All of our fruit is hand-sorted across a 4’ x 10’ stainless table. At this point, we sort out all overripe, under-ripe, mold, mildew, or anything that is MOG… material other than grapes. This allows us to use only about 1/10 of the amount of sulfites as other full bin dumping establishments.
2020 Frog’s Tooth Reserve Sangiovese, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
Sourced from El Dorado County in the Sierra Foothills, from vines brought from the Tuscan region of Brunello di Montalcino… can’t call it that in the States! Interesting flavors of rose petals and red berries. Soft, round tannins. Great food wine that pairs well with everything from classic Italian dishes to roasted meat or seafood.
Specs
Appellation: Sierra Foothills
Barrel Regime: 30% new French oak
Alcohol: 14.3%
pH 3.6
TA 6.8 g/L
2021 Frog’s Tooth Petite Sirah, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
Bing cherry, blackberry and sage. Deep, dark, and luscious. Great with BBQ in the summer and roasted meat or pot roast in winter. Estate grown and bottled.
Specs
Appellation: Sierra Foothills
Barrel Regime: 40% new French oak
Alcohol: 15.7%
pH 3.7
TA 5.7 g/L
2021 Frog’s Tooth Grenache, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
The 2021 Grenache from Frog’s Tooth Vineyards is always spicy, strawberry-flavored, and soft on the palate. This year was a struggle to control the overabundance of fruit growth to maintain yields for these phenomenal results. Relatively high alcohol content, but does not exhibit a “Hot” aroma! Ends with a subtle, white pepper spice. A lighter red wine that is delicious chilled as a summer sipper. Estate grown and bottled.
Specs
Appellation: Sierra Foothills
Barrel Regime: 10% new French oak
Alcohol: 15.5%
pH: 3.6
TA: 6.0 g/L
RS: 5.2 g/L
Production: 180 cases
2021 Frog’s Tooth Barbera, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
This Italian varietal is naturally high in crisp acidity. Loads of blueberry and black cherry. Very food friendly, don’t be afraid to pair with almost any meal. It is classic and tasty with pasta marinara. Estate grown and bottled.
Specs
Appellation: Sierra Foothills
Barrel Regime: 50% new French oak
Alcohol: 14.7%
pH: 3.4
TA: 6.5 g/L
Production: 150 cases
What’s Included
4-bottles:
1x 2020 Frog’s Tooth Reserve Sangiovese, Sierra Foothills
1x 2021 Frog’s Tooth Petite Sirah, Sierra Foothills
1x 2021 Frog’s Tooth Grenache, Sierra Foothills
1x 2021 Frog’s Tooth Barbera, Sierra Foothills
Case:
3x 2020 Frog’s Tooth Reserve Sangiovese, Sierra Foothills
3x 2021 Frog’s Tooth Petite Sirah, Sierra Foothills
Since 1999, Frog’s Tooth Vineyards and Winery has been growing, crafting, pouring, and sharing our hand-crafted small-batch wines from the Sierra Foothills. What we don’t grow on our beautiful 10-acre vineyard in Copperopolis CA, we source from other local growers who share our passion.
From our inviting tasting room and patio, a short walk from Main Street in Murphys, we have been pouring our wines since 2007. Our winemaker Will SavoieHoule has brought a new youthful passion to crafting delicious wines. Each and every varietal is painstakingly hand-sorted to ensure only the best fruit makes it into our award-winning wines.
Will’s passion for bringing out the best that our fruit has to offer is contagious. We encourage you to come by our tasting room and enjoy a glass on our patio or join us for one of our club member parties at our Vineyard.
Every sip of our wines is a true taste of the Sierra Foothills!
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
They are an autobuy. Their Petite Syrah is worth the price of admission. I bought them the last time they were here and the wine is long gone. Yes, it is was a different case breakdown, but they make lovely wine. Thanks for bringing them back.
A welcome beginning to the weekend comes a Rattage. Fortunately my neighbor cooked dinner and her sister and hubby arrived from California to share in the ritual and they were delighted to see dinner waiting and a Grenache at the table. Although I favor Rhone varietals, she is a true Grenache admirer and I was eager to elicit her opinion. While the bottle was sitting on the counter I noticed how the light transmitted through the bottle with a certain translucency. On opening we were greeted by a light garnet color which my visitor said was typical for a Grenache. After pouring the aroma was of a faint cherry and strawberry with a hint of spice. On tasting the first approach is a puckering acidity which gives way to a deceptively long smooth finish with the aforementioned red fruits cherry and strawberry. I did not realize that this was 15.5% abv until I read the tasting notes from the last offering. It is light to medium bodied with soft tannins and is ready to drink now.
On to the food pairings! I started off with some soft fresh mozzarella as a wine and cheese course and the acid was nicely counterbalanced with the creamy mozz. The second course was a spicy braised chuck roast and again the acidity paired nicely with the hearty meat with rice and sheet pan squash and mushrooms. The dessert pairing did not go as well. I would not recommend pairing with chocolate cake or ice cream as the acidity did not play well with the sweets.
As priced similar to the last offering this is an attractive offer for qpr although the case mix is different. I find the mixed offerings more enticing so that I can experience other varietals in the same case. My California visitor was very impressed with the Grenache and she intends to purchase. My prior experience with Grenache as a primary varietal is mostly with Spanish wines and this appears to be a quite different style of Grenache than I have been accustomed to but is quite tasty and versatile.
Larry the owner here! We find that we need to pick our fruit at a higher level of brix to ensure full extraction of flavors. You should never smell a high alcohol upon opening nor taste a boozy flavor!
@OwnerFrogstooth Could you explain this a bit more? Mid-14s is a pretty standard in California but why do you “need” to let the grapes get to nearly 30 brix to have the flavours work? And isn’t “extraction” part of the winemaking rather than the growing? When you bring your grapes in, how much of the batch is partly raisined and do you water back? So many questions!
From their website: “If wine can have legs, frogs can have teeth!”
I don’t know if Alice planned this, or it’s sheer coincidence, but today (3/22) is World Frog Day! Or if it was planned, the sheer coincidence was that as I rambled through some Facebook posts this afternoon, a video of Frog Day popped up, or else I would have spent the rest of my life ignorant of today’s distinction!
At any rate, I was selected to review this offering from Frog’s Tooth Winery, their 2021Barbera, which I now see is but one of four selections. I was introduced to this varietal many, many years ago, traveling along the Columbia River, and stopped at a winery along the river – Cascade Cliffs. The winemaker happened to be running the tasting room, started the discussion about Barbera, and started my journey with this varietal. There are not many wineries that I know of that produce or offer it, so I’m always interested to see who can do what with it.
As I did some research on the winery, I was pleased to see that it is in the Sierra Foothills, just east of Stockton and Lodi, rapidly becoming my favorite Californian region, particularly for the Italian varietals.
So, onto what you are here for:
Pop and pour - composition cork, unseated nicely with the appropriate amount of resistance. No infiltration on the cork, and a pleasant looking, even stain on the end.
On the nose, right from the bottle – pleasant fruit aromas, not overly potent, which is expected.
In the glass/on the eyes –
a rich, attractive semi-opaque liquid – not like a cabernet, but in the hefty Zinfandel range.
On the nose, after aerating and swirl – more essence of fruit – blueberry, currant, maybe something else lurking in the background, and… vanilla! Love the combo!!
On the palate - confirms the aromas: fruit is predominant, but not a fruit bomb. Blueberry, cherry, but more of a ripe Ranier cherry, maybe a plum? There’s the vanilla, and some spice there as well – white pepper, a little allspice perhaps, some leather, but all balanced nicely. Soft tannins, and a pleasant mouth feel gave way to an enjoyable finish. Acidity was noticeable, but not puckering, forecasting that this would be a good pairing with a variety of foods, particularly tomato based or softer red meat dishes. Alcohol at 14.7% - not a factor.
Asian pepper steak was on the menu – and did this ever deliver! The slight sweetness from the fruit and vanilla overtones complemented the red and green bell peppers and onion, the strength and acidity enough to stand up to the meat and rich soy sauce, and the spice presence enough for all of the above. Great pairing!
Day 2: our temperance and decision to revisit the following day was rewarded by seeing how it opened up after 24 hours. Not only did it hold up well, but the acid edge was muted considerably, and overall, a softer, more approachable wine was now present. Tonight’s pairing was a cheese ravioli and marinara sauce, heavy on the meat. Again, a superb pairing, and as good as the previous night’s experience was, this was even more enjoyable. It just drank smooth, with a desire to sip more! But alas, Alice only shipped one bottle, and it was gone!
Enjoy this offering. I’ll bet there are those of you that are thinking, “How does it compare to Scott Harvey’s Barbera?” I wish I could provide a side-by-side comparison, but my supply of that cache is gone! But I can tell you that this is one of the finest Barbera’s I’ve had, and you won’t be disappointed in the least.
I’ll certainly be looking for my fellow Rats on the other varietals!
Frog’s Tooth Winery 2020 Sangiovese Reserve from the Sierra Foothills Matagrano Vineyard
TL:DR Looks, smells and tastes like a Sangiovese. Nice bottle in a mixed case.
Clear garnet with a hint of a tawny edge.
The wine opens in about 30 minutes with aromas of cherry and strawberry, from time to time we caught a faint cinnamon /allspice and a floral aroma of roses and honeysuckle. Medium body, bright red fruit flavors of cherry, strawberry, red raspberry and pomegranate, along with the spices and a little oak. Plenty of acidity, persistent fine tannins and a long peppery finish made the wine a perfect complement for food. Day one was a ribeye and paccheri with a simple marinara, day two was fettuccine puttanesca. The acidity and tannins kept the food taste and mouthfeel fresh with each bite.
I also poured a glass of the recent Noceto Sangiovese. The Frog’s Tooth has the intensity of the fruit turned up a notch, otherwise very similar.
I’m happy to recommend, this is a nice bottle of wine.
Thanks to home office for the opportunity to rat. I’ll check later for questions.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
Frog’s Tooth Mixed Reds - $60 = 28.57%
Petit Sirah, also known as Durif, King of the Dwarves, is popular on zombie apocalypse movie sets for its natural ability to stain teeth black and give actors that classic zombie stagger, due to its high alcohol content. This 2021 Frog’s Tooth Petit Sirah is on the lighter side, which is why it was used for the movie Shaun of the Dead, filmed in 2004.
The 15.7% alcohol is apparent on the nose along with jammy dark fruit. First taste is hot with plum and blackberry, med/high acid and a tannic finish that lingers on the tongue for 3 hours. Once it started to breath, oak smoke, sage, allspice, and black/red pepper corn mix came through, albeit still pretty fruity.
The skirt steak in my fridge would have been a wonderful pairing, but my wife wasn’t feeling well and she didn’t want that. The wine, unfortunately, doesn’t really complement Mrs. T’s Classic Cheddar Pierogies, nor roasted chicken breast. The box of Nestle Buncha Crunch that my lady pulled out afterward, on the other hand, magical. Chocolate is where it’s at with this one. And probably steak, I imagine.
Here we have an award winning (2x Gold Star Award, Miss Anderson’s Pre-K) artist’s rendition of the Frog’s Tooth mascot.
I see that we have winery participation here. I am happy to put you two in contact if you are looking to jazz up your marketing materials.
2020 Frog’s Tooth Reserve Sangiovese, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
Specs
2021 Frog’s Tooth Petite Sirah, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
Specs
2021 Frog’s Tooth Grenache, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
Specs
2021 Frog’s Tooth Barbera, Sierra Foothills
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale on winery website, $462/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, Apr 17 - Monday, Apr 21
Frog’s Tooth Mixed Reds
4 bottles for $69.99 $17.50/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $149.99 $12.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2020 Frog’s Tooth Reserve Sangiovese
2021 Frog’s Tooth Petite Sirah
2021 Frog’s Tooth Grenache
2021 Frog’s Tooth Barbera
That’s an interesting pair of alcohol levels. Two in the California sweet spot and two that are quite high.
@klezman I know you’re right, but I feel like 14% is really my upper limit, or it should be if only all the wines weren’t so boozy.
@Ten9Eight Yeah, it’d be great if more people grew grapes to be ripe at 14% potential alcohol or lower. Sandlands is more in that vein.
They are an autobuy. Their Petite Syrah is worth the price of admission. I bought them the last time they were here and the wine is long gone. Yes, it is was a different case breakdown, but they make lovely wine. Thanks for bringing them back.
Seems like this is for the
2021 Frog’s Tooth Grenache
A welcome beginning to the weekend comes a Rattage. Fortunately my neighbor cooked dinner and her sister and hubby arrived from California to share in the ritual and they were delighted to see dinner waiting and a Grenache at the table. Although I favor Rhone varietals, she is a true Grenache admirer and I was eager to elicit her opinion. While the bottle was sitting on the counter I noticed how the light transmitted through the bottle with a certain translucency. On opening we were greeted by a light garnet color which my visitor said was typical for a Grenache. After pouring the aroma was of a faint cherry and strawberry with a hint of spice. On tasting the first approach is a puckering acidity which gives way to a deceptively long smooth finish with the aforementioned red fruits cherry and strawberry. I did not realize that this was 15.5% abv until I read the tasting notes from the last offering. It is light to medium bodied with soft tannins and is ready to drink now.
On to the food pairings! I started off with some soft fresh mozzarella as a wine and cheese course and the acid was nicely counterbalanced with the creamy mozz. The second course was a spicy braised chuck roast and again the acidity paired nicely with the hearty meat with rice and sheet pan squash and mushrooms. The dessert pairing did not go as well. I would not recommend pairing with chocolate cake or ice cream as the acidity did not play well with the sweets.
As priced similar to the last offering this is an attractive offer for qpr although the case mix is different. I find the mixed offerings more enticing so that I can experience other varietals in the same case. My California visitor was very impressed with the Grenache and she intends to purchase. My prior experience with Grenache as a primary varietal is mostly with Spanish wines and this appears to be a quite different style of Grenache than I have been accustomed to but is quite tasty and versatile.
@surfyguitar you should check the composition of your next rhone blend
Larry the owner here! We find that we need to pick our fruit at a higher level of brix to ensure full extraction of flavors. You should never smell a high alcohol upon opening nor taste a boozy flavor!
@OwnerFrogstooth Love your wines. Thank you for coming back.
@OwnerFrogstooth Could you explain this a bit more? Mid-14s is a pretty standard in California but why do you “need” to let the grapes get to nearly 30 brix to have the flavours work? And isn’t “extraction” part of the winemaking rather than the growing? When you bring your grapes in, how much of the batch is partly raisined and do you water back? So many questions!
2021 Frog’s Tooth Barbera
From their website: “If wine can have legs, frogs can have teeth!”
I don’t know if Alice planned this, or it’s sheer coincidence, but today (3/22) is World Frog Day! Or if it was planned, the sheer coincidence was that as I rambled through some Facebook posts this afternoon, a video of Frog Day popped up, or else I would have spent the rest of my life ignorant of today’s distinction!
At any rate, I was selected to review this offering from Frog’s Tooth Winery, their 2021Barbera, which I now see is but one of four selections. I was introduced to this varietal many, many years ago, traveling along the Columbia River, and stopped at a winery along the river – Cascade Cliffs. The winemaker happened to be running the tasting room, started the discussion about Barbera, and started my journey with this varietal. There are not many wineries that I know of that produce or offer it, so I’m always interested to see who can do what with it.
As I did some research on the winery, I was pleased to see that it is in the Sierra Foothills, just east of Stockton and Lodi, rapidly becoming my favorite Californian region, particularly for the Italian varietals.
So, onto what you are here for:
Pop and pour - composition cork, unseated nicely with the appropriate amount of resistance. No infiltration on the cork, and a pleasant looking, even stain on the end.
On the nose, right from the bottle – pleasant fruit aromas, not overly potent, which is expected.
In the glass/on the eyes –
a rich, attractive semi-opaque liquid – not like a cabernet, but in the hefty Zinfandel range.
On the nose, after aerating and swirl – more essence of fruit – blueberry, currant, maybe something else lurking in the background, and… vanilla! Love the combo!!
On the palate - confirms the aromas: fruit is predominant, but not a fruit bomb. Blueberry, cherry, but more of a ripe Ranier cherry, maybe a plum? There’s the vanilla, and some spice there as well – white pepper, a little allspice perhaps, some leather, but all balanced nicely. Soft tannins, and a pleasant mouth feel gave way to an enjoyable finish. Acidity was noticeable, but not puckering, forecasting that this would be a good pairing with a variety of foods, particularly tomato based or softer red meat dishes. Alcohol at 14.7% - not a factor.
Asian pepper steak was on the menu – and did this ever deliver! The slight sweetness from the fruit and vanilla overtones complemented the red and green bell peppers and onion, the strength and acidity enough to stand up to the meat and rich soy sauce, and the spice presence enough for all of the above. Great pairing!
Day 2: our temperance and decision to revisit the following day was rewarded by seeing how it opened up after 24 hours. Not only did it hold up well, but the acid edge was muted considerably, and overall, a softer, more approachable wine was now present. Tonight’s pairing was a cheese ravioli and marinara sauce, heavy on the meat. Again, a superb pairing, and as good as the previous night’s experience was, this was even more enjoyable. It just drank smooth, with a desire to sip more! But alas, Alice only shipped one bottle, and it was gone!
Enjoy this offering. I’ll bet there are those of you that are thinking, “How does it compare to Scott Harvey’s Barbera?” I wish I could provide a side-by-side comparison, but my supply of that cache is gone! But I can tell you that this is one of the finest Barbera’s I’ve had, and you won’t be disappointed in the least.
I’ll certainly be looking for my fellow Rats on the other varietals!
Cheers!
Glad to offer these wines on World Frog Day! Cheers to the Amphibians!
Last case offered was great so going to give this one a try. Can’t turn down two of my fav varietals Barbera & Sangiovese.
Frog’s Tooth Winery 2020 Sangiovese Reserve from the Sierra Foothills Matagrano Vineyard
TL:DR Looks, smells and tastes like a Sangiovese. Nice bottle in a mixed case.
Clear garnet with a hint of a tawny edge.
The wine opens in about 30 minutes with aromas of cherry and strawberry, from time to time we caught a faint cinnamon /allspice and a floral aroma of roses and honeysuckle. Medium body, bright red fruit flavors of cherry, strawberry, red raspberry and pomegranate, along with the spices and a little oak. Plenty of acidity, persistent fine tannins and a long peppery finish made the wine a perfect complement for food. Day one was a ribeye and paccheri with a simple marinara, day two was fettuccine puttanesca. The acidity and tannins kept the food taste and mouthfeel fresh with each bite.
I also poured a glass of the recent Noceto Sangiovese. The Frog’s Tooth has the intensity of the fruit turned up a notch, otherwise very similar.
I’m happy to recommend, this is a nice bottle of wine.
Thanks to home office for the opportunity to rat. I’ll check later for questions.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
Frog’s Tooth Mixed Reds - $60 = 28.57%
Anybody in Columbus want to split?
@albish7 I still have the ones from the offer last December (looks like the Grenache is the only repeat), but I’d take another set if you find a third
@fermentedwisdom ordered! If anyone else wants in, let us know!
2021 Frog’s Tooth Petite Sirah, Sierra Foothills
Petit Sirah, also known as Durif, King of the Dwarves, is popular on zombie apocalypse movie sets for its natural ability to stain teeth black and give actors that classic zombie stagger, due to its high alcohol content. This 2021 Frog’s Tooth Petit Sirah is on the lighter side, which is why it was used for the movie Shaun of the Dead, filmed in 2004.
The 15.7% alcohol is apparent on the nose along with jammy dark fruit. First taste is hot with plum and blackberry, med/high acid and a tannic finish that lingers on the tongue for 3 hours. Once it started to breath, oak smoke, sage, allspice, and black/red pepper corn mix came through, albeit still pretty fruity.
The skirt steak in my fridge would have been a wonderful pairing, but my wife wasn’t feeling well and she didn’t want that. The wine, unfortunately, doesn’t really complement Mrs. T’s Classic Cheddar Pierogies, nor roasted chicken breast. The box of Nestle Buncha Crunch that my lady pulled out afterward, on the other hand, magical. Chocolate is where it’s at with this one. And probably steak, I imagine.
Here we have an award winning (2x Gold Star Award, Miss Anderson’s Pre-K) artist’s rendition of the Frog’s Tooth mascot.
I see that we have winery participation here. I am happy to put you two in contact if you are looking to jazz up your marketing materials.
@char2na “3 hours”, nice.