Skeleton Vineyards
Skeleton Key
Proprietors White 2019
William Chris virtual wine tasting, May 16, 2020 at home — 6 years ago
Sandlands
Sonoma County Trousseau 2015
Love this wine. Would have a keg on tap, if possible. Perfect combo of lightness supported with a solid skeleton and sinewy muscle. Dusty red fruits with a bit of grip. Pleasing in the most positive meaning of the word. — 6 years ago
Catherine et Pierre Breton
Nuits d'Ivresse Bourgueil Cabernet Franc 2011
Really needs some time in the decanter, wound up super tight. Funky earthy nose with sour cherry and topsoil, very fleshy, rustic body of blue and red fruits, a bit of red bell pepper, bakers chocolate, loads of pencil shavings, a faint suggestion of spruce. Really crunch skeleton with serious, almost saline minerality. Fruit fades before the minerals and earth. Really complex. Give it plenty of air and a long ponder. — 7 years ago
Charles Smith
Royal City Washington Syrah 2008
The last several years I’ve either opened a Royal City, Charles Smith Skull or Behrens Family Thanksgiving Cab (with the skeleton family on the label) on Halloween night. This is far and away the best showing for the Royal City I’ve ever had. 10 years in bottle seems to be the sweet spot for this wine. Blackberry compote, black olive tapenade, smoke, grainy tannins and a dash of herbaceous goodness. Not at all like Cayuse—there is no fox fur funk—rather it compares favorably to a higher end Northern Rhône but without the classy heft and long finish of a LaLa. Enjoyed it immensely. — 7 years ago
Produttori del Barbaresco
Riserva Ovello Barbaresco Nebbiolo 2001
Olympics and Nebbiolo. Skeleton luge and boneless chicken. Swish. — 8 years ago
Skeleton Vineyards
Petite Sirah 2015
Actually petit Verdot — 8 years ago
Penny's Hill
Skeleton Key McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016
Brought this bottle back from Australia in 2018. As good as we remember! — 5 years ago
Antoniolo
Vigneto Castelle Gattinara Nebbiolo 2014
It's a cellar piece. Skeleton is there for sure. Far better on day two. Value nebs. — 6 years ago
Skeleton Vineyards
Burgenland Grüner Veltliner 2018
Citrus, mineral, food friendly. Everyday wines AA. Gruner Veltliner, Austria. Repurchase! — 6 years ago
The Skeleton Root
Northern Liberties Red Wine 2014
Soft and delicious. Mostly berries with a little earth. — 7 years ago
Domaine Bernard Defaix
Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 2015
Big, fleshy, and powerful. Lemon zest and pith on a crunchy mineral skeleton with a pretty whiff of orange blossom and a poised, athletic shape. Really nice. — 7 years ago
Sinegal Estate
Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2016
Of the Napa wines I tasted over 4 days on this trip, the 16 Sinegal Reserve & the 13 Seavey Cabernet were my favorites. Both great wines but, stylistically very different. The Seavy big and bold and the Sinegal pure beauty & elegance.
The nose reveals very dark currants. Dark & milk chocolate. Blackberries, creamy black raspberries, black plum & plum, mocha powder, core of anise, beautiful dark spice, soft volcanic soils, some dry brush and lavender, violets and fresh dark red florals.
The body is full. The tannins are really meaty but, exceptionally soft, fine and meaty. Lots of dark spice with plenty of heat. The mouthfeel is gorgeously sexy with feminine elegance. Dark & milk chocolate. Blackberries, creamy black raspberries, black plum & plum, mocha powder, core of anise, beautiful dark spice, big sweet tarry notes, soft volcanic soils, some dry brush, lavender, violets and fresh dark red florals. The acidity is perfect. The finish is well balanced sexy and gorgeous. The structure, tension say this needs to cellar eight to ten years.
Photos of; tasting cellar area, modern stainless tanks, outside terrace tasting and or dining area and their grounds and lake.
Producer history and notes...Sinegal Estate was founded in 2013 with wines made from their 30 acre Inglewood estate in St Helena (not to be confused with the Inglenook Estate in Rutherford). This is not a new property, it was part of an original land grant and its more modern day history dates back to 1879 when owner Alton Williams purchased the property and planted the first vines in 1881.
The property has changed owners a number of times over the decades. At one point the Jaegers’ owned the estate, Bill Jaeger and his wife Lila lived here. These Napa Valley pioneers were in part responsible for helping establish Freemark Abbey and Rutherford Hill. Lila was also a gardener and established beautiful gardens on the property.
Owners, David (father)and James (son) Sinegal purchased the property in 2013. James was the co-founder of Costco and once CEO. David worked at Costco for 21 years.
After the purchase, David divided each of their vineyards into smaller blocks, picking selectively (30 times in 2013) rather than all at once, and adding technology to the vineyards so they have up to the date reports on a number of data points including temperatures, soil moisture and various barometric pressures. If they want to selectively water, say vine #67 in row number three, they can do so with their irrigation system. Extremely efficient!
Nine acres of vines are planted to various red varietals including; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. They have some of the older Cabernet Franc vines in the valley that are 30+ years old.
The soils here are diverse and can vary even within small geographic ranges on the property. Some of their vineyards are planted on the valley floor – while their upper vineyards are hillside, on the edges of the Mayacamas Mountains.
Their landscape above the property is interesting and part of the Mayacamas Mountains. Visually, it appears drier than other parts of this mountain range and the vegetation reflects that with grey pine and more open natural vegetation rather than the thicker wooded vegetation more commonly associated with parts of Spring and Diamond Mountains to the north.
After purchasing the property, David created planned and laid out his vision to create a world-class boutique wine making operation. Many wineries in the Napa Valley can take years before they come to fruition, not so here. After only about 10 months, the existing winery was remodeled. 6,500 feet of caves were expanded and drilled into the hillside behind the winery and a new hospitality center was built. The hospitality center ties in very well with the winery. From the small tasting room, large doors open revealing the tanks.
A vegetable garden slightly under an acre grows just south of the winery building. Vegetables from this garden are sold to nearby restaurants.
A skeleton key appears on the labels of their wine and is prominently displayed on the outside of their winery building. This has historical significance. The original key opens the front door to the historic home on site and is displayed in the tasting room. With respect to the history of this property, this one key has already become iconic to the brand.
You only need to look inside of the winery to see that their wine making team is focused on quality. Each of the small lot tanks have built in pumps which can be controlled and programmed to do pump-overs anytime of the day or night. In addition, these tanks have multiple points at which the temperature can be controlled. These tanks do not necessarily handle all their fermentation’s. They also ferment small lots in puncheons and barrels as needed. Control across the board is the key here and it is the control of the details in wine making that is is so integral from when the fruit first arrives through to when it is bottled.
2013 was their inaugural release. The focus is currently on two primary varietals, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc were sourced from the estate but, then it was determined it was growing in an area better suited for red varietals so it was torn up and new plantings were made in the back of the property. While not far from these original plantings, their new home for their Sauvignon Blanc features different soils and is growing in a cooler part of the property.
The wine making team has been experimenting with the style of this varietal since 2013 with subsequent vintages seeing more oak. Especially, using the slightly longer cigar shaped barrels , which have extra surface area for maximizing complexities including textural feel imparted from aging the wine on the lees in these particular barrels. Maceration on the red wines is often 8-10 days and sometimes up to 20 days.
Most of their sales are direct to visitors or through their mailing list. However, they do have some distribution outside California in Florida, New York and Washington. Primarily to restaurants. — 7 years ago
Luis Seabra Vinhos
Xisto Cru Tinto 2013
Very dark in color. Nose mostly of mineral with little fruit. Red fruit on the palate-strawberry, raspberry and cherry. The acid mineral skeleton sets off the fruit. A well defined presentation. ABV 12.5%. Luis Seabra makes some of the most interesting wines coming from the Iberian Peninsula. 4* — 5 years ago
Skeleton Vineyards
Mendoza Malbec 2015
Easy to drink — 6 years ago
Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy
Sancerre Pinot Noir 2016
Racy! A little red sports car. Highly kinetic with crunchy strawberry, cranberry, and wineberry (R. phoenicolasius) on a prominent, angular skeleton. A faint touch of barbecue spices runs the last few yards of the race as the fruit fades. Quality stuff. — 7 years ago
L'Ancienne Cordonnerie
Cuvée Prélude Syrah
Dark chocolate smell. Had the skeleton and the muscle. :) — 8 years ago
Mike Wallus
Lovely Sauvignon Blanc
Subtle.Not too acidic.Good minerality — 4 years ago