Halloween is always a cause for celebration at Flora Springs, and all year long we look forward to releasing our Halloween Wines. Over the last decade, these seasonal bottlings have become some of our most anticipated and highly sought after annual releases.
Read more from @drinkinnature. “As wine lovers many of us have changed our Halloween traditions, trading in the candy bags for something a bit more sophisticated. Instead of trick-or-treating, we embrace the season with a more refined, grown-up twist, enjoying an exceptional bottle of wine. Napa Valley’s Flora Springs has long been known for their tradition of crafting extraordinary Halloween-themed labels, and 2023 continues this delightful tradition with not one, but two exceptional red wines designed to evoke the spirit of the Halloween season. In their 2021 lineup, they have the hauntingly exquisite All Hallows’ Eve Cabernet Franc and the enigmatic Ghost Winery Malbec. Both are guaranteed to elevate your Halloween celebrations, whether you’re planning to gather around a campfire and share ghost stories, partake in a spooky 👻 movie marathon or host a Halloween potluck dinner where guests bring dishes that reflect the season.
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The All Hallows’ Eve Cabernet Franc graces its label with the remarkable artistry of comic book illustrator and graphic novelist, Steve Ellis. This limited-production Cabernet Franc is a powerhouse, delivering a full-bodied experience that entices the senses with the delightful flavors of a dark fruit compote composed of ripe blackberries, luscious currants and black cherries. The combined fruit flavors along with notes of molasses, savory herb and fennel will cause a delightful shiver to run down your spine. There is also a graceful infusion of vanilla (which I absolutely love) and impeccably balanced tannins in this wine that leaves an indelible impression, haunting the palate with its enchanting conclusion.
This wine should definitely be on your Autumn Wine List. 🍁
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I’m reserving the Ghost Winery Malbec for the pinnacle of Halloween itself, where I’ll savor it amidst the ghouls and goblins, to add an extra layer of enchantment to this fun and festive night. 🎃”
“I spent the past weekend creating Halloween decorations for a friend’s big party later this month and to get in the mood we popped this incredible bottle of 2021 All Hallows’ Eve Cabernet Franc from Flora Springs! Honestly, this is one of the best wines I’ve had in awhile. Delicious notes of black currant, blackberries, earl grey tea, baking spices, dried thyme and a lovely hint of vanilla and oak. I’m sad the bottle is gone! I may need to grab a few more for the rest of the spooky season.” @hayleyscellar
Creative Inspiration for your Halloween wine party and entertaining with Flora Springs and Recipes
Flora Springs Winemaker Enriquo Bertoz gives his opinions on the effects of Fog on Grape-Growing to Wine Enthusiast.
Fog is to central and Northern California’s wine country what garrigue is to Southern France’s—it’s an intrinsic part of California wine’s character.
Effects of Fog on Grape-Growing
Fog acts like a cool sip of water on a hot day for parched vines—not as great as a dip in the pool (rain), but better than the alternative (nothing).
“Fog acts like a stress reliever during the summer,” says Fulldraw Vineyard’s cofounder and winemaker, Connor McMahon. “In drought years especially, I love seeing fog, because it holds moisture in soil, tucks it in like a blanket. Fog can also protect grapes from the sun. In Paso Robles, it gets so hot—in August and September we had six days of 115 degrees. A little bit of fog makes a huge difference.”
But McMahon says that since 2011 when he began working in Paso, he’s seen a significant decrease in fog events. In a bid to create relief for struggling grapes, McMahon says he started using shade cloth in 2013.
“It’s essential to protect the fruit from direct sunlight when the rain and fog aren’t there,” McMahon says. “And we don’t want to overstress our water table and water the grapes all day, which is the alternative.”
Enrico Bertoz, winemaker at Napa’s Flora Springs, has also been alarmed by the drop in fog in recent years. “In the past few years, we have experienced a decline in the duration of the fog during the summer months,” Bertoz notes. “Ten years ago, the fog lasted through much of the day, and now it burns up more quickly in the morning. Where most of our vineyards are located in Rutherford and Oakville, we receive fog from both the San Pablo Bay and the Chalk Hill Gap in the Mayacamas, which is incredibly important.”
Bertoz explains that the fog helps “retain natural acidity in the grapes and prevent sunburn and heat damage.” And this year, Bertoz is happy to report, the growing season has delivered plenty of fog, something he also links to a longer growing season, which in turn ensures even ripening and full phenolic maturity.
At this point, a clear, traceable line from fog—or the lack thereof—to definitive effects on the development of grapes has not been established. Observations like Bertoz’s are backed up by one of the only comprehensive academic studies of fog’s impact on vegetation in general, published in Geophysical Research Letters.
Tracking the impact of fog through satellite imagery and remote sensing data, researchers say that fog has a “continuous positive impact” on vegetation in drier regions. Fog, the authors write, helps plants maintain “photosynthetic function and sustain biogeochemical dynamics,” and can reduce drought stress by up to 36% off the coast of southern California.
At Flora Springs, when the fog doesn’t deliver that much-needed hit of moisture, they cope by “adding plenty of water and pruning as few leaves as possible [to encourage shading] in the fruit zone to ensure as much water as possible was retained within the vines,” Bertoz explains, adding that the periodic watering helps counteract what would otherwise be an “expedited sugar ripening process.”
Take Nothing for Granted
Coming off the wettest winter in decades, winemakers are clear on one thing: Nothing is a given anymore.
Joe Nielsen, general manager and winemaker at Ram’s Gate Winery in Sonoma, concurs that fog is another shifting factor that vintners should begin to monitor.
“I come from the Midwest, and when I came to Northern California, the fog struck me as such an anomaly,” Nielsen says. “Fog is so important, because it acts as a natural air condition, and is essential for mitigating both the highs and lows of temperature during the growing season.”
Anecdotally, Nielsen says that he’s noticed differences in the fog, but says he couldn’t begin to estimate how much it has changed.
“There’s no way I could say we get 20% more or less at this point,” Nielsen admits. “It’s just clearly more erratic, along with everything else. But winemaking is just getting more refined every day, and because fog is so important to grape-growing, we definitely plan to monitor it more closely. We measure and track everything else in the vineyard—why not fog?”
“The weather has been so weird for the past years, it’s clear that we can’t take anything for granted,” says Dave Low, winemaker at Papapietro Perry in Healdsburg. “We’ve definitely noticed less fog in the past few years, but I haven’t noticed that it has led to a chemical difference in the grapes. They look the same, and they taste the same. But we are picking them a month earlier than we used to, and some of that is probably due to less fog.”
Fog, Low says, is something he plans to keep an eye on in the coming years, to establish if there is any link between a reduction of fog and changes in the glass.
Flora Springs produces varietal wines ranging from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and other red Bordeaux varietals. Each year the family selects a small percentage of the yield for their own wines, selling the remaining fruit to neighboring Napa Valley wineries. This selection puts the focus on quality, not quantity, resulting in hand-crafted wines that meet the family’s exacting standards. Read more about our vineyards here.
All year long we look forward to releasing our Halloween Wines.
For 13 years now, we’ve paid tribute to our ghostly history by producing special Halloween wine bottles for our Wine Club and Mailing List Members. We enjoy giving our Wine Club Members exclusive access to wines crafted with our Napa Valley estate-grown Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Read more about our tips on throwing the spookiest Halloween Party!
This year, General Manager Nat Komes, the creative spirit behind this annual endeavor, worked with comic book illustrator, graphic novelist and digital comics pioneer, Steve Ellis. Steve has created All Hallows’ Eve labels for us before, and he and Nat continue to outdo themselves. With a full harvest moon in the background, a black crow scolds a pumpkin-headed figure who seems to have fallen asleep beneath a grapevine. Is it the winemaker, worn out from the long days and nights of harvest? Or is it a disheveled stranger who wandered into the vineyard to take a nap? A fallen scarecrow? We’ll leave it to you to decide!
This limited-production Cabernet Franc is powerful and full bodied, with ripe currant, wild blackberry and black cherry fruit that will have you shivering with delight. Ancillary notes of fresh herbs, black tea and brown sugar lend complexity to the wine, and there’s a lovely integration of seductive vanilla oak. Lush and giving on the palate, this is a finely balanced Cabernet Franc with polished tannins and a hauntingly long finish.
Napa Valley is home to a number of “ghost wineries” – wineries built between 1860 and 1900 but abandoned in the early 20th century due to the vine disease phylloxera, the Great Depression, and of course Prohibition. One of these ghost wineries happens to be the home of John Komes. Originally constructed in 1885, the Charles Brockhoff Winery was an active winemaking operation for over twenty years until Prohibition forced the family out of business. It remained abandoned until the 1930s when Louis M. Martini arrived in Napa Valley, using the building mostly for storage. When his parents, Jerry and Flora Komes, purchased the property in 1977, John completely renovated the old stone winery. He lives there with his wife, Carrie, to this day. Every year we bottle a small amount of Malbec in honor of the property’s illustrious history.
Our 2021 Ghost Winery Malbec shows gorgeous purity and focus, with a dense core of ripe black cherry, cassis and violet-tinged floral notes that mingle with hints of cedar and dark chocolate. Notes of worn leather, espresso and toasty oak round out the supple, harmonious palate. The wine finishes with firm tannins and persistent notes of spice and wild berry.
Note: The article excerpted below was originally published in Forbes Magazine and can be found here.
“Think Pink: Barbie Would Approve of a Picnic of Tinned Fish and Rosé”
By Jeanne O’Brien Coffey
Pink wine. Lush orangey-pink salmon spread. How could you go wrong?
Everyone else is tying into the Barbie juggernaut, so why can’t I? Tinned fish is so versatile — in Sauternes, France, they mix sardines with cream cheese and serve it on crackers paired with Sauternes wine, naturally. For that combination, choose a young bright one, with less of the sweet intensity of an aged bottle.
We are in our pink era. So, let’s talk rosé. I’m always singing the praises of rosé as a wine that goes with everything year-round — and honestly, most Provencal rosés are custom-made to pair with fish.
The more berry-cherry offerings from other parts of the world, made with different varietals, can be a bit trickier, but there’s likely a tinned fish for every rosé. Toss a couple cans into a beach bag with some fancy crackers or a loaf of French bread — maybe some smoked olives and some sliced in-season cucumbers—and you have a perfect meal in no time that travels anywhere.
Flora Springs 2022 Rosé and smoked salmon: This cherry-fruit-forward rosé ($32), made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot and Vermentino grapes, is sustainably-farmed in Napa Valley. The big fruit flavors make it a perfect pairing with luscious (and trendy) Fishwife smoked salmon.
Fleurs de Prairie with Sardines: This lovely subtle rosé from the Languedoc ($20), with its lightly pineapple nose and dry minerally strawberry palate, is a good pairing with rich, oily Siesta Co. sardines. Made mainly with Grenache Noir and Syrah, it’s got good structure, yet even adding a squeeze of lemon to tame the oiliness of the fish, the acidity of the wine doesn’t overwhelm. And of course it’s a brilliant way to get your Omega-3s.
Proxies Non-Alcohol canned Sparkling Rosé and vegan tinned fish: While Proxies’ bone dry, limited edition beverage ($30/six-pack), made from a blend of Riesling juice and strawberries with white tea and lime zest, would totally pair with actual fish, it seems fun to serve a wine-substitute with a fish substitute — and the Mushroom Snow Crab from Seed to Surf totally fills the bill, with its sweet-savory profile. The rosé is crushable— luscious bright berry flavors and a hit of citrus balanced with good mouthfeel and a savory finish.
Beau Joie Rose Champagne and caviar: Caviar counts as tinned fish, right? Although you do need to keep it in a cooler rather than pell-mell in your beach bag. If you add this gorgeous bottle ($130), encased in woven copper and made from a 50 percent Pinot Noir and 50 percent Chardonnay blend, heads are guaranteed to turn. Bubbles in general are palate-cleansing and food friendly, so it’s no great surprise that these are a tasty combination.
Priest Ranch Sparkling Rose and uni: This fruity/peachy wine ($60), made from 100 percent syrah grapes, is less restrained than the Beau Joie, and might stand up better to some of the stronger tinned fish — I could see it being very nice with smoked mussels. Or Priest Ranch Estate Chef Dan Solomon suggests La Brujula sea urchin would be a nice complement — rich and buttery with a deep-sea flavor. If you’re feeling fancy, chef says sea urchin is best chilled, and served on warm brioche toast with a squeeze of lemon and fresh herbs (top with caviar to really gild the lily).
Our 2022 Napa Valley Rosé is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot and Vermentino grapes and is made the wine using a classic technique known as Saignée. Once the handpicked grapes arrived at the winery, we whole-cluster pressed the fruit, removing the juice from the grape skins quickly in order to preserve freshness and imbue the wine with a lovely, light pink color. Learn more about this wine.
We invite you to our St. Helena Tasting Room in Napa Valley for wine tasting while enjoying views of flourishing vineyards and the western hillsides. Plan your Napa Valley trip.
“Lauded as one of Napa Valley’s local hidden gems, the St. Helena winery and tasting room offer visitors a relaxing respite to learn some of Napa’s unique history and experience some of the region’s top-rated Cabernet, Chardonnay, single varietal, and Bordeaux blends, including their award-winning Trilogy.” — Napa Valley Life Magazine
The Komes and Garvey Family has always been farmers first, and over the years the family has acquired 500 acres throughout Napa Valley, 300 of which are planted to vineyard. With estate properties stretching from the cool, rolling hills of Carneros to the famed sub-appellations of Oakville, Rutherford and St. Helena, Flora Springs produces varietal wines ranging from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and other red Bordeaux varietals. Each year the family selects a small percentage of the yield for their own wines, selling the remaining fruit to neighboring Napa Valley wineries. This selection puts the focus on quality, not quantity, resulting in hand-crafted wines that meet the family’s exacting standards. Read more about our treasure trove of vineyards.
August 4 is National White Wine Day, and what better way to celebrate than with our new release 2022 Vermentino — a truly unique wine. Flora Springs has always been committed to creating and sharing exciting white wine. After all, it was our gold-medal winning Chardonnay that put Flora Springs on the map back in 1978. Vermentino, a wine we made specifically for wine club members, is a rare find. Sourced from a tiny, 2-acre block of organically farmed Vermentino located in Rutherford, we believe this is the only Vermentino planted in Napa Valley.
While a new varietal for Flora Springs, it is actually an ancient white wine grape, found primarily in the northeastern region of Italy, from Liguria down the coast to Tuscany — and, as we recently discovered, in that tiny gem of a vineyard in Rutherford, Napa Valley. As soon as it was harvested, we knew it was going to be compelling. Gentle handling of the grapes and lightly “oaking” the wine in seasoned French barrels yielded a bottling as irresistible as that early award-winning Chardonnay.
Vermentino is often compared to Sauvignon Blanc in body and taste. Our 2022 Vermentino is a dry, minerally white with flavors of grapefruit, citrus, honey, grated ginger and a hint of wet stone. Finely knit with zesty acidity, the wine is vibrant on the palate and carries a long, mouthwatering finish.
Pop this open for wine-curious friends on August 4 to celebrate National White Wine Day, and if they’ve been to Italy and experienced the Vermentino varietal there, so much the better! Only 200 cases were made, we anticipate a high demand and expect it to be snapped up swiftly — shop now.
White Wines to Enjoy for National White Wine Day
Our 2022 Flora Springs Soliloquy is the continuation of a remarkable journey that began in 1989. Noting the unique character of a small block of Sauvignon Blanc from our Crossroads Vineyard in the Oakville AVA, we fermented and bottled it separately as our first Soliloquy white wine. Whole cluster fermentation and seven months of aging in seasoned French oak barrels yielded a multi-faceted blend of white varietals with well-rounded flavors of grapefruit, white peach, Meyer lemon, and brown spice. At 80% of the blend, Sauvignon Blanc anchors the wine with lush flavors and zesty acidity. Ten percent Chardonnay brings a creamy mouthfeel and notes of Bosc pear and apple. Malvasia gives the wine its beguiling notes of citrus flower and jasmine.
Our 2022 Sauvignon Blanc offers bright fruit flavors of grapefruit, lime, passion fruit and mandarin orange with subtle floral notes of honeysuckle and orange blossom. The wine has a broad, creamy mid-palate with perfumed notes of lychee nut and Asian pear, and there’s a slightly nutty quality that adds to the complexity. The finish is spicy and mineral-laced, bringing the wine to a mouthwatering close.
Our Flora’s Legacy Chardonnay is a limited-production, one-of-kind wine made in honor of Flora Komes, our mother, grandmother, and the woman who inspired the founding of Flora Springs Winery. Every year we involve the whole family in the creation of this wine, a barrel selection of the finest Chardonnay of the vintage.
Note: The article excerpted below was originally published in Luxe Beat Magazine and can be found here.
“Summer Cheese, Clambake and Wine Party”
By Jill Weinlein
Summer has officially commenced, and to help celebrate the warm weather, serve a variety of cheese and wine before your clambake party!
Start with great cheese. My favorites to enjoy include Laura Chenel, a Sonoma, California producer of fresh and aged goat cheeses. Its sister brand Marin French Cheese, is California’s oldest cheese company. They have been making handmade artisan cheese at their historic creamery in Northern California since 1865. They combine traditional French cheesemaking techniques with an innovative spirit. The third is Beehive Cheese made in Utah, known as the Beehive State.
Marin French Cheese Golden Gate is a triple crème cheese offering rich and savory notes with a touch of funkiness. This cheese is best served with Flora Springs Napa Valley Family Estate wine. It was named “Best Hidden Gem Winery” in 2020 in Napa Valley Life Magazine. Founded in 1978, the estate vineyards were planted in the late 1800s. Vineyards are located in St. Helena, Oakville, Carneros, Napa Valley, Rutherford, and the Oak Knoll District. Red wines include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. White wines offered include Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé and Vermentino.
We invite you to our St. Helena Tasting Room in Napa Valley for wine tasting while enjoying views of flourishing vineyards and the western hillsides. Plan your Napa Valley trip.
“Lauded as one of Napa Valley’s local hidden gems, the St. Helena winery and tasting room offer visitors a relaxing respite to learn some of Napa’s unique history and experience some of the region’s top-rated Cabernet, Chardonnay, single varietal, and Bordeaux blends, including their award-winning Trilogy.” — Napa Valley Life Magazine
The Komes and Garvey Family has always been farmers first, and over the years the family has acquired 500 acres throughout Napa Valley, 300 of which are planted to vineyard. With estate properties stretching from the cool, rolling hills of Carneros to the famed sub-appellations of Oakville, Rutherford and St. Helena, Flora Springs produces varietal wines ranging from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and other red Bordeaux varietals. Each year the family selects a small percentage of the yield for their own wines, selling the remaining fruit to neighboring Napa Valley wineries. This selection puts the focus on quality, not quantity, resulting in hand-crafted wines that meet the family’s exacting standards. Read more about our treasure trove of vineyards.
Flora Springs’ love affair with the Chardonnay varietal began when the winery was founded in 1978. In fact, you could say that it’s Chardonnay that put our winery on the map so many years ago! It has always been one of John Komes’ favorite wines, and since that first vintage, he’s made a Chardonnay every year we’ve been in business. We’d like to think we’ve gotten pretty good at it, always using the best fruit from our Napa Valley vineyards. In celebration of #ChardonnayDay, we thought we’d take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of our favorite Chardonnay milestones.
Vineyard Manager Pat Garvey watches as our first Chardonnay grapes are processedOur first vintage of Napa Valley ChardonnayMatriarch Flora Komes oversees our first harvest
Our Napa Valley Chardonnay Gets the Gold!
Back in the 1970s and 80s, the highest accolade a winery could earn was a Gold Medal from a wine competition. Our 1979 Napa Valley Chardonnay won a Gold at the prestigious Los Angeles County Fair in 1980. The recognition put Flora Springs on the map, and made everyone, including ourselves, take our winemaking a little more seriously
Full Steam Ahead
“With that surprising win, what had begun as a hobby was becoming a business, and Flora Springs went full steam ahead with producing the very best wines possible.”
A “First Growth” Chardonnay
In 1990 Wine Spectator columnist James Laube published California’s Great Chardonnays, recognizing Flora Springs Chardonnay as one of the state’s “First Growths” for the varietal.
A Wine for The White House
Over the years Flora Springs Chardonnays have been served at dinners at The White House and the U.S. Capitol, functions attended by heads of state, congressmen and women and government dignitaries.
The Legacy Continues
Today we make three Chardonnays, our Flora’s Legacy Chardonnay, the Family Select Chardonnay, and our Jon Nathaniel Lavender Hill Chardonnay, all sourced from our estate vineyards in Napa Valley. While they differ, each one carries the signature style for which we are known: beautiful forward fruit aromas and flavors, rich body and texture from barrel aging and lees stirring, partial malolactic fermentation, and just the right amount of acid to keep the wines fresh and perfectly balanced.
“9 Places to Taste Excellent Napa Valley Chardonnay” by NapaValley.com
“While officially founded in 1978, grapes were first planted on this St. Helena property, located at the foot of the Mayacamas, in the late 1800s, which marked the start of Flora Springs’ fascinating history. The winery produces several different chardonnays, each with a unique flavor profile, from the juicy and tropical Family Select Chardonnay to the limited-production Flora’s Legacy Chardonnay, made from a barrel selection of the finest chardonnay of the vintage, in honor of Flora Komes, the inspiration for the winery.” Read more.
Plan your visit to our Tasting Room located in St. Helena, the heart of the Napa Valley.
Our Flora’s Legacy Chardonnay is a limited-production, one-of-kind wine made in honor of Flora Komes, our mother, grandmother, and the woman who inspired the founding of Flora Springs Winery. Every year we involve the whole family in the creation of this wine, a barrel selection of the finest Chardonnay of the vintage. Shop now.
Flora Springs has always been committed to creating and sharing exciting white wine. After all, it was our gold-medal winning Chardonnay that put Flora Springs on the map back in 1978. We are delighted to introduce our debut release of Vermentino, a wine we made specifically for wine club members. This wine is a rare find – it’s sourced from a tiny, 2-acre block of organically farmed Vermentino located in Rutherford.
We believe this is the only Vermentino planted in Napa Valley, making this one of just two Vermentino wines produced here. As soon as it was harvested we knew it was going to be compelling. Gentle handling of the grapes and lightly oaking the wine in seasoned French barrels yielded a bottling as irresistible as that early award-winning Chardonnay.
Vermentino is often compared to Sauvignon Blanc in body and taste. Our 2022 Vermentino is a dry, minerally white with flavors of grapefruit, citrus, honey, grated ginger and a hint of wet stone. Finely knit with zesty acidity, the wine is vibrant on the palate and carries a long, mouthwatering finish.
Pop this open for wine-curious friends eager to try something new from Napa Valley, and if they’ve been to Italy and experienced the Vermentino varietal there, so much the better!
Be the first to taste this new wine. Only 200 cases were made, we anticipate a high demand and expect it to be snapped up swiftly — shop now.
About Vermentino
Vermentino is a new varietal for Flora Springs, but it is actually an ancient white wine grape, found primarily in the northeastern region of Italy, from Liguria down the coast to Tuscany — and, as we recently discovered, in that tiny gem of a vineyard in Rutherford, Napa Valley.
Vermentino wines are typically dry, crisp, and refreshing, with notes of citrus, green apple, and tropical fruit. They are often enjoyed as a young wine, but some can also benefit from aging. Vermentino is a versatile grape that can be used to produce a variety of wine styles, including still, sparkling, and dessert wines. It is also often used in blends with other white grape varieties to add freshness and acidity to the wine.
Vermentino is a hidden gem of the wine world, with its unique combination of freshness, complexity, and elegance that make it a standout among white wines.
Note: The article excerpted below was originally published in Food & Wine and can be found here.
“41 Cabernet Sauvignons Worth Splurging On”
By Brian Freedman
These are the best bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon for your next anniversary, promotion, or big night in.
Great Cabernet Sauvignon can set you back by several mortgage payments if you’re not careful. Yet there are still plenty of splurge-worthy Cabs from around the world that ring in at under $150 per bottle…still a whole lot of money, but not in the realm of many Cab-based cult wines, or First Growth Bordeaux, which can easily stretch in to the four or five figures depending on the vintage and the provenance. The ones below, listed alphabetically, represent some of the top high-end Cabs around. They range from 2017 to 2020, and all are worth considering for special occasions as we head into the springtime holiday season of Mother’s and Father’s Day, graduations, and more. It’s also worth noting that, though a majority of these are from California, there are terrific ones that can be found from around the world, from great Bordeaux to South America, Australia, and beyond.
2019 Flora Springs Cabernet Sauvignon
There’s so much ripe, sweet, generously spiced wild red berry fruit here, like strawberries and raspberries, as well as kirsch and balsamic notes that lend this wine terrific lift and energy. These notes are for the special holiday edition bottling, a blend of two key vineyard sources, but it speaks well of the range of Cabs produced by Flora Springs, as well.
Our Holiday Bottles are our way of thanking members for their loyalty and providing them with uniquely elegant bottles ideal for festive holiday celebrations and thoughtful gifts. The brainchild of General Manager Nat Komes, whose grandmother, Flora, imbued him with a love for the holidays, each wine is meticulously etched and painted by hand, with capsules and back labels applied one by one. As the only Napa Valley winery to offer new holiday designs each year, we pour ourselves into this annual project, ensuring that each bottle is absolute perfection inside and out. Learn more.
Richard Tiedemann is a fifth-generation Napa Valley native whose family has been growing grapes here since the late 1880s.
Richard spent the better part of the 1990s as a crab and salmon fisherman in Alaska, returning to Napa Valley in 2000 to work in the Flora Springs tasting room. His love and knowledge of wine, his ability to relate to people and his passion for sharing the story of the Komes-Garvey family soon earned him promotions and a series of sales roles, with responsibility at various times for California, the northeast, the Midwest and western regions. Now, as Director of Winery Relations, Richard travels extensively throughout the U.S. as an ambassador for Flora Springs, hosting lively, interactive wine dinners and building lasting relationships with customers and fans.
“Last April I had the opportunity to do something I’d dreamed about for a long time: host a Flora Springs cruise for Wine Club Members in the Mediterranean. I was actually a stand-in for John and Carrie Komes, who at the last minute weren’t able to make the trip. Knowing that a big reason members sign up for a Flora Springs cruise is to spend time with the Komes, I brought my “A” game, determined to make the voyage just as entertaining and enlightening.
On one of our first days, I staged a blind tasting of Bordeaux varietals – Malbec,Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc. – to see if folks were able to identify the wines. Only three people got every wine right, but we all had a blast.
Our days were spent exploring awe-inspiring sites in Spain, the Canary Islands and Morocco. In the evenings we met at the Voyager Lounge where Flora Springs Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot flowed freely. And each night I hosted a small group of Wine Club Members for dinner at one of the ship’s amazing four-star (in my opinion) restaurants.
I loved spending time with these members, many of whom have long relationships with the Komes family and Flora Springs. But the best part might have been sharing photos and tales of my journey with John and Carrie when I got back. I’d sent them a post card from each port of call, which I know they appreciated. But not half as much as I appreciate them for giving me the opportunity to take the cruise of a lifetime.”
We look forward to welcoming you in Napa Valley for wine tasting while enjoying views of flourishing vineyards and the western hillsides. Named “Best Hidden Gem Winery” in Napa Valley Life Magazine’s 2020 Best of Napa Valley Awards Readers Choice & 2022 Best of Napa Valley Awards Readers Choice, we are open seven days a week by appointment. Visit Flora Springs Tasting Room.
As they say, like father like son, and Nat Komes loves to explore the world just as much as his dad, John. This October, sail away with Nat and Anne Komes and cruise the Mediterranean from Athens to Jerusalem aboard the Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ elegantly refreshed Seven Seas Voyager. Learn more.
