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And Now for Something Completely Different…

Our Spring series of Wine Dinners concludes on THURSDAY MAY 30 at 6:30 with a most unusual tasting of the wines of BANSHEE WINES. Only ten years old, BANSHEE has made a name for itself in the most competitive wine region in America, Northern California. With their style and panache, they are the epitome of hip, cool and far-out California wine culture.
And BANSHEE achieved this status by vinifying grapes from the three most famous wine valleys in America: Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino. Lip-smacking Rosé of Pinot Noir, crab-worthy coastal Chardonnay, the gentle giant that is Mordecai, and of course, some of the best damn Pinot Noir in the country.

We will taste five of their latest releases, paired with a five-course menu. Cost for this dinner is $65 per person, including all food and wine. RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED! Please call Stellina in person at 617-924-9475 to insure prompt confirmation.

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Banshee Wines was launched in 2009 with eight barrels of coveted Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and the initial intent to make wines that tasted like the best California had to offer, priced so that everyone could enjoy them. The Banshee team developed strong relationships with the owners and growers of some of the best and most coveted vineyards in Sonoma, working in lock step with them to produce wines of depth, purity and balance.

Today, their mission remains the same as it was in those early days – to craft distinctive wines that over-deliver in every possible way.

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MENU

ROSE (MENDOCINO)

Arugula Salad with Faroe Islands Salmon

CHARDONNAY (SONOMA)

Avocado Pesto, Sriracha Garganelli & Grilled Wild Shrimp

CABERNET SAUVIGNON (NAPA)

Wild Boar Ragu with Gemelli

MORDECAI PROPRIETARY RED BLEND (ANDERSON, SONOMA, NAPA, MENDOCINO)

Ricotta Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms, Asparagus, Fontina

SULLIVAN PINOT NOIR (SONOMA)

Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Gorgonzola, new potatoes

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The following is from the San Francisco Chronicle:

BANSHEE: THE HIP PLACE FOR OUTSTANDING WINE IN HEALDSBURG

By: Stacy Briscoe

If I lived down the street, Banshee is where I’d hang out…. Whether you come in when the doors open at 11 a.m. or join the cocktail-hour crowd just before it closes at 7 p.m., you’ll likely see every couch cushion and barstool filled with customers so relaxed; it’s hard to tell the tourists from the locals.

WHAT TO TRY: For those who aren’t quite fans of what has become the classic California-style Chardonnay (buttery, creamy, popcorn-y), the Banshee’s Sonoma Coast Chardonnay may be right up your alley. With native yeast fermentation and combination stainless steel and barrel aging, the freshness and acidity of the fruit seem to come through more than any oaky nuances. More of a red wine drinker?

INSIDE INFO: The Mordecai Proprietary Red Blend is an exciting mixture of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Zinfandel, Merlot, Carignan, Cabernet Franc and Cinsault. Because the wine is inspired by both Bordeaux and Rhone Valley wines, the boys at Banshee couldn’t rightly call it either. So, they decided to simply call it Mordecai, after the pet eagle from Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

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ABOUT THE WINERY:

Banshee Wines was founded by three friends (Steve Graf, Baron Ziegler and Noah Dorrance) from the Midwest and East Coast who shared a passion for wine and a lifelong dream of owning their own winery. Their  fascination with wine started early in life. While their peers were drinking Milwaukee’s Best, they had an affinity towards collecting European wines and hosting dorm room wine tastings. Post-college, each pursued a career in the wine industry, ranging from importing wines, to winemaking, to distribution and sales. When their paths ultimately converged in San Francisco, they shared many meals, bottles of wine, concerts, and laughs with one another.

They called it Banshee after Noah’s dog which went bananas one afternoon and started running round and round in figure eights.

Baron Ziegler, CEO of Banshee Wines

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THE WINES WE’LL BE TASTING:

BANSHEE ROSE 2017

Food & Wine:  Designated #1 Rose to drink this summer. “You’ll be hard-pressed to find a blend of Grenache, Grenache Gris, Barbera, Syrah, and Pinot Noir in a rosé format anywhere in the world. Bright and aromatic thanks to 100 percent whole-cluster pressing, with very limited skin-contact, each variety is tank-fermented separately under cool conditions to retain its steely freshness. A mélange of stone fruit and white floral notes mesh well with the tension and salinity found on the back end of the palate.” May 2018

Winery:  “White peach, citrus, and apricot blossom aromas unfold onto the palate with blood orange, rhubarb and pomegranate flavors. Lively acidity with great tension and verve with a chalky, saline quality.

Grenache, including some ancient Grenache Gris, dominates the blend providing complex, red fruit flavors and juicy body. This is reined in by Barbera’s tension with a spine of acidity while Syrah contributes a sense of ballast. The Pinot Noir (from a biodynamic vineyard) lends bright red berries and floral aromatics.”

 

 

2017 Banshee Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast

Vineyard Notes
This vintage we sourced from a variety of vineyards in the Sonoma Coast including both of our single vineyard sites, Heintz and Bohemian. These vineyards tended to deliver fully developed flavors at relatively high natural acidities, giving them remarkable length and verve.
Production Notes
The wines were gently pressed in a bladder press using a champagne cycle. Wines were settled and then racked into barrel for native yeast and malolactic fermentations (75% completed ML). Aging for 9 months in French oak of which 25% was new, with minimal bâtonnage. Cavin, Francois Freres, Dargaud and Jaegle barrels.
Winemaker Notes
The nose of this wine leans towards the orchard fruit range showing both apple and pear but also hints of tropical fruits and vanilla bean. In the mouth the wine is moderate weight but packs extraordinary depth of flavor, echoing the aroma with fuji apple, meyer lemon, sage and vanilla panna cotta. The finish is all energy with mouthwatering citrus notes.
Other Notes
100% Chardonnay

 

 

2015 Banshee Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Vineyard Notes
The fruit for our 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon hails from some of the best sub-appellations of Napa Valley with 66% from Atlas Peak, 26% Howell Mountain and 6% Napa Valley. These mountain appellations provide a bold, concentrated, and more complex Cabernet due to the rockier soils and exposure to elements that stress the vines.
Production Notes
Primary fermentation over a period of 30 days with an additional 12 days of extended maceration. It was then pressed and placed in barrel where malolactic fermentation occurred naturally. Aging for 22 months in French oak, 65% of which was new. – Darnajou, Taransaud, Gamba & Bel Air barrels.
Winemaker Notes
This Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is densely layered with intense flavors of boysenberry, melting licorice, graphite and hints of baking spices and marzipan. It delivers plush and fine tannins with great opulence and length. The core entry of sweet, dark fruit frames a well-balanced finish. This wine will play well for 15-20 years.
Other Notes
100% Cabernet Sauvignon

 

 

2016 Banshee Mordecai Proprietary Red Blend

Wine Profile
Vineyard Notes
Anderson Valley, Sonoma County, Napa Valley, Mendocino County. The very rough and unscientific formula is this: about a third Bordeaux varieties, about a third Rhone varieties, and about a third other varieties dominated by Zinfandel with a bit of this or that peppered in. An organic Carignan vineyard in Redwood Valley continues to expand its influence in Mordecai, acting as a bridge between the Rhone and Bordeaux lots.
Production Notes
Aging for 14 months in French oak – new oak on all varietals except the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Sirah, both of which saw about 40% new oak.
Winemaker Notes
An enticing nose of pepper, violets, cigar and cassis. On the palate it is a mouthwatering mélange of red berry and plum flavors backed by earthy tones of herb roasted meat and fresh black trumpet giving way to a spiceladen finish.
Other Notes
24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Zinfandel, 15% Tannat, 14% Malbec, 10% Petite Sirah, 9% Merlot, 5% Carignan, 4% Syrah, 3% Grenache

 

 

 

2015 Banshee Sullivan Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Mountain

Wine Profile
Ratings
93+ Points – Wine Advocate. June 29, 2018. Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown. “Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir Sullivan Vineyard leaps from the glass with vibrant black and red cherry notes plus hints of black raspberries, black tea, anise, lilacs and baking spices plus a touch of Provence herbs. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers wonderful freshness to the exuberant cherry and earth layers, framed by soft tannins and finishing on a floral note. 11 barrels were produced.” | 90 Points – Vinous. “The 2015 Pinot Noir Sullivan Vineyard is a very pretty and complete wine. Sweet red cherry, hard candy, spice and floral notes are nicely delineated in a pliant, beautifully textured wine that will drink well for at least a few years, perhaps more.”
Vineyard Notes
The 2,400-foot Sonoma Mountain range rises above the town of Glen Ellen, at the western edge of the Valley of the Moon. Found here are highaltitude, steep-sloped vineyards including the Four Brothers/Sullivan Vineyard which is farmed by Jim Sullivan and his sons including Patrick and Mike, who is the winemaker at Benovia and formerly of Hartford Court. Straddling the Bennett Valley and Sonoma Mountain AVAs, Sullivan Vineyard encompasses eleven acres along a ridge at an elevation of 750-900 feet where the irregular folds and crevices of the mountain create a unique microclimate, ideal for cool climate Pinot Noir. The vineyard is streaked with a variety of well-drained soil material including Sprekles clay and volcanic material. These vineyard hillsides are planted to Pinot Noir clones 777, a Vosne Romanée suitcase clone and Pommard.
Winemaker Notes
The 2015 Sullivan certainly expresses its mountainous origins with aromas of savory herbs, licorice, and Manzanita combined with a dark macerated plum note. In the mouth flavors of plum, cassis and wild blackberries emerge. These flavors are well integrated with a finely beaded but pleasant tannic structure. The fruit flavors carry through long after the wine is swallowed.
Other Notes
100% Pinot Noir

 

 

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