Steve
and Marilee Shaffer are the owners of Urban Legend Cellars, established in 2009
at 621 4th Street in Oakland. With their pit bull, Sunshine, they are one
of three wineries in the relatively new Jack London Square area. Steve and
Marilee Shaffer make the wine and do just about everything else as well.
The couple,
who emigrated from the East Coast to the Bay Area, caught the winemaking bug by
experimenting in their garage before turning professional. In the winery there
is no formal tasting room. Steve and Marilee said they did most of the work
themselves, with lots of help from friends. (sourced from:
http://fthorsberg.wordpress.com/tag/urban-legend/)
Urban
Legend sources certified organic components and keeps their winemaking pretty
simple—grapes, yeast, and not much more. Their Mourvèdre is a recent addition
to our wine list and offers some different nuances than the other Mourvèdre
wines on the list. The wine has very floral aromatics. Notes of rose hips,
violets, and dusty herbs may be a product of the vineyard; Wine Tree Farm,
located just outside Amador City. 
Wine
Tree Farm is located on over 100 acres in Amador County, on one of the
historic farms, known as the Torre Ranch. The old farmhouse was built in 1902.
The farm was uninhabited for at least 20 years before it was purchased in
1998 by Corinne Moore.
Amador
County seems to be well suited to Mourvèdre, also known as Mataró and
Monastrell, it is hilly and warm. The
Shaffers describe the taste and the texture, “In the mouth, the ’09 offers soft
red fruit—raspberry and cherry with a little red licorice. It’s light in the
mouth, but a touch of Grenache rounds out the mid-palate. It’s structured, but
soft, without overly drying tannins that are often its bad dog characteristic.”
In
2011, the Mourvèdre won a Silver San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
Appellation:
Amador County
Blend: 97% Mourvèdre, 3% Grenache
Alcohol: 13.5%
Acidity: 0.55 g/100 mL
Residual Sugar: < 0.1%
pH: 3.55
Malolactic Fermentation: Complete
Barrels: 2 and 3 year old French oak
Harvest Date: October 20, 2009
Bottling Date: August 23, 2010
Release Date: October 31, 2010
Total Production: 70 Cases
Blend: 97% Mourvèdre, 3% Grenache
Alcohol: 13.5%
Acidity: 0.55 g/100 mL
Residual Sugar: < 0.1%
pH: 3.55
Malolactic Fermentation: Complete
Barrels: 2 and 3 year old French oak
Harvest Date: October 20, 2009
Bottling Date: August 23, 2010
Release Date: October 31, 2010
Total Production: 70 Cases
More
about Amador County:
In
the heart of old gold-mining country, in the western foothills of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, lies picturesque Amador County, bathed in history and filled
with the promise of a growing wine industry. Part of the larger Sierra
Foothills AVA (American Viticultural Area), Amador County is located 40
miles (64km) east of California's state capital, Sacramento.
Most
vineyards here are planted at altitudes of 1200 to 2000ft (365–609m), on
sun-drenched hillsides. The hot days cool down considerably as night falls and
breezes blow down from the Sierras, cooling the grapes and enabling them to
retain the acidity that is essential for balanced wines. Decomposed granite
soils are iron rich and laced with sandy clay loam, making them able to retain
some of the limited rainfall. These are ideal conditions for cultivating
high-quality wine grapes. A high percentage of the area's vines are also grown
organically. Wine growing is an important part of the local economy,
representing 50% of the region's agriculture.
