2/27/2016 - ToucanWines Likes this wine:

Only 32 bottles produced

10/23/2012 - ToucanWines wrote:

Laurie Daniels (wine writer): PICK OF THE WEEK 10/21/12: 2010 Toucan Wines Estate Petite Sirah ($38) This hearty red from Toucan's estate vineyard in Arroyo Grande Valley is dark and inky, with blackberry, spice, a hint of roasted coffee, fine tannins and nice freshness.

1/24/2011 - ToucanWines wrote:

In 2005 we didnt produce a separate Petite Sirah bottling - all the PS when into the Estate Zinfandel blend.

1/24/2011 - ToucanWines Likes this wine:

Our 2008 Estate Zinfandel is awesome - huge and lush! This maybe our biggest and best wine from the estate vineyard - learn more at www.toucanwines.com

Silver - SF Chronicle Wine Competition

1/24/2011 - ToucanWines Likes this wine:

Best of Class - LA wine Competition
Gold - LA Wine Competition
Gold - San Diego Wine Competition
Silver - CA State Wine Competition

1/24/2011 - ToucanWines Likes this wine:

January 4, 2011 @ Visalia Wine Society’s monthly blind tasting, 23 tasters & six (Carignane) wines, on this day Toucan Wines 2008 Carignane came out on top... email me at Doug@toucanwines.com for the chart & points by wine.

1/24/2011 - ToucanWines Likes this wine:

Our 2008 Estate Petite Sirah is big and lush - a beautiful wine which will age for years. Only 24 cases produced.

1/24/2011 - ToucanWines Likes this wine:

2008 redemption: atonement for guilt
thirty-nine bottles....redemption is a complex relationship of three stunning wines separately released, our Estate Zinfandel, Estate Petite Sirah, and our "old vine" Carignane. Independently these three wines maybe the best we’ve produced, the resulting blend shows off this amazing vintage with a very unusual and complex combination. The result is a big, forward, yet still approachable wine that you’ll want to savor until it’s gone. Retail $38 ...each bottle is signed and numbered.

This same blend was recreated in 2012 as the Toucan Wines Reserve Cuvee. Using Zinfandel and Petite Sirah from the same estate vineyard and the same old vine Carignane from Evangelho Vineyard - all blended from the terrific 2012 vintage

1/24/2011 - ToucanWines Likes this wine:

2008 irreverent: lacking proper seriousness
Only thirty bottles ...irreverent is a huge, ripe, and yet elegant wine having spent up to 20 months in new oak. The blend includes a wine not previously released, and creates a very impressive small batch, again a BIG and forward wine opening to a lush concentration of intense fruit. Worthy of aging for several years, I first poured this wine for guests at our harvest party, you may remember. Retail $45 ...each bottle is signed and numbered.

1/24/2011 - ToucanWines Likes this wine:

Our 2006 Estate Zinfandel is and Estate blend that include 19% Petite Sirah. Drinking very well now as the Petite has opened up making this a complex and very Syrah like.

1/24/2011 - ToucanWines Likes this wine:

Our 2005 Estate Zinfandel is still drinking very nicely, our 2007 Estate Zinfandel is the 05' clone.

The 2005 is sold out at the winery.

3/23/2008 - ToucanWines wrote:

2006 Toucan Wines - Carignane - Evangelho Vineyard (www.ToucanWines.com)

Our 2006 Carignane is made from rare old-vine Carignane grapes grown in Contra Costa County on vines planted in the 1890’s. The beautiful Evangelho family vineyard is home to some of the oldest vines growing in California.

Not well known, we call it Carignane in California, Carignan in France, Carignano in Italy, and Carinena in Spain – this varietal is also grown in South America, Algeria, Morocco, and South Africa. Difficult to grow, given how susceptible the varietal is to fungus and mildew, Carignane offers her best effort in pour soils from older vines. Widely planted in the southwest of France and the northeast of Spain, Carignane was the third most widely planted red-wine grape variety in California (1970’s) before Cabernet Sauvignon took over the position. Used historically as a blending wine, today Carignane is rarely produced and bottled as a 100 percent varietal.

Harvested on September 19th from low-yield 120 year old vines, grown in the Evangelho vineyard in Contra Costa County. Harvested at 25 Brix, this wine was slowly fermented after a period of cold soaking and pressed to a combination of French, Hungarian and American oak barrels. The wine was racked twice and a portion blended to our 2006 Toucan Cuvee, after a year in new and one-year old oak we felt the wine exhibited a great floral-berry nose and a forward dark-berry and fine oak taste, so on October 3rd, 2007 we bottled 73 cases of this rare and fine wine. The resulting wine is a classic 100% varietal bottling from this outstanding “old vine” vineyard.

This wine has a beautiful nose and an elegant and balanced mouth-feel – it’s drinking very nicely now especially with food and I expect this wine to hold up and improve with a year or two in the bottle.

The finished wine…
The 2006 Carignane has a rich ruby color, with a floral nose of toast, ripened berries and desirable floral earthiness; a full lush mouth feel serves up ripe berry fruit with balanced acid and light tannins. This wine is very attractive and a great choice for food service.

Harvest: September 19th 2006
Bottled: October 3rd 2007
Acid: TA .61 pH 3.54
Alcohol: 14.4%
Release: Fall, 2007 – 73 cases

3/23/2008 - ToucanWines wrote:

2006 Toucan Wines Estate Petite Sirah (www.ToucanWines.com)

2006 in the vineyard…
Warm winter days and mild nights offered every indication that rainfall would be below average. In February, we chanced pruning later than usual to delay growth and to avoid seasonal frost and the fierce winds that break shoots in May. But in typical fashion, unpredictable weather surprised the Central Coast with a rare snow flurry in February and a late rainy season including freezing nights and very cold days in March and April. Coupled with the cool weather and later pruning, by May our vine growth and bud-break was a month behind normal. With nature’s help, the summer heat-waves narrowed our delayed development to three weeks by August. Vine vigor was abundant; the result of heavy rains two years in a row. The extra growth required more effort to thin the canopy and open-up the fruit zone to airflow and sunlight. Fruit set was more consistent throughout the vineyard when compared to 2005; prior to veraison, the expected yield looked to be similar to 2005. Approaching harvest we appeared two weeks behind 2005’s schedule when a weather cycle of very cold and damp days further pushed off harvest. Mid-September offered one day in the high 90’s; the balance of September and early October came to us as cool and rainy weather.

Our estate Petite Sirah was harvested on October 10th and allowed only two days of cold soaking prior to fermenting in small open bins; free run from the completed fermentation was placed in new French, Hungarian, and American oak barrels and the pressed wine placed in new French oak. Once racked, the pressed wine was added to our 2006 Toucan Cuvee, and a portion of the free run was blended to our estate Zinfandel. The remaining two barrels of free run wine further aged in new French and Hungarian barrels and was bottled on September 14th, 2007. This our second estate Petite Sirah release from the Toucan Vineyard. Enjoy!

The finished wine…
A beautiful deep purple; forward and rich blueberry, ripe-dark fruits, sweet oak and raspberry-toast nose.

Harvest: October 10th 2006
Bottled: September 14th 2007
Acid: TA .67 pH 3.52
Alcohol: 13.1%
Release: 48 cases

Drink 2009 - 2015

3/23/2008 - ToucanWines wrote:

This Zinfandel, after a year and helf in bottle is drinking beautifully - balanced and great with food.

8/1/2007 - ToucanWines wrote:

The majority of our estate Petite Sirah was of course blended into the 2004 Estate Zinfandel blend, the remainder was bottled separately in very limited quantities. Harvested on September 9th, at 25.5 Brix, the Petite Sirah cold soaked for several days and fermented in a small 1/2 ton bin. Only the free run juice was kept and the pressed juice was discarded. The remaining wine rested for 11 months in a fine new oak barrel. This wine is a wonderfully rich and dark ruby; it's nose is ripe cherry, currant, and blackberry; tastes of riper dark berry and fresh plum fruits with acid and medium-plus tannins that will hold up to bottle aging. Enjoy now with a stand-up meal or lay down for a few years. Enjoy! SOLD OUT

Alcohol: 14.5%
Release: November 1, 2006

8/1/2007 - ToucanWines wrote:

Our first release from the 3 1/2 acre Toucan Vineyard - only 100 cases produced. The finished 2004 Estate Zinfandel a young-wine that’s developed nicely in the bottle and will further develop over the next several years. This wine is a rich dark-colored ruby-purple Zinfandel with a nose of ripe cherry and blackberry on a background of rich oak; tastes of darker fruits - cherry, currant, and what I like to call ZinBerry, a familiar full mouth-feel, with acid and medium tannins that will hold up to bottle aging. These flavors will better join together with another two-five years in the bottle. GREAT ZIN WITH FOOD!

Acid: 3.50 pH .711 TA
Alcohol: 14%
Release: March 6th, 2006 - 100 cases
Drink: 2007-2012

3/20/2008 - ToucanWines wrote:

3/20/08 - After a year and half in bottle - our 05 Zinfandel is drinking beautifully. Balance and intense with flavor, great with food.

A great year for our Estate Zinfandel! This wine is a deep garnet/purple, the nose is ripe, bright wild cherry and darker-berry fruit, spice and a forward elegance of fruit and oak; a big wine with tastes of intense cherry, black raspberry, blackberry, licorice and pepper on a platform of refined oak, a full mouth feel and a long finish.

2005 Toucan Wines Estate Zinfandel
Gold Medal - California State Fair Wine Competition (2007)
Gold Medal - Los Angeles International Wine Competition (2007)
Gold Medal - Orange County Fair Wine Competition (2007)
Gold Medal - Dallas Morning News Wine Competition (2007)

2005 in the vineyard...
A wet winter and wet spring brought record rainfall to the central coast and high winds and cold during flowering again impacted the fruit-set. Unusual late season rain extended vine and weed growth into July, and contributed to some excessive foliage growth on vines located on the lower slopes of our hills. Mild overall temperatures throughout the early summer and the usual foggy nights slowed ripening and allowed for a longer hang-time. Leaf pulling and canopy management exposed the hidden fruit to both the sun and an increased airflow. In June and again in late July, we took steps to remove all second-crop and to crop-thin every vine to maximize quality. In early August we netted the vineyard during picture perfect growing weather. Just as the vines ripened the harvest, two weeks of fog and cool 70-degree weather moved into the area. This slowed down sugars but increased hang-time. The result was a slower ripening and a full harvest of fabulous ripe fruit. I’m very pleased!

Daybreak harvesting began on September 11th, section by section as the fruit ripened, and the last of the ripe fruit was picked the morning of September 25th. Cool nights of 35-38 degrees chilled the fruit; pickers said the fruit would freeze their hands even through gloves. In the winery, the 2005 fruit came in cool and clean. Sorting for any damaged fruit was performed prior to a gentle crushing. Up to six days of cold soaking was allowed prior to fermenting in small open bins and specific lots were allowed extended maceration prior to pressing. Our small basket press performed a very gentle pressing using minimum pressure to avoid bitter flavors. The wine was placed in a variety of barrels including 70% new French, Hungarian, and American oak barrels and 30% second year French and American barrels for one year. Our total production of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah is included in this one bottling - no separate bottling of Petite Sirah produced this year.

2005 Harvest - September 11th - 25th (25.0 - 27.0 Brix)
Bottled: September 9th, 2006
Acid: 3.31 pH .8 TA
Alcohol: 14.7%
Release: 300 cases