Members’ Corner

**The Baxter family, winemaker Phillip Baxter.**

Welcome to the Spring 2022 Wine Club shipment!

Welcome to Members’ Corner. Here you’ll find inspiration to accompany each wine club shipment.

Alternatively, to purchase wines or to update your card details, please visit the Shop and log in.

Message from the winemaker…

As a winemaker with nearly 20 years under my belt, and Claire with 12 years on the tasting side, the 2018 vintage presented us both with a surprise: their profile is so different to other vintages! It even had us re-assessing our ever-faithful tasting descriptors of each wine.

Infact, the 2018 vintage challenged us to clear our mind of preconceptions and really taste and get to know the wine in it’s own right. Interestingly, they are much more earthy and structural and the fruit is much more subtle than in other vintages. They present soft, sour cherry and herbal flavors which comes across more ‘old world’ than Californian Pinot. The wines are textural and structured, the fruit they’re giving is light and delicate.

Once we’d put our fingers on the right descriptors, the wines came into focus and made sense in our palate’s memory. They reminded us more of old world Pinots than Californian, and that was unexpected: even though we do use traditional methods to make our wines, we are always acutely aware that we are using Californian fruit, which by comparison is a little more bold.

After so long out in the field (or winery!) it was a good reminder to go back to the basics of my U C Davis sensory analysis classes: to taste without expectations and allow what presents itself to just be. We really enjoyed watching these wines unfold and develop over the evening and know you will too.

On the tasting room side: after 8 years open, our tasting room garden is undergoing a big Spring refresh with new plantings! We’re lucky that we have such a light and airy space indoors and out, with plenty of big doors to open. We’re also holding a special (ticketed) food & wine event on Pinot Fest Sunday May 22nd. Club members receive a discounted ticket price, see here for details.

Here’s to a wonderful Summer ahead!

Phillip.

Phillip Baxter, Owner / Winemaker.

spring 2022 Wines:

Club 6 members receive 2 of the 2018 Langley Pinot, 2 of the 2018 Oppenlander Pinot, 1 bottle of the 2019 Chardonnay and 1 bottle of the 2016 Valenti library Pinot. Club 12 members will receive double. Members who are specifically ‘Pinot Only’ members will automatically receive our black label Pinot in place of the Chardonnay.

2018 Langley Vineyard Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley

This will be the 14th vintage of Langley vineyard for Baxter Winery. Early this year we were at risk of loosing some of our access to the Langley grapes and it brought what we love about the vineyard into sharp focus. We decided to safeguard our source by stepping out and leasing the vineyard, weather-related-risks and rewards combined! We continue to farm Langley vineyard using an experienced crew and organic practices.

So what is it we love so much about this gal we just can’t let go!? We prize the Langley fruit for it’s bright vibrant fruit flavors and clean lines: it is exquisitely different from other vineyards in the valley because of the special champagne clone of Pinot Noir it is planted to. It’s bright cherry notes resound ‘clear as a bell’, and remain vibrant and vivacious as it ages into a supple, velvety long finish.

Winemaker’s tasting notes: “very delicate, old world, etherial and floral, but it’s also got a lot of stuffing … that is, a lot of depth and structure.”

Drink now through 2025.

2018 Oppenlander Pinot Noir, Mendocino

Two words: elegant poise.

It is our most classic Pinot Noir, this wine displays wonderful textural structure. A round forest floor mid-palate melds with cherry, mushroom and fresh strawberry.

There is a fruity-floral femininity showing up in our Oppenlander Pinot, laced with elegant high tones of black tea.

Hailing from a cool climate area of Mendocino county, just inland from the coastal town of Mendocino, this vineyard is own-rooted allowing a seemless uptake of nutrients from the soil that we attribtute to the welll-rounded characteristics of the resulting Pinot Noir.

It could be the soil, it could be the climate, or is it just the magic you find when you make the winding trek into the fog-kissed redwoods and sunny, pink-vetch spattered hillsides? All we know is that it tastes good and it makes us exceedingly happy to have it in our range.

Enjoy a bottle in 2023, and reassess as it ages.

2016 Valenti Pinot Noir, Mendocino Ridge

Deer antlers strapped to an end post at Valenti Vineyard.

I am so enthused to share this library Pinot with you. It is perfectly aged to enjoy now. It could probably go another 5 years, but there’s no need to wait because it gives so much in it’s current state.

Open half an hour in advance and let your palate adjust you’ll notice a nose of mushroom, violets, strawberry compote, forrest floor, redwood underduff, black pepper and rose petal.

The overwhelmingly smooth palate begins with plum and spice, black cherry, soft fruit, sous bois, with good tannin structure. It seems to show less sanguine than the other Valenti vintages and has developed more richness with age.

The finish combines a refreshing, lingering minerality with huckleberry and smooth pepper spice.

It’s not often that Claire’s states: “If I had any left, I would buy this myself.” Say no more.

Ideally drink now, or can age gracefully through 2026.

2019 Oppenlander Vineyard Chardonnay, Mendocino

A Chardonnay for all you non-Chardonnay fans out there, this one is fresh, crisp, mineral.

Claire has been wanting to share the Chardonnay in the wine club for a while now, and despite it being well received at restaurants in San Francisco and in London, UK, she has vehemently held back a small allotment for club members too.

We have a rule in our house: there must be a cold Baxter Chardonnay in the fridge at all times. It’s not because of the frequency we pull for it, it’s more because this wine pairs so well with that celebratory ‘Friday feeling’, that when the mood hits you it better be pre-chilled and ready to go!

The Chardonnay has a lot going on. The grassy nose begins with sweet hay and summer wildflowers, orange blossom and jasmine florals. The palate leads into kumquat and Meyer lemon zest, mineral riverstone with toasted puffed rice giving delicate body. Star anise spice melds into a mouthwatering Lychee finish.

Try our pairing recipe below!

Drink now. [and forever. Except move onto the next vintage because this one is sold out.]

Our spring 2022 recipe…

Poisson en Papillote

**With our 2019 oppenlander vineyard chardonnay**

Filets of rock cod or pink salmon steamed en ‘papillote’ (in a parchment paper ‘envelope’) with a delicate mixture of lemon, white wine, mushrooms and shallots.

Claire Baxter shares:

When I was a teenager and young adult, I spent a month each Summer exhanging with my French friend Aurelie. We were great pals, two weeks in England and two weeks in France. She lived in a country house on 20 acres complete with Cinderalla-style steps and stone balconies.

Each day, her mom Therese would go to work for the morning at their family business and then come home, via the local market, with fresh baguette, produce and meats and cook up a four course lunch. Therese would ply me with food and Aurelie’s dad, Joseph, would ply me with good Provencal rose (and bad dad jokes). I have such good memories of their company, our adventures, their sense of humor and of Theres’s cooking.

This simple recipe comes from Therese’s personal recipe book and pairs well with the Chardonnay. The fattiness of wild pacific salmon would also match well with the crispness of this wine.

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 Fillets of cod / rock cod / salmon

2 tbsp lemon

2 - 3 tbsp white wine,

thyme,

1 clove garlic,

1 shallot very finely sliced

sal & pepper

1 tbsp creme fraiche (or sour cream)

4 mushrooms sliced finely

Method:
1) Cut a large rectangle of parchment paper for each filet. Set a filet of the fish on top of the paper lengthways.
2) Make a little mixture of the lemon, white wine, thyme, garlic, shallot, creme fraiche, salt & pepper. Spoon it over the fish.
3) Add the finely sliced mushrooms.
4) To make the envelope: Gather the two long sides of the paper so that they meet in the middle (hovering over the top of the fish). Hold the two edges together and fold the paper over itself several times to seal the ‘gift’ along the length of the paper. You want the contents to steam. Use string to tie the two short ends as pictured.
5) Cook at 350F for 20 mins. Check it as it becomes done - care not to overcook it.

Serving suggestion:
Serve with jasmine rice, brocollini and extra lemon slices to garnish. The package is a fun presentation and some of the magic rests in the unveiling so let guests unpackage their own steamy surprise!

Enjoying your wines and want to restock?

For members re-ordering any mixed six pack of wines prior to the Fall shipment we will apply complimentary ground shipping. Simply visit the store and note ‘Reorder’ in the customer comments box. Log into your account to view member pricing.

here’s to a blooming marvelous 2022

ENJOY this spring’s selection!

Phillip & Claire Baxter.