Boyle MacDonald Wines: A Blending of Two Wine Regions
Kate Boyle and Craig MacDonald have combined two distinct areas to produce some spectacular wines from both the Napa Valley AVA and several of the Sierra Foothill counties & AVA. They have taken their family vineyard located on Mt George area of Napa Valley and produce stand alone Cabernet Sauvignon’s at Boyle MacDonald. Not content to simply be another “Napa winery”, they have also combined some of their favorite varietals from El Dorado, Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties to blend with their Napa Wines.
Kate Boyle, winemaker at Ayrael Vieux Winery (click to read a previous story), along with her husband have just recently opened a tasting room in Murphys, California. Located at 448-B Main Street on the 2nd floor. This newly renovated tasting room has some magnificent handmade tables. Additionally, besides their intimate indoor tasting room complete with “bar & cart trolley” and plenty of intimate seating, they have a relaxing outdoor roof patio.
They offer many wines so let me break this down to three simple categories. The first is their Blue Label series of wines. These include their Zinfandel (“balanced flavors of wild berry, clove, cinnamon, and vanilla”), Petite Sirah and younger released Cabernet. The Petite Sirah (“Dark ruby in color with notes of plum, blackberry and sage”) comes from El Dorado County and the Sangiovese, Zinfandel and Merlot from the Sierra Foothill Counties of Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties. The younger released Cabernet Sauvignon comes from their family estate in Napa with less time being bottle aged. Prices range from $22 to $36.
The second label is their Cock Au Vin series. Here they are currently offering two wines. The first being their Red Blend which consists of 61% Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Sangiovese and 18% Zinfandel, both from Calaveras County. The winemaker’s notes sum it up nicely “black cherry and tobacco notes round to an easy finish”. This is made for everyday enjoyment and can be served with just about any food. The second offering in the Cock Au Vin series, a Sierra foothills Rosé was just released in time for the beginning of the warm summer season. It is 73% Sangiovese, 17.5% Zinfandel and 7.5% Merlot. It is a dry Rosé, with fruit forward aromas of cherries, strawberries and soft citrus. This is a refreshing summer wine capable of serving on the patio, again and again. These wines range from $16 to $22.
The third label is the Premium Estate Wines. Starting with their 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Napa Valley Cabernet Franc). This wine is aged 30 months in the barrel. In addition they offer their 2012 and 2011 vintages. The 2011 is also aged in the bottle for 18 months! These wines are robust, with mouth watering flavorings of blackberries, licorice and lavender. They also have a 2015 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Tuolumne blend called the Red Blend. Here they have taken 56% of the Napa Cabernet Sauvignon and 34% Sierra foothills Merlot and 10% Sierra foothills Zinfandel. These wines range from $28 to $60.
The fun fact remains that Kate likes to feature both the pure Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon varietal along with blending unique and quality produced Sierra foothills vineyard varietals like Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Petite Sirah and Merlot to make refreshing and layered wines! You will need to seek out Boyle MacDonald as they are “upstairs, around the corner” but you and your palate will be amply rewarded.
Slainte,
Michael
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