October 31st…..yes it is Halloween. It is the day when we used to dress up as one of our characters to go out and get as much candy as we could carry. Nowadays, as we have grown older, we are either going to a party or left behind to man the door for all the children who want to fill up their pillow cases and hoard as much candy as they can.
For all the wine lovers out there, we put together and reviewed a few festive wines perfect for your Halloween festivities.
Flora Springs Family EstateOne of our favorite family estates in the valley, whom absolutely loves Halloween. Every year at this time they release their new Halloween themed wines and labels designed by various artists throughout the USA, such as Jeremy Fish from San Francisco and Wes Freed from Virginia. These bottlings include but not limited to their: All Hallows' Eve Cabernet Franc, Harvest Witch Cabernet Sauvignon, Ghost Winery Malbec and Ghost Winery Red Blend.
Not sure if you have heard about a 'Ghost Winery'. A 'Ghost Winery' is a winery that was built in the late 19th century and abandoned in the early 20th century due to reasons such as the Great Depression, phylloxera and Prohibition. For Flora Springs, they renovated and restored one of these 'ghost wineries' on their property back to its glory days, as seen on the Ghost Winery Malbec.
Ghost CellarsA little bit different to the story of Flora Springs, Ghost Cellars also has a 'Ghost Winery' story. In the Ghost Cellars Vineyard there is an old abandoned railroad car that was used during the Prohibition era as a speakeasy. Ghost Cellars is a boutique estate that only makes a Cabernet Sauvignon (around 350 cases) and a Chardonnay (around 100 cases) all from the Estrella District in Paso Robles. The labels are designed by Melinda Blue from New York.
Jon Nathaniel WinesJon Nathaniel Wines is the brother winery to Flora Springs Family Estate who was founded by the founder of Flora Springs, John Komes, and his son, Nat Komes. Continuing in their love of Halloween Jon Nathaniel Wines produces the Skull Ring Red Blend which is made up of Syrah and Petit Verdot from Napa Valley. Small production with only four barrels produced, but mighty tasty and big wine.
Kukeri WinesKukeri Wines is a small boutique winery up on Mount Veeder making Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. This is a perfect bottling for Halloween because of the mask on the label that is generally worn by the Kukeri during their traditional Bulgarian ritual. This tradition was performed in order to scare away evil spirits and help to provide fertility, bountiful harvests and happiness.
Marc Mondavi's The Divining Rod The Divining Rods are used by water witches and it aids them in locating a steady water supply. These rods are used by Marc Mondavi to honor the ancient art of water divining. Try these out for wines made by a real life water witch.
Sanguis WinesSanguis means 'blood' pretty fitting for our Halloween Themed Wine listing this year. We decided to pick two bottlings that their labels or names fit with the Halloween theme. First is the Sanguis Verve Grenache, which alone by the name does not really seem to fit but what is Halloween without a good skeleton! Next was the Sanguis My Soul is Rested, perfect wine to put all those restless souls to sleep this Halloween.
Sanguis Wines produces small lot bottlings of various white and red varietals from throughout the central coast. They believe in hard raw work, great vineyards, and proper hands on farming to produce their stunning wines. Blood, Life, Strength.
Scarecrow WinesHere is the 'Cult' wine addition to this Halloween Themed Wine listing for this year. Who has not seen a scary movie with either a maniacal Tin Man (Monsieur Ètain, think of the movie House) or a killer Scarecrow (too many to mention)?
Scarecrow Wines is cult winery that started in 1996 by Bret Lopez and Mimi Deblasio. From the start Scarecrow Wines was made as a hommage to 'The Wizard of Oz' with their Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon (1st label) and their Monsieur Ètain Cabernet Sauvignon (2nd label). Both are stunning wines (although we have only tried the second label we can just assume how good the first will be), but do come at a hefty price. If you prefer and can afford wines in this category, there would be no better way to celebrate Halloween.
Witchery WinesOne of our first loves when it came to wine. We randomly discovered Witchery Wines online back in 2014 well before we started Millennial Drinkers. They produce a total of six different bottlings each vintage: White Blend, Reserve Proprietor's Blend, Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon, Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon and Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.
Witchery got their name from the original meaning of the word from back in 1546, it meant "An Irresistible Fascination". Well what is 'an irresistible fascination' to you? To us, it could be our love of small production wineries like Witchery. How we always need to find a wine that no one knows about?
But it's not the same for everyone. The meaning of 'an irresistible fascination' for Witchery Wines is the region of Napa Valley and specifically Cabernet Sauvignon. (Trust us, they make some mean Cabs!)
Witchery Wine is a small production winery that specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon from different appellations. Their winemaker is Grant Long Jr, who some say is 'a leader in the new wave of Napa Valley winemakers'.