Life On Our Vineyard
Spring 2012
With Spring just around the corner, we’ve had a wonderful start to the New Year!
It all started with our fantastic 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon release party in October last year. We opened up our vineyard and our home for the first time to several guests who enjoyed the opportunity to taste a vertical of all our library wines ranging from our first 1995 vintage to our inaugural commercial vintage of and continuing through our current 2007 release. We had never opened all 17 years of our wines at once and everyone had a great time pairing these special wines with artisanal cheeses and a delicious lunch. We made a lot of new friends that day after sharing stories and sampling almost two decades of wine!
In addition to the many wonderful guests with us that day, L. Pierce Carson, respected columnist for The Napa Valley Register, joined us as well. He, too, enjoyed the wines, yet little did we know how much until we started receiving several phone calls early in the morning on Thursday, January 5th. Pierce had written a fantastic article titled “Blockbuster Coombsville Cab: Ackerman Family Turns Wine Profits Into Charitable Support”. His reviews were fantastic and we were elated! Here is just a snippet from the article: “But it was the current release from harvest 2007 that had everyone oohing and aahing. A royal red cab full of ripe plums and blackberries with notes of holiday baking spice, this four-star offering from Ackerman Family Vineyards is a silky, seductive blockbuster.” You can read the entire article on our News Page!
Meanwhile, we were celebrating another big landmark. On December 14, 2011, our part of the valley, Coombsville, was recognized as the 16th AVA or American Viticultural Area. This designation recognizes our region, located in the southeastern section of Napa, as a separate and unique appellation whose volcanic soils, gentle hillside topography and cooler climate create superb fruit that becomes very special wines. We are now considered to be one of the great wine regions of the world. We feel the uniqueness of our terroir is a major factor in enabling us to produce a cabernet sauvignon of this caliber.
The Coombsville Vintners and Growers Association (CVGA) (of which we are members) have already started celebrating this designation with an event to introduce trade partners to many of the Coombsville wineries. As part of this celebration, the CVGA vintners are holding a Coombsville birthday party on May 3rd. In case you are in the area, please join us! Keep an eye on our events page for all the details!
As you can well imagine, all of this recognition is catching on. While enjoying the holidays in Jackson Hole, we connected with yet another stunning resort – Amangani. We met and poured our cabernet sauvignon for their staff and they loved it! So now we have added another partner to our ever growing group of fantastic restaurants in the Jackson Hole area which includes 3 Creek Ranch, Rendezvous Bistro, Couloir, Dornan’s, Snake River Grill, Trio-An American Bistro, and Jackson Hole Wine Company.
In looking forward, we definitely will not be sitting on our laurels. We are participating in The Jackson Hole Wine Auction June 21st – 23rd, a benefit for the Grand Teton Music Festival, one of the nation’s leading music festivals for over 50 years. Lauren is honored and delighted to have been chosen as the Wine Committee Chairperson this year. Her many connections in the Napa Valley will be an asset as the festival is focusing on California wines this year. There will be some fantastic auction lots available, so come join us!
Throughout the year, we are making plans for more winemaker dinners both in California and Jackson Hole. We will be attending The Taste of Hong Kong and VinExpo in May, and will be hosting some cheese and wine pairing afternoons at our home for interested visitors. Of course, with the success of our first release party, we are already looking forward to our 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Release Party on October 20th of 2012. We do hope you can attend any or all of our events this year, have a glass of Ackerman Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and add to the wonderful growing group of friends and family!
Salud!
Bob & Lauren Ackerman
