Wines

Carte Blanche wines are produced with a generations-old commitment to balanced, pure, ageworthy wines. Hands-on, exacting vineyard management gives us perfect raw materials, then Atelier Melka’s classical winemaking style provides balanced, fruit-forward wines.

Carte Blanche wines represent the vintage, the grape varietal, and the land on which they are grown. Whether we produce a blend, single-varietal wine, or a vineyard-designated wine, our sole discretion and freedom in each vintage allows us to create the finest wine possible.

Chardonnay

Our Chardonnay is composed of 100% Wente clone from 25-year-old vines in the Ulises Valdez vineyard. Year after year it shines, offering up everything we love about Chardonnay: depth, weight, finesse, and brightness, all woven together seamlessly. Carte Blanche UV Vineyard Chardonnay has complex aromas of lily of the valley, fresh lemon curd, graham cracker, honey, and orange blossom. The palate is silky, seamless and fresh, with vibrant acidity lifting flavors of lemon bar, Asian pear, and blanched almond. This is a lovely, delicious wine, with aromatic depth and palate weight building with time in the glass. Production is usually limited to 150 cases.

Pinot Noir

Year in and year out, Carte Blanche Pinot Noir Sun Chase Vineyard is a tremendously elegant wine. With the vineyard situated at the top of the Petaluma Gap, just above the fog line, the fruit we harvest is truly remarkable and produces notes of black plum, rose, fresh tobacco leaf, and dried thyme on the nose. A silky first sip opens to a super refined palate with soft, fine tannins and flavors of cherry, currants, and dried aromatic herbs. If you are looking for elegance in a glass, look no further, this is it! Production is usually limited to 200 cases.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Carte Blanche Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is our Grand Vin, made to be the finest expression of Oakville we can possibly summon, thanks in part to impeccable farming by Andy Beckstoffer’s team. Deep purple fills the glass like smoke on the water. Fresh and vibrant on the nose, with striking crême de cassis aromas, accented by fig cake, blueberry jam, and mocha. In both the aromas and on the palate, the oak used in this wine’s upbringing is beautifully well-integrated. Mouthfilling, with silky fine tannins, this wine is balanced and harmonious overall, with a finish that seems to last forever. If you need to fill some holes in your cellar, this wine is built with decades to go in the tank. Production is usually limited to 350 case

The Mark

The Mark, Napa Valley is our interpretation of a Bordeaux style blend. Select vineyards and blocks are chosen and farmed specifically to attain a dense, rich wine framed by delicate, fine-grained tannins. Beckstoffer’s Orchard Vineyard Merlot offers a plump & full mid-palate, while providing ample nuance. Beckstoffer’s Missouri Hopper Cabernet Sauvignon in Oakville provides a full spectrum of rich and dark fruit, while the Sage Ridge Vineyard Cabernet Franc offers nuances of tobacco, plum, and roasted poblano. A beautiful and diverse nose reveals red fruit atop blackberry, cassis, plum, and forest floor. The palate is full-bodied, intense, showing great energy and freshness, with notes like blackberry, gravel, cassis, black cherry, and baking spices. This opulent red blend showcases first growth quality with Napa sensibility. Production is usually limited to 150 cases.

Pursuing excellence through traditional winemaking since 2007