Farmers Market Season is Here!

As we start another blog posting with "Spring weather is upon us". The farmers market season is shifting into fifth gear so we would like to let you know which market we're participating in. We love farmer's markets! You can purchase all of our products at all of markets we participate, even wine! How many farmer's markets can you purchase wine at?

Here's the list, hope to see you there!

- Thursdays, Willits, 3-6 pm; http://www.mcfarm.org/willits.html
- Fridays, Mendocino, 12-2 pm; http://www.mcfarm.org/mendocino.html
- Saturdays, Ukiah, 8:30-12 pm; http://www.mcfarm.org/ukiahs.html
- Sundays, Sebastopol; 8:30-12 pm; http://sonoma.com/thingstodo/farmers_markets/featured.html

Mention this posting and we'll give you a 100% sincere thanks and a hug for supporting our cause!

What's in a Label?

     So here it is, the story of the "Fishy Label" on our '06 Reserve Chardonnay bottle. Well as you may or may not have noticed, all of our olive oil, wine, and honey labels have a reoccurring theme; local Northern CA wildlife to be exact. There are owls, coyotes, bees, and mountain lions which we depict on all of our labels except the 2006 Reserve Chardonnay, on which resides a strange looking fish strait out of "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou". If you haven't seen the movie, please indulge yourself :).

     This fish is not a rather cartoonish rendition of a species from the nearby Russian River. It is a painting by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel, aka, Ernst Haeckel, born 1834, died 1919. Here we thought Spaniards had long names. Ernst Haeckle was a German biologist, author, artist, and several other monikers somebody on Wikipedia tagged him with. As somewhat of a champion of biology, he coined many terms which are still widely used today such as ecology and phylum. He was a major supporter of Charles Darwin and heavily promoted his theories in Germany. Mr. Haeckel traveled quite extensively and drew rather lavish renditions of species he observed and even named. A quick peruse through some of his art works reveals a scientist with an amazing artistic side, or maybe the other way around?
 
     Anyways, as we were going through the process of designing new labels and Lucien dug up the fish drawing. It's a very beautiful drawing as many of Haeckel's are, and it might not be a member of the local ecology but it's still an animal, thus not entirely deviating from the theme of our labels. Being manufacturers and proprietors of wine and olive oil, we're inclined to have an artsy streak in us. The label has been received well overall with a few skeptics out there. All in all, it's been flying off the shelves in most places but has still received some negative response. After much battling we resigned to agreeing that we can see how people might find the label a little peculiar however we still love it and at the end of the bottle, it's what you just drank that counts. Right?

Link to tasting notes
Ernst Haeckel Wikipedia

Sparkling Wine Review

The great guys at organicwinereview.com have once again featured a stellar review on a Terra Savia wine. This time it's the '06 "Blanc de Blancs" Sparkling Chardonnay. Included in the interview are a few great tidbits on information on the the wine that only a master winemaker can clue us in on.
Thanks O-Winereview!

Passport Weekend Coming Up!

Wine and Olive Oil Lovers,
   The time is again drawing near for the Annual Hopland Passport weekend on May 1st and 2nd For a very reasonable price of $35, you will have the opportunity to taste the fabulous wines coming out of our corner of Mendocino County. On Saturday, MTA will provide shuttle service between local wineries and motels so you don’t have to worry about driving. As this is a well-attended event we highly recommend purchasing tickets in advance. Additional information can be found at http://www.hoplandpassport.com/.

   In conjunction with Passport Weekend, there will be a couple of events going on at Terra Sávia. First, celebrate with us the pre-release of our 2009 Chardonnay on a sunny Northern California afternoon. . Second, the 2006 Meritage and the Pinot Noir will be on sale. Mix and match if you like, the case discount will be 20% if you become a member, which is free of charge. Our 2009 olive oils and honey will also be available..

   Don’t think the appetite you’ve built up from so much moving around will be ignored either! The barbeque will be roaring, offering up some mouth-watering tri-tip to go along with that Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon you just enjoyed while listening to some great live music. Because this Hopland event keeps getting better and better , this year promises to be another excellent one. We look forward to seeing your beautiful, smiling faces at the Terra Sávia headquarters this May!