Bring in your old, beat up, don’t know why you have it vinyl and we will give you a free tasting worth $5. We’ll even let you listen to it one last time on our turntable. Valid anytime you’re in the mood. One tasting per album.

We have new and upcoming releases. Come by the tasting room and check them out.

2008 Branham Rosé, Napa Valley - Gary created this rosé of Petite Sirah from his Calistoga Obsidian Vineyard and right now is of course the perfect time to be drinking some with Spring here and Summer coming on quick.

2008 Banyan Viognier - From the organically farmed Wulf Vineyard in Madera, this barrel fermented Viognier is lush, perfumed, round, and another great summer wine.

2007 Hobo Rockpile Zinfandel - There aren’t really any disappointments with the 2007 vintage. The Rockpile Zin is always Kenny’s favorite of his Zins and the 07 is a standout as usual.

2007 Hobo Rockpile Petite Sirah - 32 cases produced from the Branham Rockpile Vineyard. A beast in a 75cl bottle.

2008 Folk Machine Jeanne D’Arc White Wine - Come and see what it is all about.

Tasting Highlights: California Chardonnay and Zinfandel: 17 wines show that these grapes can still offer good value in the Golden State

“We’ve been tasting a lot of Chardonnay and Zinfandel lately in our Napa office, and while consumers may grumble about the cost of wine, it’s a rare day that we don’t unbag an excellent bottle at a decent price. With this week’s selection we focus on wines that sell for $30 and less…and Hobo is a new label that’s worth keeping and eye one.” Tim Fish

Zesty and distinctive, with bold cracked pepper and licorice aromas and racy ripe plum and anise flavors. Drink now through 2013. 125 cases made. Red. —T.F.

I, Lynn, created a group for Downtown Wine and The Hobo Wine Company.  Join them both!

Dan Berger reviewed the 07 Banyan Riesling and 08 Banyan Gewurztraminer in the 2/26/09 edition of Vintage Experiences. Both wines were noted as “Exceptional.” 

2007 Banyan Riesling, Santa Lucia Highlands: A dramatic new brand with mineral notes and a complex note of citrus and dried flowers. Dry and aimed at the dinner table. 

2008 Banyan Gewurztraminer, Monterey County: Pretty juniper and spice aroma, and a soft entry, but superb acidity to balance 1%  residual sugar and low (12.5%) alcohol. Often seen in Asian restaurants

The SF Chronicle reviewed Dry Creek Valley Zinfandels on 1/23/09. They gave our 07 Treborce Zin two and a half stars and said, “This is owner-winemaker Kenny Likitprakong’s first single-vineyard Zinfandel and his first bottling from Treborce Vineyard, which is owned by Bob and Joyce Littell. Ripe cherry, chocolate and spice arroms with dark fruit, playful acidity and nice fruit tannins; a touch sweet on the finish by shows some subtlety.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/22/WI7E15ANM6.DTL

We will be participating in the big Russian River Wine Road events this year.

Winter Wineland - January 17 & 18

http://www.wineroad.com/winter_wineland/annualevents/1

Barrel Tasting - March 7 & 8 and March 14 & 15

http://www.wineroad.com/annualevents/3

For Winter Wineland, we will be pouring some new releases and for the barrel tasting, we will find a way to bring a few barrels into our downtown tasting room. It’s not set in stone yet, but Gary will probably be theifing 08 Rockpile Zinfandel and Kenny will probably thief some 08 Viognier.

Check out James Knight’s review of Downtown Wine in the December 10 issue of the North Bay Bohemian.

http://www.bohemian.com/bohemian/12.10.08/swirl-0850.html

Downtown Wine is a tasting room for Branham Estate Wines, The Hobo Wine Company, Banyan Wines, and The Folk Machine. Gary Branham and I were offered the storefront of 132 Plaza Street early in October so we decided to go for it. We took the lease October 20th, started in on mad redecorating and license applications and got the door open November 16th. Please come check it out!

KL