Anderson Hills Winery

01/11/2023

Introducing the Anderson Hills 2021 Zin! This year, we had to make some changes to our planned wine lineup due to a crop loss at our Barbera vineyard. However, thanks to our long-standing relationship with the Baldinelli Vineyards in Amador County, we were able to secure a batch of juicy and rich Zinfandel grapes on the same day.

We immediately brought the grapes back to our Granite Bay winery, where we used a complex fermentation process to bring out the best in the fruit. We started with an engineered wild yeast called Prelude, which introduces unique sensory complexities to the wine. We then completed the fermentation using a combination of two different Saccharomyces yeast strains, chosen for their specific aroma and flavor characteristics.

After fermenting, the wine was aged in an American Oak barrel for 18 months before bottling, This special combination of Amador County grapes and customized fermentation process has yielded a wine that we are extremely excited about.

07/07/2021

Set to finally bottle our 2019 Cabernet this July. Tasting wonderful in the barrel!

10/24/2020

09/17/2020

2020 Status:

1. Viognier - Crushed and pressed. Used a non-saccharomyces yeast for initial fermentation to give the wine a silky roundness and palate weight. Fermentation was finished off with a traditional saccharomyces yeast and is now aging. We elected to use a malolactic bacteria culture to remove the harsher acids and replace with a more mild acid. The wine will mature quickly and be ready for bottling this Spring!

2. Barbera - We elected to try and replicate the recipe we used in 2015 for our award-winning Double Gold & Best-of-Class Barbera (California State Fair). We sourced grapes locally from Popie Vineyard. In order to create a complex wine with layers of taste and aromas, we simultaneously divided and fermented the batch. In one batch, we used D254 yeast, and in the other, D80. The wine is now aging in a second-year American oak barrel for at least a year.

3. Mourvedre Rose - We picked these huge clusters ourselves on September 13th from Clos-Du-Loc. With a Rose, we crush, and on the same day, after 40 minutes sitting on its skins, we press. We used a new yeast, specially formulated for Rose's and white wine (TR-313). This yeast also prevents any H2S from developing in the wine and helps make a fruit-forward wine. This wine is nearing the end of fermentation at this writing and we expect to rack it off the expired yeast cells this weekend and place it in tanks for aging. This should also be an early drinker (Spring).

4. Amador Cabernet Sauvignon - These grapes are still ripening. We're waiting for sugar levels to rise a bit higher and acid to fall a bit. The longer we wait, the bigger/bolder we'll get. Can't wait too long or we'll get a wine that's too hot with alcohol covering up the fruity taste. The twist with this wine will be our oak regime. For the first time, we're going to try a medium-plus French oak treatment. Should add a roundness to this incredible wine. We'll age this for 18-24 months.

08/26/2020

Our first crush of the season went well last week! We returned to Sentinel Oak Vineyard in Amador County for more exceptional Viognier. Viognier Wine: a full-bodied white wine that originated in southern France. Most loved for its perfumed aromas of peach, tangerine and honeysuckle.

These vines are well-established and originally grafted over 30 years ago to existing Muscat rootstock. Amazingly, some Muscat was still available near the base of our vines. We tasted these and thought they would be an excellent choice to field blend with our Viognier. The Muscat is famous for its sweet flavors of peaches and orange blossom. Five percent of these grapes added to our Viognier should produce a fabulous wine full of flavors!

We crushed the grapes and immediately pressed. The juice was inoculated with Prelude yeast, a non-saccharomyces variety known to increase "mouthfeel". The wine will finish fermentation with our work-horse yeast, Avante. Avante helps achieve intense fruit overture and mild spice.

We intend to put this wine through a secondary malolactic fermentation to build a broader, fuller mouthfeel and smooth off some of the acidic edge.

08/02/2020

2020 will include a big White & Rosé harvest! Plans are for another 1000 pounds (25 cases) of Viognier from Amador County and another 1000 pounds of Mourvèdre (Rosé) from Clos Du Lac in Loomis (Sierra Foothills). We will pick our Mourvèdre at a low Brix level of 20-21, perfect for a refreshing Rosé! Check out these grapes in the attached video!

05/06/2019

Our 1st barrel of 2017 Amador Cabernet Sauvignon was bottled on 5/4/19!

02/26/2019

Pruning our Cab Franc vines in Newcastle.

02/16/2019

Bottling for our Amador Viognier is set for next weekend! Labels are ready!

11/11/2018

Our 2017 Tempranillo is officially in the bottle. Aged 14 months in American oak, it’s ready to drink!

08/30/2018

Winemaker Jessie Quinones sorting the fruit.