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Wednesday, May 12
View Article  SAN JUAN VINEYARDS 2007 CABERNET FRANC RECIEVES PRESTIGIOUS AWARD!
by Brazenly Lucid on Wed 12 May 2010 10:18 PM PDT

I cannot begin to tell you how hard Yvonne has been working with this wine. I personally loved it from the beginning, but Cab Franc continues to be a tough sell as many are not familiar with this varietal. Rumor has it that Cab Franc is soon to be the new rage of Washington State... time will tell. I have seen sales sputter and surge only to sputter again. As you all know, I will not give up. Recently Yvonne entered the San Juan Vineyards Cabernet Franc in the Riverside Wine Competition in California. The results came in and San Juan Vineyards Cabernet Franc received the Chairman's Award which is a unanimous Gold Medal. San Juan Vineyards went up against a ton of wines that were judged by a prestigious group of wine critics. Once again San Juan Vineyards is proving itself as a top notch winery in the San Juan Islands. Chris Primus has done an outstanding job and we are lucky to have such talent in our own backyard. ( Of course you all know I live only 3 miles from the winery). This Cab Franc is worth stocking up on and will age over the next 3 to 4 years. Showing toasty cherries on the nose the palate displays notes of red currants, green bell peppers and red cherries. There is a nice hit of white pepper and slight tannic grip on the finish. This wine would compliment BBQ fare nicely this summer. Congrats to Chris and Yvonne!  90 points

 

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Friday, December 11
View Article  I STOPPED BY THE VINEYARD THE OTHER DAY AND...
by Brazenly Lucid on Fri 11 Dec 2009 10:08 PM PST
It was our first weekend off together in what seems like a zillion years, so Bridgett and I enjoyed our time together and I missed the winter barrel tasting at San Juan Vineyards. My weekend off with my wife was priceless and I knew I could go out and visit Chris another day and taste some wines from barrel. I poked my head in the barrel room and found Chris doing some testing on the '09 Cab Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese. He was testing the alcohol levels of the wine after they were finished with malolactic fermentation. This is the process where wine goes through a secondary fermentation turning the much harsher malic acid into the much softer and approachable lactic acid. Chris poured me a sample of each of the wines which are in the infant stage of their career. I have to tell you that we are in for a treat with the Merlot and the Cab. The perfume on the nose of the merlot was incredible, and at this stage of development I was quite impressed with the flavors that I The detected in the wine. Both the cab and merlot were soft yet structured with excellent balance and potential. Both these wines are screaming gold medals already. The sangiovese was at a funky stage where it had the nose of burnt popcorn and cabbage. Hard to tell at this stage how it would turn out. The mouthfeel was excellent and I am sure that Chris will perform his magic and we will have another wine to be proud of from our local vineyard. The cab franc is also at an awkward stage but I detected some very nice possibilities in this wine with a very rich body and soft tannins. I believe cab franc will catch on fire here in Washington State and I am happy that San Juan Vineyards has made a commitment to this varietal. We have an outstanding winery on our back porch here in the San Juan Islands and if you haven't visited the facility yet I highly recommend it. Stan
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Thursday, November 12
View Article  I STOPPED BY THE VINEYARD THE OTHER DAY AND...
by Brazenly Lucid on Thu 12 Nov 2009 10:46 AM PST
Yvonne Swanberg, owner of San Juan Vineyards just got back from the Tri-Cities Wine Festival with some excellent news. The 2006 merlot, '06 syrah, '08 riesling, and '07 cab franc all received medals! These are all wines made by wine maker Chris Primus. Chris has really been showing his stuff since his arrival there in 2006, so this comes as no surprise.
The 2006 merlot received a Double Gold, the highest honor for a wine. This merlot is one of the best I have tasted from the vineyards... aside from the 2007 which is a little more structured but more of a personal preference for me. The '06 is very juicy with excellent balance and a real crowd pleaser. When I poured it at the Sunshine and Wine Festival this past summer where it also won a Double Gold, it was a crowd favorite. The other medals were as follows...

 2006 San Juan Vineyards Syrah... Double Gold

2008 San Juan Vineyards Riesling... Gold

2007 San Juan Vineyards Cabernet Franc... Silver

Thumbs up to our local winery! Stop by some time and show your support, we should all be proud.
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Monday, November 9
View Article  I STOPPED BY THE VINEYARD THE OTHER DAY AND...
by Brazenly Lucid on Mon 09 Nov 2009 07:27 AM PST

This is going to be a new segment on my blog. We have two outstanding wineries right in our back yard here in the San Juan Islands, and I feel a certain responsibility as a "wine guy" to keep all of you up-to-date on what is happening, new releases and upcoming events. I hope you find this a nice addition to Brazenly Lucid Wines.

I got a call from Yvonne Swanberg, owner of San Juan Vineyards a couple of weeks ago. She was excited about the first ever harvest of pinot noir at the vineyards. I was excited too since I have anticipated some results from their acre of planted pinot vines. Every year Chris Primus, wine maker at San Juan Vineyards has been pruning and nurturing the vines, hoping for some results. The weather has never been quite good enough to fully ripen the grapes. Pinot Noir is quite fickle and delicate. A couple of years ago they were able to use some of the pinot in their rose' but that was about it. The summer of 2009 started off cool, but we had a nice July and August and I had a feeling that this might be the year. Sadly, September started off a little iffy but a couple of nice weeks got the grapes to the ripeness that Chris was hoping for. Two and a half tons of estate fruit is now fermenting and Chris mentioned that it is a wonderful thing to have the smell of pinot noir at the winery. Chris had spent some time down in pinot land assisting in wine making at a couple of wineries in Oregon. It is his passion and I know that we will have some nice juice to look forward to. Look for the first ever San Juan Vineyards 2009 Estate Pinot Noir to hit the shelves in 2011 or 2012.

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