The holidays are around the corner, and we think Esters wine club Memberships make a great gift, so this Sunday we’re going to pour a sneak preview of our October wine club selections, with wines from all three levels of membership (and one extra, because this month’s collector red has suuuuper limited availability)

We’re featuring some absolute gems from Germany and Austria this month- here’s the wines!

Tonight we’re pouring a library release from an absolute California classic. Originally planted on top of Spring mountain on the site of the historic Mccormick Ranch in Napa Valley by Jerry and Joice Cain in the early 80s, since the early 90s the winemaking and farming have been overseen by Christopher Howell. He farms organically and strives to reflect the unique character of this special terroir and of each vintage. He uses native yeasts and a gentle manual press, and doesn’t have a strict formula for blending or maceration, working entirely according to taste from year to year. The five in Cain five refers to the five permitted red Bordeaux varietals which are all planted in the Estate Vineyard. With these five grapes Howell guides wines that are unmistakably Napa in the ripeness and complexity of their fruit, but a little bit of a throwback to more classic California winemaking- looking for finesse and expressiveness rather than power at all costs. The 2006m vintage is a wonderful example, with velvety soft tannins framing up a wine that shows off a complex array of herbs and foresty notes to complement the lush chocolate and dark fruit.