WELCOME TO THE 2025 HOLIDAY SEASON🍷

First of all, the BFW Family would like to thank you all for your support in 2025!

As I write this I am sitting on a bus traveling into the Alentejo region of Portugal.  Polly and I are hosting a wine discovery tour for friends and customers of BFW.  It will be hard to recap everything that we have experienced and learned, but we take these trips seriously to further our wine knowledge and perhaps there’s some benefit for the wines we make.  Our regulars know that we make wines with a European influence, working to balance the fruitiness of California grapes, grape acidity for structure, and keeping the alcohol levels in check.   

Earlier today, we wrapped up a seven-day river cruise on the Douro River starting and ending in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Porto in the north.  We travelled up the river to the border with Spain and back.  On the way we tasted and learned about  the wines of both the Vinho Verde Region and the lower, middle and upper Douro River valleys.   

The wines of the Vinho Verde region, known locally as green wines, hence the name, are light and refreshing white wine, ranging in alcohol content from 9-12%.  The region is characterized by cool summers and lots of moisture as it is located near the coast, extending north from Porto to the Spanish border near the  coastal region of Galicia.  You would not recognize the grape names except for Alvarinho, which we know at BFW as Albariño.  Portugal is home to huundreds of endemic wine varieties grown nowhere else in the world.

The Douro region is a much drier region and downright hot in the summer.  It produces the majority of the wine from Portugal.  The vineyards are terraced on the steep hillsides.  This region produces port style wines, but is also known for producing still, dry wines both white and red!  The more well-known grapes of the Douro include Touriga Nacional, Tinita Franca, and Tinta Roriz.  The latter two are more commonly known as Cabernet Franc and Tempranillo!   

Ahead of us are the grapes of the Alentejo in the area east of Lisbon.  This region is the largest and hottest region of Portugal producing some amazingly well balanced white and red wines.  Stay tuned.

Fall 2024

Harvest Season has come and gone and we are excited to share with you a little about how the last couple of months have gone. 

Going back a little before harvest, our winemaker’s Chik and Polly had a great time leading a UC Davis based Study Abroad trip to France during the month of July.   In tow, they had 19 students that were very enthusiastic and excited to learn about French wine and culture.  They were based in Dijon, and traveled to Alsace, Germany, and the south of France throughout the month.  It was a great experience and very pleasing to see our Generation Z getting interested in wine. 

The harvest at BFW started early!  Probably too early for Chik and Polly, but these veterans know that when the grapes are ready, they and the rest of the team need to spring into action!  We have one chance per year to make it right, so the jetlag and overall decompression from such a great trip had to wait. 

We started with our Capay Sauvignon Blanc on August 21st and finished up with our Hammrin Hank’s Cabernet on September 19th!  Whew!   The Cabernet typically harvests in mid-October!  As we finish up the fermentations we are impressed with the wines, but it will be a little time before we can get them out to you. 

In the meantime, we have a few wines to share our thoughts on. 

·        2023 Proprietary White Wine – This vintage is 60% Semillon, 40% Sauvignon Blanc.  We love the fresh tropical flavors and creamy mouthfeel that the Semillon brings. 

·        NV RosĂ© – This non-vintage version of our rosĂ© 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Tempranillo.  The Pinot Noir lends a red fruit character to compliment the black fruit of the Tempranillo.  A little bottle aging really integrated these flavors perfectly! 

·        2021 Zinfandel, Sierra Foothills – We are surprised at this vintage!  Typically this vineyard shows more spice than cherry.  But you’ll have to come in and check out this fruit bomb for yourself! 

Along with this harvest season we are excited to announce the return of our River Cruise for Wine Lovers hosted by Chik and Polly Brenneman in December 2025!  It’s a ways out , but this trip is a must for anyone interested in the best of Portuguese local wine and cuisine on the enticing Douro River. Cabins for this 7-night river cruise are on sale now and take advantage of our special discounted price and save 20% off your cruise fair if you reserve before September 30th.

For more information ask one of our wonderful tasting room associates for some info flyers and you can also reach out to us at bandbwinecompany@gmail.com for more information.

 

Special Events:

 

Taste – UC Davis  Taste is an annual fundraising event for the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, of which BFW is a proud supporter!    The event is October 12th, from 5-7 pm on the UC Davis Campus.  For tickets UC Davis Registration

 

In the meantime, save the first weekend in November for the BFW 5-year Anniversary party.  Details to be announced!