2014 Calluna Vineyards Calluna Vineyards Cuvee 750 ml

I absolutely love the richness and detail you can find in great Cabernet blends from Sonoma’s Chalk Hill AVA. I discovered the true potential of the Chalk Hill AVA during my time at Jackson Family where I got to work with Vérité Wines, that have earned an astounding 15 perfect 100-point scores. A few years later, I would make the short drive up a few hills within Chalk Hill to arrive at the Calluna Vineyards Estate — the best discovery I’ve made in Chalk Hill, period. The 2014 Calluna “CVC” offers masculine aromatics of leather, pipe tobacco and damp forest floor, with surprising muscularity in the mid palate while finishing with finesse. Its texture is rich, defined and sophisticated, with a mouthfeel that displays great tannin integration into fullness of ripe fruit. This CVC brings all of these components together at a remarkable $29.99 per bottle. Secure yours now.

At the age of 44, Calluna owner and winemaker David Jeffrey moved his family from New York City to California, enrolled in Enology school and began making wine. Two years later he found himself working under legendary consulting winemaker Alain Reynaud at Château Quinault L’Enclos in Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux. Reynaud, the former president of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, also made wines at Château Lascombes and consulted for Napa’s standout winery, Colgin Cellars.

Under Reynaud’s tutelage, Jeffrey learned first-hand the different structural relationships and texture that each Bordeaux variety imparts to a wine’s blend — invaluable lessons.

When Jeffrey set out to select the home of the Calluna Estate, he looked for a location that would slow down the ripening cycle of the hot California sunshine. After years of searching, he found the perfect piece of land perched between 500-700 feet in elevation, in the middle of the Chalk Hill AVA. Of the entire 80 acres property, he planted only 12 acres of vines which showed the best exposure, drainage, soil and slope. Everything made at Calluna, is grown at Calluna.

The elevation exposes Calluna’s Estate vineyards to the same ocean breezes that whip through the Russian River Valley — effectively slowing down the ripening cycle, allowing for the nuance that comes from grapes with longer hangtimes. Every vine is farmed and tended to by Jeffrey himself — he would have it no other way.

I am not the only person who recognizes David Jeffrey’s talents as a winemaker. Wine & Spirits named Calluna Vineyards one of its Top 100 Wineries in 2015. Robert M. Parker Jr. has taken note of Calluna wines by saying: “This is impressive wine made very much in an elegant French Style, but with the California purity and ripeness of fruit well displayed.” Features in Wine Spectator, along with high praise from Stephen Tanzer of Vinous, Jancis Robinson MW and others continue to pour in — and it’s created a high demand for Calluna’s CVC.

At just $29.99 per bottle, I hope you take this opportunity to share in the Calluna experience.

Sur Lucero MS

Master Sommelier

Vice President of Wine, Wine Acces