—
Approaching their one year anniversary, Wine Club World has emerged as the leading wine of the month club when it comes to showcasing small batch wineries from central and south central California. Today, they announced the next addition to their award-winning wineries. Some of the selections featured for the month of July will come from Casa Cassara Winery, a family owned boutique winery located in the iconic Sta Rita Hills AVA and situated on one of the most desirable plots.“The first wine produced at the vineyard was actually in 1995,” said Dan Cassara, current owner and son of Casa Cassara Winery founder Bennie Cassara. Bennie had originally bought the property a decade and a half earlier as a weekend retreat for his family, and due to the urging of family friend and local winemaker Brian Babcock, the Cassara family got into the wine business. “Brian told Dad his property, with its hillside exposure, would be the perfect growing environment for Pinot Noir grapes…and Brian knew the combination of warm days and cool foggy nights would be perfect.”
The property sits at one of the highest points of elevation in the Santa Rita hills, known by its AVA designation as the Sta Rita Hills to avoid confusion with a wine producing region in Chile with a similar name. Although many varietals, both those that are world famous as well as others less known, thrive in this region, one of five AVAs in the Santa Barbara wineries area, it has become famous for the Pinot Noir that comes from the region.
“Today, I think it’s safe to say that SRH (Sta Rita Hills) stands as one of the greatest places in the New World to grow Pinot Noir,” Steve Heimoff, author, wine expert and educator, wrote in Wine Enthusiast. “And they got there on their own — not with fancy marketing packages and press kits and events with celebrity auctioneers. Not with spin and hype. Not by luring in big spenders with resorts and great restaurants and golf courses. They did it the old-fashioned way: They earned it.”
It helps that the 2004 movie that made Pinot Noir famous, Sideways, was filmed almost exclusively in that region. The popularity that ensued from the movie was so great that for many years, vineyards rushed out inferior California Pinot Noir just to keep up with demand. Now supply has finally caught up with demand and winemakers, especially the small batch wineries, are turning out exceptional wines again.
“This is definitely the golden age of Pinot Noir for everyone,” said Jennifer Finnell, one of four Wine Club World owners. “We were definitely looking for a vineyard that had a heritage in this region and that produced award-winning Pinot Noirs. One visit with Dan and his family at Casa Cassara, tasting not just their Pinot but the other wines they create, and we knew we had the perfect partner.”
For more information on Casa Cassara Winery, please visit their website: http://www.ccwinery.com/
**Jack Terry is a freelance writer who has been covering the food and beverage industry for more than 20 years.
Contact Info:
Name: Jack Terry
Email: Send Email
Organization: Wine Club World
Website: http://wineclubworld.com/
Release ID: 84392
Google
RSS