Sherbrooke Cellars © Copyright
Carica
Winery
Carica Wines in the city of Santa Rosa in beautiful Sonoma County is a new winery started in 2005 by two friends, Dick Keenan and Charlie Dollbaum, to produce wines of extraordinary character from small lots of premium Sonoma County wine grapes. The young age of the winery is, however, no reflection of its impact on Sonoma Valley winemaking: Kick Ranch fruit has become quite a hot commodity among top California wineries, and their wines are the darling of San Francisco sommeliers and restaurants. In fact, Carica only bottles about 10% of their own fruit, selling out the rest every year to wineries of great pedigree such as Paul Hobbs, Rosenblum, Renard, Pax, Erna Schien, and many more. What they have bottled has met with great acclaim from publications such as the Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast. The winery takes its name from the hardy fig trees (botanical name: Ficus carica) that dot the Kick Ranch vineyard and that are featured in the fig-leaf insignia on their labels.
Kick Ranch sits on the western side of the northern flank of Spring Mountain, which separates Sonoma and Napa Counties. The vineyard is located on an alluvial bench featuring soils with an amazing mix of volcanic and other rocks that contribute a rich minerality to the wines. The vineyard enjoys optimum sun exposure and has a 20 mile view straight down the Petaluma Wind Gap, which provides cool nights and foggy mornings, ideal conditions for growing premium wine grapes. Dick Keenan’s commitment to supplying Carica Wines with ultra premium fruit is backed by sustainable farming practices with a focus on healthy, balanced vines. To this end, the winery has completed its sustainability certification through the California Association of Winegrape Growers (www.cawg.org), and its vineyards are tended by one of Sonoma County’s premier vineyard managers, who boasts such illustrious clients as Siduri, Kosta Browne, Paul Hobbs and Nickel&Nickel. Kick Ranch supplies Sonoma Wineries with a wide range of varietals, including Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Syrah, Petit Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Counoise.
Dick Keenan practiced as a trial lawyer in San Francisco for 31 years. In 2008, encouraged by his wife Kathy, he moved full time to his second career as a grape grower and vintner. His partner, Charlie Dollbaum, took his years of private winemaking to a new level with Carica Wines. Winemaking’s marriage of art and science comes naturally to Charlie, who originally trained in the biological sciences at UC Davis, and then turned his decades of experience in medical research and biotech laboratory science to enology. Beginning with the 2005 crush on September 23, he has directed every step of Carica’s winemaking process.
Visit the winery at www.caricawines.com
Wines
Sauvignon Blanc 2007
The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc is a blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Sauvignon Musque and made in a classic style like the great wines of Pouilly Fumé and Sancerre. Starting in 2007, the winery started to experiment with harvesting the Sauvignon Blanc on the early side, to encourage a fresher, crisper style. Aged primarily in stainless steel, 10% was fermented in French-oak barriques with regular batonnage before being blended back into the tank-fermented wine prior to cold stabilization. This wine has clean, classic Sauvignon-Blanc aromas of fresh-cut grass and grapefruit, along with tropical notes of guava, lychee and pineapple, and an intriguing hint of lavender. Featuring hints of grapefruit, guava, fig and passion fruit, the wine has a slightly creamy, prolonged, refreshing lime-accented finish. 522 cases produced.
“Fragrant tropical fruit and floral notes are crispt and mouthwatering on a light frame, showing dried pineapple, citrus and mango notes, with spicy finish.”
89 points, Wine Spectator Website, 2009
“This lovely, single-vineyard Sauvignon Blanc showcases bright, ripe fruit with crisp acidity, and manages to finish dry. It’s creamy textured, packed with lemon, lime and pink grapefruit flavors, and richer notes of melons, figs, wild honey, vanilla and smoke.”
90 points, Wine Enthusiast
Sonoma County “Kick Ranch” Syrah 2006
Carica’s 2006 “Kick Ranch” Syrah is intense and beautifully balanced. Aromas and flavors of plum and blackberry mingle with dark chocolate, warm spices, and slight hints of fresh leather. There is an underlying earthiness, characteristic of the Northern Rhone’s finest wines. Ripe, fruity tannins provide a velvety, persistent finish with accents of pepper and smoke. Harvested in the first half of October, the clusters of three syrah clones, Hermitage, 470, and 877, were de-stemmed, cold soaked for up to 5 days, and then whole berry fermented. The grapes were combined and fermented together, after the initial cold soak, in small open top fermentors with 3 punchdowns per day. The wine was aged 18 months with minimal intervention in a combination of both new and used French- and American-oak barrels. It was bottled unfiltered and unfined.
“Beautifully crafted, pure and focused, this is full-bodied, offering juicy, vivid blackberry and wild berry fruit, with shades of plum and black cherry that coat the palate. Long and supple on the finish. Drink now through 2014. 255 cases made.”
93 points, Wine Spectator, 03/09
Sonoma County “Kick Ranch” Syrah 2007
Carica’s 2007 “Kick Ranch” Syrah is rich and intense. It offers aromas and flavors of plum, blackberry, fig, black cherry fruits. The nose also shows a rose perfume, dark chocolate, coffee and warm spices. There is an underlying earthiness of tobacco and leather and game, characteristic of the Northern Rhone’s finest wines. Ripe tannins provide a velvety, persistent finish with accents of pepper and dark chocolate and smoke. The lively acidity and rich flavors of this syrah make it a perfect pairing for grilled meats and rich stews. Harvested in the first half of October, the clusters of three syrah clones, Hermitage, 470, and 877, were de-stemmed, cold soaked for up to 5 days, and then whole berry fermented. The grapes were combined and fermented together, after the initial cold soak, in small open top fermentors with 3 punchdowns per day. The wine was aged 18 months with minimal intervention in a combination of both new and used French- and American-oak barrels. It was bottled unfiltered and unfined on May 25, 2009. Only 174 cases produced.
An inkier, denser effort, the 2007 Syrah Kick Ranch does not reveal the complexity of its sibling, but it exhibits lots of creme de cassis fruit intermixed with smoky, blackberry notes in a meaty, full-bodied, powerful style displaying good balance as well as a distinctive earthiness. It will be even better after another year of bottle age, and should last for a decade or more…These are two impressive offerings from Sonoma’s Kick Ranch.”
89 points, Wine Advocate, 8/2010
Sonoma County “Kick RanchTemptation Red” 2007
The 2007 Temptation proprietary red wine is a delicious blend of the Rhone varietals Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre and shows refined power and complexity. Aromas of cassis, red currants, violets, rose petals, pepper and smoke introduce earthy and spicy flavors, with white pepper and vibrant tones of red cherry, blackberry and black-cherry fruit, followed by notes of herbs de province and roasted meat characteristic of the Northern Rhone’s finest wines. The Syrah was harvested in the first half of October, the clusters of three syrah clones, Hermitage, 470, and 877, were de-stemmed, cold soaked for up to 5 days, and then whole berry fermented. The grapes were combined and fermented together, after the initial cold soak, in small open top fermentors with 3 punchdowns per day. The wine was aged 18 months with minimal intervention in a combination of both new and used French- and American-oak barrels. For the 2007 vintage, the Grenache and Mourvedre in Temptation were grown at the Shake Ridge vineyard in the Sierra foothills of Amador County, but in future vintages should come from plots at Kick Ranch. Only 200 cases produced.
“Intense, rich and layered, with tiers of blackberry, wild berry, plum and boysenberry. Full-bodied, with pleasant earthy notes and touches of creamy, toasty oak. This returns to its rich core of berry flavors, turning fleshy and concentrated.Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre. Drink now through 2016.”
92 points, Wine Spectator, 12/09
“The 2007 Temptation, a fascinating blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre, represents a very good value filled with personality and soul. It possesses abundant red and blue fruit notes, sweet tannin, and hints of pepper, meat juice, and Provencal herbs. Round, seductive, and luscious with a dark plum/purple color, it can be enjoyed now and over the next 3-4 years… These are two impressive offerings from Sonoma’s Kick Ranch.”
89 points, Wine Advocate, 8/2010