cellar13
Uncorked! A Celebration of Livermore Grapes and Wines at Murrieta’s Well
Photo from LVWA
This is the culmination of the Uncorked Wine Competition held April 22, 2025. At the competition thirteen individuals comprised of professional judges and writers, assembled to judge wines produced solely from Livermore vineyards. The judges came from the East Coast, Central USA, Texas, Washington and California.
Photo from LVWA
This was Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association (LVWA) inaugural competition taking over for Tri Valley Wine Conservancy. Bringing in judges from around the USA was to garner a broader expertise in evaluating each wine to determine the Best of the Best and also those winning awards and medals at the event.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Outstanding awards were given to Las Positas Vineyards for 2024 Estate Albariño for Best White and to Wente Family Vineyards for their 2021 Limited Release Cabernet Franc for Best Red. Personally having tasted both at the event, they were both excellent , well deserving of their awards.
Additionally, all the Best of Class winners were pouring their wines:
Almost Famous Wine Company-2022 Dog Day Chardonnay
Concannon Vineyard-2020 Nina’s Cuvee
Concannon Vineyard-2021 Reserve Stampmaker’s GSM
Cuda Ridge Wines-2022 Reserve Mélange d’ Amis
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Del Valle Winery-2021 Cabernet Franc
Garre Vineyard & Winery-2021 Sangiovese
Las Positas Vineyards-2021 Estate Tempranillo
McGrail Vineyards & Winery-2021 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Murrieta’s Well-2021 Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Wood Family Vineyards-2022 Malbec
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Wood Family Vineyards-2024 Sauvignon Blanc
Also, each of the above wineries brought additional wines to be shared with guests. In addition to the wineries mentioned above, the following also provided their award-winning wines.
3 Steves Winery
Arroyo Cellars
Cellar 13 Winery
Charles R Winery
Darcie Kent Estate Winery
Fenestra Winery
Page Mill Winery
Rosa Fierro Cellars
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Sakura Winery
The Steven Kent Winery
The Uncorked tasting was set up on the grounds of Murrieta’s Well with tables and umbrellas as the day was a bit warm. Each of the wineries kept the wines in coolers to keep the wines at the proper serving temperature.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Just before the tasting event there was another event called The Varietal Seminar upstairs at Murrieta’s Well in the Barrel Room with Karl Wente of Wente Family Vineyards, Mark Clarin of McGrail Vineyards & Winery, Rhonda Wood of Wood Family Vineyards & Winery and Steven Mirassou of The Steven Kent Winery. I did not make the event but heard it was enlightening and provided some insights into the Livermore Valley wine history.
There was a live band playing in the shade of the winery building that filled the area but was not too loud to have engaging conversations.
Inside Murrieta’s Well cellar there was additional seating at a much cooler temperature with a dessert table. Wait staff were constantly strolling both inside and outside, presenting tasty morsels of exotic treats such as shrimp, vegetable ceviche, hamburger sliders, unique deviled eggs and many more items.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Even some of the winemakers were enjoying the cooler inside temperature like Rhonda Wood of Wood Family Vineyards.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This was an event not to be missed in the future as LVWA went all out to provide the Best Winning Wines of Livermore as well as a venue with great music and exquisite food. Brandi Lombardi and staff are to be complimented. Two of the staff personnel (L to R) were Patty Powers (events) and Jenny O’Leary (marketing) who served as greeters and registered guests with engaging smiles.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Disneyland may have the motto “the happiest place on earth”, but LVWA and the Uncorked event may have surpassed and taken the title as everyone had smiles and laughs all throughout the event.
While attending wine events all over California for many years, this was in the top five and will not be missed in the future!
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly
https://californiawinesandwines.com
https://www.cellar13winery.com
https://darciekentvineyards.com/
https://www.fenestrawinery.com
https://www.laspositasvineyards.com
https://www.pagemillwinery.com/
https://www.rosafierrocellars.com
https://woodfamilyvineyards.com/
see also an Instagram Reel at: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0FVWPkf888MF5kgVzxwDTmsn71PoVG7Q5UMu9W6yoMj6x9U1pkfReeg42ZibrpMxgl&id=100064262820169&mibextid=Nif5oz
2021 Cellar13 Cabernet Franc – Gold Medal Winner at SF Chronicle Competition
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Wine – “Wine is bottled Poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
First time tasting this 2021 Cabernet Franc and was extremely impressed! The wine is 100% Cabernet Franc from the White Cat vineyard in Livermore. The barrel treatment was 50% new being with 60% being Hungarian and 40% French barrels. The balance was neutral barrels. It was aged 18 months in the barrels and another 18 months in bottle before being released. It has already won the Gold Medal at SF Chronicle and at East Meets West another Gold Medal with 92 points. It will be released mid-April and will go for $63/bottle for wine club members only.
First on the eyes a unique purple coloring in the glass and maroon edges with medium-heavy viscosity. On the nose, blackberries and plums waft into the senses creating an anticipatory excitement. Once on the palate, raspberries and both minerality with earthy notes swirled in harmony in the mouth. On the finish, initially strong tannins but quickly settled down to provide a smooth and velvety conclusion. Best served between 65 and 68 degrees.
This wine will make my annual Best Wines Tasted list for 2025. Once it is released, I will be standing in line to purchase a few bottles for the cellar!
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Paired this evening with a marinaded Carne Asada Tri Tip steak. The marinade includes garlic, onion, tomato, bell pepper, salt, cumin, smoked paprika and citrus juice. First seared for a few minutes at 1500 degrees and then BBQ’ed to medium rare. Served with fresh cilantro and limes to be squeezed onto the meat. Accompanied by Mexican rice and a fresh salad. The wine had sufficient tannins to engulf the meat, and the fruit of the wine was paired beautifully. The lime juice was a bit much for the wine, so had some of the meat without the lime juice.
The Winery
Darin Winton came from the public water services at a local municipality and while not necessarily turning water into wine he is now producing many award-winning wines! Even before retiring, Darin got his start doing volunteer work at 3 Steves Winery on his vacation, since he enjoyed their wines in Livermore and even volunteered for two weeks in Chile during harvest. There he learned “old world” techniques in winemaking, especially for Carménère. The fascination of harvesting by hand and using gravity to move wine around aroused his curiosity. In 2017, the winery where he was doing his training, allowed him to make a few small batches of wine with Livermore Valley fruit. He is indebted to 3 Steves Winery for allowing him to experience winemaking from the ground up and their subtle oversight and tutelage. Pictured below is Darin and Gail Henderson, his fiancée who assist in the marketing and sales for Cellar 13.
Photo from Cellar13
His vast number of awards are listed on his website and in a previous story at: https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2024/11/17/2019-cellar-13-cabernet-sauvignon-with-filet-mignon-steak/
Sláinte,
Michael