March 1, 2017: CWSA awards the Gold Medal to Sill Family Vineyards’ 2014 très Cabernet Sauvignon G3. China Wine & Spirits Awards (CWSA) is long renowned internationally as the biggest and most prestigious wine and spirits competition in all of China. Winning the gold Medal is the highest standard of global acclaim for wine producers, with CWSA Judges carefully selected for buying a staggering 90 million bottles per year. “In the 1950s and 1960s the world economy was transformed by the emergence of the American consumer. Now China is the wine consumption superpower and it has only just begun,” according to The Economist.
October 2016: Noted Wine expert, Deborah Parker Wong, Editor of The Somm Journal and TastingPanel “I enjoyed très Chardonnay, it’s a restrained style with a very limpid, fuller body, very carefully handled fruit with balanced and mineral-driven flavors, and shows just a touch of alcohol as it comes up in temperature a few degrees. Overall, I was charmed by the wine style and expression.”
September 2016: WINE ENTHUSIAST “Made in small quantities, this wine opens in a decadence of gingerbread and graham cracker aromas before a medium-bodied texture supports a supple ripeness of green apple, melon and pear.” excellent
August 2016: Sill Family Vineyards trés Chardonnay Sonoma County, Napa Valley Register
It’s a play of six degrees of separation when it comes to the wines of the Sill Family. Their St. Helena vineyard was planted by vineyard manager Michael Nunez. He learned his mad skills from Justin Meyer (of Silver Oak Cellars fame), who learned a thing or two working with the beloved Brother Timothy. Today, owner and winemaker Igor Sill works with winemaker Eric Hansen to create this mineral-driven chardonnay ($65). While oak barrels are used, the wine is not dominated by oak flavors, but given a rich, creamy texture that carries flavors of guava, pear and the slightest hint of spice in a silky wave across the palate. Much of the fruit is from the Russian River valley. You’ll find this wine on the list at Calistoga’s Solbar among other places, and more information at sillfamilyvine.wpengine.com.
July 2016: Laura Pauli, Cucina Testa Rossa,
2014 très Chardonnay from Sill Family Vineyards in Sonoma – if you can ever get your paws on a bottle or 20, get them immediately, this is a spectacular chardonnay, SPECTACULAR! and, I’m not a big fan of California Chards. Here’s a review I wrote recently:
“…I was lucky enough to have a bottle of the 2014 très Chardonnay and it was, in a word, spectacular. The tropical fruits were delicious, the acidity perfect, the nose enticing and the viscosity unctuous. I served it with a roasted sablefish rubbed with a cumin, coriander, cayenne, turmeric, ground cardamom paste and topped with a roasted stone fruit salsa of pluots and plums. To quote Frank Sinatra, it went together like love and marriage, like a horse and carriage. The tropical fruits complemented the roasted stone fruits and accented the spiciness of the rub so seamlessly, you’d have thought the wine was made for that dish. With a long finish, this wine is elegant and silky and balanced and leaves you wanting more. I know I do…!”