Craig's Ramblings:

Wine Futures Program Starts NOW and ends June 30, 2010.

March 14, 2010 - The Jaffurs (Craig, Dave, & Matt) boys are off to France until the end of th month. This is very much a research trip. We'll be eating and drinking purely for educational purposes. We should have some good stories to tell upon our return. This is our reward for a few years of really hard work here at the winery.

January 2010 - With our 2009 harvest and the holidays behind us, the winery is settling into it's winter rhythm. We've cleaned up the cellar and fixed a bunch of things. We ordered a new wine tank. We've started planning for our 2010 bottlings of the 2008 designated Syrahs and young 2009 red wines. Most importantly, we've started critically tasting the wines from the 2009 harvest. They are pure and powerful, but at this point in their evolution, they are rough and maybe a bit active. This is good. This is where the wines should be right now. I'm excited by these wines. Why? Because while they continue a string of strong vintages for us, they are a little different. In some cases they seem a bit more restrained. In other cases they have risen up to new heights. I think the Thompson Vineyard Syrah may be our best vintage of this wine to date. It smells great in the fermenter and it has kept getting better. Sadly, we made only four barrels of Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah. It is great stuff, but the frost from 2008 haunted the 2009 vintage for this wine. Cheers!

Other News and Events:

UPDATED - Our Wine Futures offering of 2008 Jaffurs Designated Syrahs starts June 1, 2010 and runs through June 30, 2010. We'll be sending e-mail out to all our club members and to our general mailing list formally announcing this event. In this program, we offer our vineyard designated Syrahs (Ampelos, Thompson, Bien Nacido, and Verna's) for sale at one-time discounted prices. We'll be shipping your wines beginning October 1, 2010. If you are picking the wines up at the winery, they will be ready for you after that date. You can order these wines online.

Our Annual Wine Club BBQ is June 19th at the beautiful Larner Vineyard in Ballard Canyon. This a great chance to visit with your friends and our winery crew. Mike Larner and Craig Jaffurs will give tours of the vineyard and help you enjoy the day. BBQ runs from 11:00 to 2:00. Tickets are $25 for members and $40 for quests. Children's meal tickets are $10. Advance ticket purchase is required and are available at the Jaffurs on-line store.

Our 2008 Vineyard Designated Syrahs, UPSLOPE, and Grenache were bottled April 24. Everything went really well and these wines will be featured in our Futures Program which opens June 1, 2010. Our 2008 white wines (Viognier and Roussanne) were bottled in April 2009 and were released the following month. Our 2007 vineyard designated Syrahs and Grenache were bottled in March and released in July and October. Our 2008 Petite Sirah, Larner Vineyard Syrah, Mourvedre, and SB County Syrah were bottled during a marathon bottling session in early September. Because of increased demand for these wines, they were all released October 1st.

Wine Club Barrel Tasting February 27th, 2010 at our winery. We'll taste through selected 2008, unreleased wines, plus some other fun stuff to put the 2008 and 2009 harvests in context. Four sessions are available. We'll have more details in the coming weeks.

Jaffurs Wine Maker Dinner April 16, 2010 at Elements Restaurant in shadow of the Santa Barbara Courthouse. Join us for a 5 course dinner matched to Jaffurs wines. Courses include carmalized pear and duck confit salad paired with Grenache Blanc and bnraised molassis glazed short ribs paired with Larner Vineyard Syrah. $95 plus tax and gratuity. Call elements at 805-845-4208 for reservations. Dinner starts at 6:30.

Santa Barbara County Vintner's Festival April 2010. This is a great event in Lompoc sponsored by the SBCVA. All the wineries in the county will be there pouring their great wines. The food is terriffic too. Go to SBCVA for information and tickets.

You can purchase wines directly from us - click here to find out how. Or, e-mail us with your home address and we will add you to our mailing list. Hurry, the vineyard designated syrahs are selling fast.  You may also press the Tasting button to find a retailer or restaurant near you that carries our wine. 

Our 10th Harvest in our New Home - In March 2000 we purchased a small industrial lot in the city of Santa Barbara.   Construction of our new winery began in March and completed in five short months - just in time for the 2001 harvest.  Among other things, the winery has a walk-in chiller, environmental control, and affords us the ability to work at a careful and natural pace.  In addition, it is only only 7 minutes from home.  This new facility helps us reach toward our full winemaking potential. It also preserves the quality of our home life. 

We are open for tasting Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday from 11 am to 5 pm. During the summer months, we are open everyday from 11 am to 5 pm. Appointments are not necessary if your group is 6 people or less, and you plan to visit during our regular tasting hours. Tasting fee is $10 per person. If you have a group larger than 6 people, please call for an appointment. Tasting fee for large groups is $15 per person. Call 805-962-7003 or  e-mail if you have questions.

Other Events? - ask via e-mail