Every year Clos LaChance has a company meeting. Everyone in the company attends and employees present their previous years results and their plans for the upcoming year. It is pretty informative and interesting...especially the tasting portion. Stephen and his team put together a pretty extensive tasting...a "State of the Winery" so to speak. We taste blends he is getting ready to bottle in the coming year, as well as juice that has just come in that previous harvest.

Below are a few notes that I thought were interesting on new products being introduced this year:

-2007 Sauvignon Blanc, which is going into the Hummingbird Series. Very grassy, gooseberry with a nice balance of acid. I think this is going to be good. (will be available this Spring)

-2006 Late Harvest Semillon, in the Estate Series. This is really good. A nose of honey, light petrol and floral....can also smell some of the wood from barrel ageing. Flavors of peaches, fruit cocktail and honey. Can't wait for this to go into bottle (will be available this Fall).

-2006 Estate Zinfandel. We decided not to do an Estate Zin last year because we had som many new products coming out...the Estate Cab, Syrah, Malbec, SSS Meritage and Lila's Cuvee. But this year, it was impossible to say no. It is really something special. From hillside blocks in the vineyard. Walnuts, orange peel and rich bramble berries on the nose. This will be a BIG Zin--at 16% alcohol. (will be available this Fall).

-2007 Late Harvest Zinfandel and NV Zinfandel Port: Two dessert wines that will also be available in the Fall. Both are really great...but my notes are a little fuzzy, as it was the end of the tasting day for me...and I was about 30 wines deep.