment:

Rucksack Cellars July, 2017 Wine Club Shipment

2016 Rucksack Cellars Chenin Blanc – 2016 Chenin Blanc Rucksack Cellars.pub

2016 Rucksack Cellars Barbera Rosé – 2016 Barbera Rose Rucksack Cellars.pub

2015 Rucksack Cellars Zinfandel – 2015 Zinfandel Rucksack Cellars.pub

The 2016 Chenin Blanc has quickly become Maggie’s go to wine for the summer. With it unique flavor profile of richness and brightness, there’s certainly no issue of confusing this wine with a Chardonnay. Instead the aromas of pear and honey seamlessly flow into the luscious palate of honeysuckle, ripe apple and melon. The finish has just enough acidity to keep the wine vibrant and exciting. Chill this Chenin down slightly and enjoy its freshness. (As this wine is sold out, it’s a strict one-bottle limit, the wine in your shipment!)

Almost equally in short supply, the 2016 Barbera Rosé is the second wine in your shipment. This Rosé is the perfect summertime wine. With its classic Barbera acidity, we whole-clustered the grapes directly into the press and only took the first few pressings before separating the lots. High-tone fruit of raspberry and cranberry marry wonderfully with the pie cherry essence of Barbera picked at maturity. The acidity on the finish brings home the racy aspects of this wine, enticing your palate into taking just one more sip. (We are down to the last 10 cases of this wine, and I suspect we’ll be sold out in two weeks (with the exception of your club membership bottle! So come soon!)

Lastly, we had to put in one of our powerful reds, the 2015 Zinfandel. Essentially a Single Vineyard expression, this Zin is 95% Zinfandel from the Sumu Kaw Vineyards in Pleasant Valley. The hints of floral notes in the nose combined with the spice and dark berry fruit on the palate make this wine a true expression of the high-elevation Sumu Kaw Vineyards. During the summer, feel free to chill this Zin down slightly to keep the alcohol and fruit in check.

One of the ideas behind Rucksack Cellars is to be as low-impacting on the earth as possible. And with the advent of the internet, we have all the factsheets on the Rucksack Cellars’ webpage rather than printing more pieces of paper. Check it out at www.RucksackCellars.com.

We hope you enjoy these wines, and don’t forget to get outside and enjoy the Sierras with a Rucksack wine!

Cheers,

Maggie and Paul