Benziger Wine Dinner with Chris Benziger at the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas

“If I hurt you, I’d make wine from your tears”
Never Tear Us Apart by INXS

We are excited to be starting the year off with an event featuring this landmark Sonoma winery. The Benzigers are a family owned and family run winery that has been around since the early 1980's. Over the years we have seen almost every member of the Benziger Family, there are currently eight family members that work at the winery; Bob, Mike, Mark, Tim, Joe, Erinn, Kathy and we have Chris Benziger in town for this event.

They started their family wine venture in 1982 with a line of inexpensive varietal wines under the Glen Ellen label and saw immediate success with these wines but making millions of cases of inexpensive wines was not the initial goal so in 1993 they sold the Glen Ellen brand and began to focus on their estate wines and their Benziger Line of Sonoma wines that utilized their estate fruit and some premium growers fruit as well.

The line-up has changed over the years and today they offer five different brands at Benziger Winery: Tribute, de Coelo, Signaterra, Estate wines and the Benziger Family label.  Chris Benziger will be here to explain the family's newest releases and fill us in on what's new at Benziger Winery.

Our first event may also be the best value of the year, although we have not hosted an event with the Riverside Hotel in years, it is a beautiful property and the menu looks great.  They have prepared a special five course tasting menu to try with the wines and the fee for this evening is $45 + tax + Gratuity, for reservations call 954-523-9463.

Benziger Wine Dinner with special Guest Chris Benziger
at the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas
Tuesday, January 8th 2012
7pm

First Course
Avocado  and Bay Scallop Ceviche

Benziger Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma County 2010
Price: $17.25       Sale $15.18          Case $176

Fresh melon and white grapefruit, fresh bailed hay and some salt like mineral component.  Contracted fruit from a sustainable group of growers.  Fresh and clean on the palate with a slight spritz on the tongue leaves you salivating for food that light salty component on the finish.  Finish 30+         Very Good

Second Course
Spaghetti Cacio Pepe Black Garlic

Benziger Chardonnay Carneros 2010
Price: $17.25       Sale $15.18          Case $176

Most of the fruit sourced from the Sangiacomo Vineyard, sur lee aged, batonnage, nice ripe tropical fruit on the nose, peach and red delicious apple with notes of crème brulee and lightly buttered toast.  A smooth and creamy wine on the tongue with nice richness and ripe fruit but has good freshness and a nice touch of oak spice at the end.  Finish 35+                Very Good +

Third Course
Duo of Braised Pork Belly served with Roasted Corn, Carrot and Lentil Succotash & served with Purple Potatoes and Red Wine Gravy

Benziger Merlot Sonoma County 2008
Price: $20.25       Sale $17.82          Case $207

A bit of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend.  Sourced from a warmer vineyard sites in Sonoma they have been working with these vineyards for a decade, a bit from Sangiacomo and northern Sonoma.  Ripe plum and dark cherry fruit with notes of fine herbs and black earth, some peppery tobacco spice.  Black plum and cherry fruit on the tongue with some of that black earth.  fresh and fine tannins on the finish.  Finish 35+    Very Good

Benziger Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 2009
Price: $22.25       Sale $19.58          Case $227

All five Bordeaux varietals in the mix.  Benziger is planted to 40 acres of vines the rest of the grapes are purchased.  Dark currant and cassis  berry fruit, espresso and bitter coco like notes and some fine herbs.  Smooth black currant berry fruit with some of that spice and earth notes from the nose through the finish, very smooth and drinkable style.  Finish 40+                Very Good

Fourth Course
Pan Seared Muscovy Duck Breast with Roasted Cauliflower puree

Benziger Tribute Sonoma Mountain 2007 
Price: $85.50       Sale $75.24          Case $872

All estate biodynamically grown, a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petite Verdot make up the rest of the blend.  Dark cherry and cassis berry liqueur on the nose with dark chocolate and soy like spice with dark damp earth.  Dense and rich on the tongue with layers of dark berry fruit and toasty oak spice with excellent freshness and firm tannins at the end, this wine needs a bit of time but has all the right stuff.  Finish 45+            Most Excellent

Fifth Course
Chocolate Bar Pistachio Macaroon served with Dried Fruit and Nut Compote

This Tasting is $45 + Tax + Gratuity, for reservations call 954-523-9463.

A bit of History on Benziger Winery:

Bruno Benziger was just one of the many mixed bag of dreamers who decided to pull up stakes and change lifestyles, move to California, and open a winery. In the 1960's and 1970's Bruno was a very successful president of a New York import-export wine and liquor business. However, he was tired of "life in the big city"; and in 1980 he uprooted his entire family from Westchester, New York, and moved to Glen Ellen in the heart of Sonoma wine country. The move was spurred by Bruno's oldest son Mike, who entered the wine business as a buyer after graduating from Holy Cross in 1972. He later got a degree in enology from UC Davis and worked at several wineries. In 1980 Mike located a site in Sonoma's fertile valley right next to the famous Jack London Ranch - a property which has supplied grapes for some notable wines by Kenwood Vineyards. He convinced his father to buy the parcel, which had twenty-five acres of grapes (sauvignon blanc on the terraced hillsides and cabernet sauvignon next to the road into the property). Mike visited the property and negotiated a deal with its off-beat owner - someone who wanted out because he was becoming notorious in Sonoma for his alleged experimentation in the production of marijuana!  With the help of friends and the entire Benziger clan, winemaking facilities were erected in the first year and completed just in time for the 1981 crush. The winery was christened Glen Ellen Vineyards - a name that dates all the way back to 1868. The original owner, Julius Wegner, was granted the land by General Vallejo in turn for constructing the general's magnificent residence. The original vineyards were planted to zinfandel; Mrs. Wegner's diary shows sales of this wine to Jack London himself.

The initial receptivity to Glen Ellen's first releases was remarkable. Each won numerous gold medals and "Best of Show" awards - a very auspicious beginning for the Benzigers of Glen Ellen. However, what really made Glen Ellen a household word was its inexpensive varietal line. The original plan was to produce super-premium varietal wines from grapes grown on the vineyard estate and to offer generic wines that would create quick cash flow. Introduced on July 4, 1982, the Glen Ellen "Proprietor's Reserve" wines became an overnight success; production grew beyond the wildest dreams of the Benziger family. By the mid-eighties the winery neighbors were complaining that tanker trucks brimming with grapes were rumbling into the Glen Ellen winery at all hours of the day and night to keep the Benzigers supplied with the raw materials for their generic line. Although the "Proprietor's Reserve" line once had its critics who were concerned with the bastardization of the word "Reserve", history has forgotten the naysayers and now credits the Benzigers with introducing many Americans to Cabernet and Chardonnay in the affordable $5 price range. Coinciding with the rapid growth of the Glen Ellen brand, the Benzigers decided to give their other wines a new identity so that the public would not continue to confuse them with the inexpensive "Proprietor's Reserve" brand. In 1988 they rolled out their first wines under a sharp, new Benziger of Glen Ellen motif - these were wines produced directly from the estate as well as special lots purchased from independent growers. The first releases under the new Benziger label were good, but it took another year for the Benziger name to catch fire. Things really took off in 1990 with a number of the Benziger wines garnering top ratings. In the summer of 1989 Bruno Benziger passed away; perhaps it was only fitting that the winery's first Meritage wine - christened "Tribute" in homage to the late family patriarch - was a sensation at the 1990 wine judgings. The 1987 Tribute Red, one of the most decorated premium wines in recent memory (a blend of 42% merlot, 31% cabernet, and 27% cabernet franc), walked away with five gold medals, including several "Best of Show" and "Best of Category" awards. In fact, every wine released by Benziger in 1990 won gold medals at one of the major wine judgings.

By 1990 sales for the Glen Ellen "Proprietor's Reserve" line were in excess of three million cases annually. The Glen Ellen brand was so successful, in fact, that the Benzigers pressed ahead with another parallel line of inexpensive varietals under the M.G. Vallejo brand - sales quickly leaped into the 300,000 case range and climbed to half a million by 1992. In late 1993 the Benzigers, a family that had never planned to run a three million case winery, jumped at an opportunity to return to their beginnings. The entire wine industry was caught by surprise when it was announced that the 3.7 million case operation of Glen Ellen and M.G. Vallejo was sold to Heublein, Inc., the giant Hartford-based wine and spirits group. The rumored price (never confirmed) was in excess of seventy million dollars!! The Benzigers retained their estate in Sonoma and are now hard at work at their original goals of creating only small lots of artisan-crafted wines. The family has now begun to concentrate on three distinct lines: the limited production Tribute Red & White, sourced entirely from their 85 acre estate ranch; their unusual and limited "Imagery Series" (small bottlings of unique varietals from special vineyards around the state); and an excellent line of regional wines almost exclusively from Sonoma County. The estate ranch, a veritable Sonoma County showpiece, utilizes state-of-the-art farming methods and expensive trellising systems. No expense was spared to turn it into a model vineyard which now attracts the interest of every major grower and winery in California. The Benziger clan, the paradigm of young and enthusiastic American ingenuity, has perfected the prototype wine estate (a process which they actually trademarked with the term "farming for flavors").

Among the regional wines sourced from independent growers, Benziger procures chardonnay from Alexander Valley and Carneros; cabernet from Sonoma's Alexander Valley and Dry Creek Valley, and zinfandel from Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley. Some of the fumé blanc is sourced from outside Sonoma, and part of the pinot noir comes from the Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara.

The "Imagery Series", according to winery president and chief winemaker, Mike Benziger, is "an opportunity for the Benziger winemakers to exercise their creative juices." Twelve to fourteen wines are produced - each with an impressive work of original art adorning the label. Benziger claims that the attempt here is to showcase esoteric wines and "endangered species" by making wine with bold, lush exotic flavors. The estate wine program (never more than 5,000 cases) is in a state of transition because of replanting (begun in 1987) of the entire vineyard because of phylloxera. The Estate Cabernet was discontinued with the 1991 vintage; today there are two estate wines now produced - a Tribute Red and Tribute White (Both Meritage Blends). However, the Benzigers have continued to produce critically acclaimed regional wines that bear Sonoma County appellations- all are particularly good values. For the Sonoma County wines, the winery purchases enough grapes to make about 34,000 cases of Cabernet; 40,000 cases of Chardonnay - a Sonoma bottling (10,000 cases) and a Carneros bottling (30,000 cases); 17,000 cases of Fumé Blanc; 16,000 cases of Merlot; 1500-2500 cases of Pinot Noir; and 2000 cases of Red Zinfandel. The Benzigers announced in August of 1996 that they have purchased a 64-acre pinot noir vineyard in the heart of Oregon's Willamette Valley nearby such stalwart producers as Ponzi and Adelsheim.

Other Wines Available from Benziger Winery:

Benziger Sauvignon Blanc Signaterra 2010
Price: $27                             Sale $23.76          Case $276

(87 Points) Intense lemon, lime and green apple flavors have a gutsy acidity, with spice and lemongrass details on the finish. Drink now. 2,772 cases made. –MW  Wine Spectator, Issue: Aug 31, 2012

Benziger Pinot Noir Russian River 2010
Price: $27.75       Sale $24.42          Case $283

Winery Notes:  Our Russian River Valley Pinot Noir exudes flavors of fig, plum and lush cherry. Sweet earthy elements are followed by notes of tea and toast.

Benziger Pinot Noir Signaterra Bella Luna 2008
Price: $49.50       Sale $43.56          Case $505

(90 Points) "Ruby-red. Sexy aromas of dark berry preserves, candied rose and anise, with a suave vanilla note that gains strength with aeration. Lush and creamy in texture, with slightly jammy black raspberry and mulberry flavors showing a bit of back-end heat. Leads strongly with its fruit and finishes with serious breadth and cling. Pretty much a fruit bomb but extremely easy to drink and flat-out delicious. "  International Wine Cellar

Benziger Three Block Signaterra 2007
Price: $54                             Sale $47.52          Case $551

Winery Notes:  Our 2007 vintage of Three Blocks is composed of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot. In this blend the structured Cabernet is softened and rounded out by the lush Merlot. In the glass, dark berry flavors are enhanced by aromas of dark chocolate, coffee and pepper. The wine has a weighty mid-palate and smooth, soft tannins.

Benziger Syrah North Coast 2008
Price: $14.75       Sale $12.98          Case $151

Boasts earthy aromas and flavors of black fruit, tobacco and herbs, with pepper on the long finish. The wine is medium-full-bodied with supple tannins