If you haven't been to the winery in a few months come see us soon!  The property has gotten a face lift over the last two months and we are so excited to have all of our friends out to show it off.  We have all new furniture on our patio and the addition of some incredible old olive trees in the yard.  From the patio behind the tasting room, you can now enjoy a tasting while having the perfect view of our Cabernet Vineyard framed by our olive trees.  Not to mention the relaxing sounds of water as you sit and soak in the sounds of our new fountains.  Come see us soon for a tour and tasting!

We have had an exciting week at Bennett Lane, bottling all of the reds for the 2008 vintage.  One of the most thrilling moments for all of us at the winery was watching our newest wine go through the line.  We have officially bottles our first Calistoga AVA wine that is also our first vineyard designate Cabernet Sauvignon!  The 2008 Lynch Family Vineyard Cabernet is the first wine from our winery with the newest Napa AVA on the label, and is sourced from our owners vineyard right here in Calistoga.  There were only 100 cases of this amazing Cabernet made.  We are looking forward to its release sometime in 2011. 

Bennett Lane joined their fellow vintners for a celebration and toast this week at our neighboring Chateau Montelena.  We were all gathered together to celebrate the official creation of our long awaited Calistoga AVA (American Viticultural Area).  It was a long hard road getting this recognised as a unique and important growing region in the Napa Valley, and the world.  We want to thank all of the folks that devoted their time and efforts to the cause, with a special thanks to Bo & Heidi Barrett, Congressman Mike Thompson, and the staff and team at Napa Valley Vintners.  Bennett Lane is proud to announce that we will be bottling our first ever official Calistoga Cabernet Sauvignon this summer!  Stop by soon to try it straight from the barrel!

A big thank you to our club members, old and new, for joining us this past Saturday for our Maximus Release Party!  A great time was had by all with yummy burgers paired with our new 2006 Maximus.  The new release was a crowd pleaser and it was unanimous that this is the best Maximus yet!  Hopefully the weather gods will be just as kind with our upcoming Calistoga Passport Event in May.  Thank you again and looking forward to seeing everyone at the winery again soon.

Spring has finally arrived in Napa Valley! We have welcomed her with open arms after a long and fruitful winter with plenty of rain to help our precious grapes in the vineyard. It is spectacular at the winery, with mustard coming up between the rows.  We just pruned the vines last week, preparing them for the arrival of budbreak in the next few weeks.  We are so excited to have not one, but two fantastic events at the winery this spring.

The last grapes of the 2009 harvest season rolled into the winery today from our estate Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard surrounding the winery.  As all of our wines are fermenting in the cellar, all of us are taking a deep breath and enjoying all of the fruits of our labor as we taste the magnificent wines that are being created this year.  The first few lots have been barelled down, and there is still alot of work to be done.  We will have a harvest wrap up from Rob Hunter soon, filling everyone in on all of the details for the 2009 vintage.  Stay tuned for more news.......

Most visitors to Bennett Lane  that tour the cellar oooh and ahhh over all of the fantastic machinery that we have.  Presses from Italy, spectacular rotary drum fermenters and our small open top fermenters that are all jacketed for cooling are all some of our favorite tools to use in making some of the finest wine in the Napa Valley.  Mixed in the middle of the fermentation room this week we had a not so high tech piece of equipment, a small old fashioned basket press that uses good old elbow grease to keep it running.

After a long break this harvest season, more fruit has rolled in to Bennett Lane Winery.  We had a surprise early rainstorm hit before our fruit was ready.  We decided to wait it out since the flavors weren't there yet in our grapes, and the wait has paid off.  Our Syrah was harvested yesterday from Trio C Vineyard in Yountville.  This has turned out to be a spectacular spot for Syrah, and is our only source for this intrgeal part of our Maximus blend.  Who knows, if the flavors are right and the wine is amazing we may even have another varietal Syrah to bottle.

Harvest is finally here!  We celebrated this past weekend with our wineclub members as a few tons of Cabernet Sauvignon from Lewelling Vineyard in St Helena kicked off the season for Bennett Lane.  Things continued to roll along this week as we brought in all of our Chardonnay from the famed Sangiacomo Vineyard in Carneros.

Want the best place to stay informed on all of the latest news on harvest in the Napa Valley?  Coming soon at Bennett Lane, our harvest video blog.  We will bring you all of the latest updates from winemaker Rob Hunter, as well as near live footage of grapes as they come into the winery.   Since everyone can't make it to the winery for one of our fabulous harvest tours, we are bringing them home to you with our new video blogs.  Coming later this week........