Duke of Bourbon: E-mail Specials

Cheers! from the Duke of Bourbon

Don't miss out on your chance to reserve your share of the fabulous 2008 Foxen wines with just a 50% deposit! The balance, plus any applicable taxes, will be due when we receive the wine in June. Here is your chance to obtain the coveted Foxen Sea Smoke Pinot Noir! Take a look at the offering.

Notice that you can order any of the wines, except Sea Smoke, individually, without purchasing one of the combo-packs.

Bill Wathen and Dick Dore have been making world-class wine at Foxen Winery in the Santa Ynez Valley since 1985. Their original "rustic" tasting room is shown at right. At the end of 2009, they opened their beautiful modern tasting room and expanded production facility.

Foxen Vineyards has been receiving much attention from the wine writers, especially in the last few years. Their wines consistently earn top scores from both the Wine Spectator and Robert Parker. For example, Parker has said: "I hope readers have recognized how gorgeous the Foxen wines have been over the last five or six years. Their individuality and distinctiveness as well as high quality are evidenced in their newest releases. Kudos to Foxen."

We were fortunate to be able to taste many of the stunning Foxen wines at our "Wine
Bowl 2010" seminar on February 11. The consensus was, "Wow!" Jenny & Dick Dore led us through the seminar and offered many interesting comments, including the fact that Foxen's Pinot Noirs, Rhone blends and Bordeaux-style wine are bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is a difficult process, especially so for Pinot Noir, but the enhancement of flavors makes the process worth the extra care and work. Read on for more comments from our seminar.

As in past years, we are offering the Foxen wines on future, individually or in the combo packs listed below, for delivery in mid-June, 2010. Sorry, at this time, the Sea Smoke Pinot Noir is available only in the combo packs. As you can see, both the by-the-bottle and the combo packs offer very significant discounts. To our knowledge, we are the only retail wine merchant in the U.S.A. to offer the Foxen Sea Smoke and Julia's Pinot Noirs on future.

Combo #1

3 - Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Sea Smoke Vineyard
3 - Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Julia's Vineyard
3 - Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Block 8
3 - Foxen 2008 Syrah, Toasted Rope

List price - $708.00 - Duke's price - $637.20

Combo #2

2 - Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Sea Smoke Vineyard
2 - Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Julia's Vineyard
2 - Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Block 8
2 - Foxen 2008 Syrah, Toasted Rope

List price - $472.00 - Duke's price - $424.80

Combo #3

4 - Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Sea Smoke Vineyard
4 - Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Julia's Vineyard
4 - Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Block 8

List price - $768.00 - Duke's price - $691.20

Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Sea Smoke Vineyard
(List price - $80.00) - Available in Combos 1-3
Foxen is the only winery, other than Sea Smoke Cellars itself, with access to Sea Smoke's fabulous Sta.-Rita Hills fruit. We tasted the 2008 vintage at the seminar and it blew us away! Big, full and rich - a wine of both power and finesse - it is sure to receive top accolades from the wine writers. Do not miss out on your chance to obtain this magnificent wine!

Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Block 8
List price - $56.00 - Duke's price - $48.99
Full and rich like the Sea Smoke we tasted, this is a fabulous Pinot Noir with loads of stuffing, but with more elegance than previous vintages. Custom-farmed at Bien Nacido by the Foxen team, it could be called a monopole. Our opinion is that it should rank right up there with its Sta. Rita Hills brother (both the Sea Smoke and Block 8 could be called "masculine" wines) and will be rated very highly. This wine is rich, rich, rich . . . taste like a great Pinot and will age a decade or two.

Foxen 2008 Pinot Noir, Julia's Vineyard
List price - $56.00 - Duke's price - $48.99
Absolutely a first-rate Pinot Noir, Julia's tends to be a more "feminine" wine than the Sea Smoke and Bien Nacido. Don't think for a second that this one didn't hold her own. She displays a wonderful spice on the nose, an elegant palate and a long, satisfying finish. Even though this wine can use some aging, our tasting found it to be very approachable. It is a truly classic California Pinot Noir. Watch out Sea Smoke!

Foxen 2008 Syrah, Toasted Rope
List price - $44.00 - Duke's price - $39.99
This classy, fantastic wine of 84% Syrah co-fermented with 16% Viognier is loaded with fruit and augmented with rich, ripe tannins that give this bold & beautiful wine some breathing room (45 minutes to an hour) to open up, then ready yourself for a truly grand experience!

Foxen 2007 7200 Range 30 West (from Happy Canyon)
List price - $35.00 - Duke's price - $27.50
This Bordeaux-style blend is named after the geologic designation of the area in Happy Canyon that the grapes call home and Foxen's original winery address (7200). With temperatures as high as 30 degrees warmer than those in nearby Sta.-Rita Hills, Bordeaux varietals achieve ripeness quite easily. Foxen's farm team's expertise comes through in Range 30 West's bright fruit flavors and sweet, silky tannins. This is a very serious deep red wine with both early accessibility and aging potential.

Make your selection and

Call the Duke today!!

Note: Prices are good while our supplies last and we reserve the right to change them at any time without notice. We expect the wines to be released in late June, 2010. We will notify you when they arrive at the Duke to arrange for pick-up or shipping.

Note: Prices are good while our supplies last and we reserve the right to change them at any time without notice.