California | Wine of the Month Club's Ultimate Wine-pedia | Your Guide to Everything Wine

Domestic Selection: Pinot Noir, 1988. Paraiso Springs

August 26, 2016

Paraiso Hot Springs are situated in the Santa Lucia foothills, 40 minutes south of Salinas in Northern California’s Monterey County. While establishing the Soledad Mission, Franciscan padres used the springs’ curative waters for healing purposes. The monks also planted early vineyards there. Two hundred years later (1973), current owner Richard Smith planted modern vineyards, eleven… read more »

Domestic Selection: Chardonnay, 1990. Maddalena

August 26, 2016

If you were to try and imagine the most irregular, most unnatural, most intriguing location for a winery, would you choose downtown Los Angeles? No, seriously, I mean downtown Los Angeles! In 1917, when Santo Cambianica came from Padua Italy, winemaking in Los Angeles was truly in its infancy. He opened this winery and named… read more »

Domestic Selection: Cabernet Sauvignon, 1986. Sebastiani

August 26, 2016

Samuele Sebastiani had been born into a peasant family who toiled in the vineyards of Tuscany, Italy. In 1895, he borrowed money for his steerage to California. In 1904, Samuele Sebastiani started what was to become California winemaking history. Today, when you visit the Sebastiani Winery in old town Sonoma, you will be shown the… read more »

Domestic Selection: Zinfandel, 1990. Cline Cellars

August 25, 2016

Cline Cellars is owned by a family whose name is a household word. About a century ago, six brothers pooled their resources to put the eldest one through college, a cultural tradition in Italy. The brothers immigrated to California. They took odd jobs, in the mines, for the railroads, even as farm laborers picking fruit… read more »

Domestic Selection: Chardonnay, 1990. Mount Palomar

August 25, 2016

In 1969 radio station KBIG founder, John Poole, sold the station in pursuit of a more relaxed life style: farming. He acquired a 173 acre property and planted 100 acres of grape vines. Mount Palomar was one of the very first vineyards to be established in the now burgeoning Temecula wine growing district of Southern… read more »

Domestic Selection: Cabernet Sauvignon, 1988. Lone Oak

August 25, 2016

In 1974, the Smith horse ranch and the Hook cattle ranch were converted into vineyards. A good 250 acres of vines were planted there, split between Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Thus was the Smith and Hook Estate created as a Cabernet Sauvignon “chateau”. Our selection comes from the Lone Oak Estate, a separate… read more »

Domestic Selection: Fume Blanc, 1990. Haywood

August 25, 2016

After about twenty years in the construction industry, Peter Hay-wood’s tolerance for night meetings had waned. He longed to “get back to the land”. So, he undertook a search for the perfect vineyard. In 1973 he located, in Sonoma County, a valley of great potential, covered with oaks and brush. He judged, from the harshness… read more »

Domestic Selection: Mourvedre, 1988. Francal

August 23, 2016

If you have been with us for about a year, you will remember Cask One Sauvignon Blanc (#291A). Well, the same people who make Cask One make Fran-cal. There is, in fact, no Francal Winery or Cask One Winery (or Plume Ridge Winery, for that matter, recalling last month’s Chardonnay, #291A…different producer, though). To make… read more »

Domestic Selection: Chardonnay, 1989. Plume Ridge

August 23, 2016

With a degree in business from California State University, Los Angeles, Christina Coulourides went to work for one of the largest specialty wine retail chains in the world. She acquired a thorough, top-to-bottom understanding of the wine business. Then, in 1981, she began working for one of California’s finest “old guard” restaurants, selecting wines for… read more »

Domestic Selection: Pinot Noir, 1987. Peacock Hill

August 23, 2016

Things certainly are looking good for us WOMC enthusiasts in 1992! I would never have imagined that Paul could find two lovely Pinot Noirs within such a short period of time (seven months), especially considering the price class of most Pinot Noirs. The last one was Tony Austin’s 1988 (#691A) sent last June. That was… read more »