Laura Michael Wines Laura’s Theme Dessert Wine, Calistoga, 500ml
Tasting Notes
This sweet dessert wine is a blend of 50% Estate-grown Zinfandel and 50% Calistoga Petite Sirah. A bit lighter on the palate, not super sticky and sweet; just the right choice to pair with dark chocolate or baked fruit tarts. There’s a touch of spice and mint on the palate as well. It is a fortified wine coming in at 18.5% alcohol. Once opened, it will last about a month due to the lower alcohol.
This is a NV blend of 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 vintages. The distillate was made from Pinot Noir, aged 5 years. All neutral, American oak. Aged between 3 and 6 years, bottled in the summer of 2016.
Specs
Varietal Blend: 50% Estate Grown Zinfandel, 50% Calistoga Petite Sirah
Appellation: Calistoga
Alcohol: 18.5%
RS: 8%
TA: 5.5
pH: 3.63
Production: 592 Cases
What’s Included
2-bottles:
2x Laura Michael Wines Laura’s Theme Dessert Wine, Calistoga, 500ml Case:
12x Laura Michael Wines Laura’s Theme Dessert Wine, Calistoga, 500ml
Laura and Michael Swanton know the many challenges of establishing a boutique winery dedicated to crafting small quantities of fine wine in the Napa Valley. They have experienced them all in their demanding, yet delicious, journey from fledging winery to award-winning Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel producers.
A long-time wine enthusiast, Owner and Proprietor Laura Swanton purchased the Calistoga winery estate that would become Laura Michael Wines from the Traulsen family in 1999. At the time, Laura was a sales specialist with Cisco Systems in San Jose. It was a career that required intimate knowledge of high-tech product application. Knowing how the technology worked was critical to her success in selling the product.
At the time Laura purchased the winery, Michael had embarked on an independent career in power generation and services, a career that spanned nearly two decades. When they came together in 2006, their current journey started and continues to this day.
Today, their tenacity for learning systems and science is directed at running their small winery and vineyard estate dedicated to limited-production, premium red wines. Since 1999, Laura has managed all winemaking processes from grape sourcing to the logistics of launching and operating a winery. Her zeal to understand winegrowing at its root has her pruning, picking, irrigating and collecting samples in the vineyard. A thirst for winemaking knowledge encourages her participation in crush, pump-overs, racking and bottling.
“We do it all,” says Laura. “It’s so important that we work alongside every member of our team from the temporary harvest help to our consulting winemaker. We are not ones to stand on the sidelines, and fortunately because we are as small as we are, we can be actively involved in every aspect of this business.”
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
@klezman
You could be an instant lab rat and not have to deal with any UPS issues! Props to @chipgreen for still fulfilling his duties after dealing with that headache though.
@chipgreen@kawichris650 nope. I’ve got the 2007, bought on the 2012 RPM Tour. 2/3 Sonoma Petrie Sirah, the other 1/3 Napa Zinfandel.
Opened it about 20 minutes ago and it’s excellent. Makes me want to get a few bottles of this. The friend who’s here would take two bottles and I’d take some also. Delicious.
@connorbush WOW, after seeing the price I am for sure in for a couple of bottles. Did not even think about hanging on to this for a month once open. Our bottle did not make it out of the party alive. Everyone who tried it thought it was interesting and delightful. Not too sweet where if you have a little you don’t want anymore. I kept wanting to come back for another sip. Nice lingering / satisfying finish.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
Laura Michael Wines Laura’s Theme Dessert Wine - $100 = 33.32%
Wish the case buy up wasn’t so high. Zero interest in ending up with more than a couple bottles of this one. Can count on one hand how many times I’ve wanted a dessert wine.
@CruelMelody@deadlyapp yup for just shipping 2 bottles I can see the $25 price. I sure wish the ‘small’ order was 4 or 6 bottles (at a reduced small-order penalty). I could see using those including giving 2 or 3 to friends. 12 on the other hand seems like too many and I don’t think there any other casemate people in my area (western NC at the moment)
@CruelMelody@pmarin I didnt say it wasnt fair, just that I wish it wasn’t so high. Shouldn’t have anything to do with shipping, plenty of other offers with small difference in price but same quantity.
All has to do with marketing and how the client and CM want to structure it.
Dessert wine is polarizing. Its the nature of it. Its why I normally only buy halves (I opened a sauternes earlier this week and four people refused it. Glad it was only a 375).
@CruelMelody@deadlyapp@pmarin It’s both. The per-bottle shipping cost paid by WCC is probably $10-20 depending on where in the country for a two-bottle pack. The case is probably more like $3-7/bottle. Even if the winery is willing to take a haircut on the smaller lot there’s no way it can be a loss leader like that.
Initial cork pull: my, this smells amazing! We’ve got some sun-dried fruits going on here: raisins and prunes, and yet some ripe fruit as well: plums and blackberries.
Pour: nice purple, with a slight red at the edges. It’s not opaque, but it isn’t transparent by any means.
Initial sip: this is almost ruby port-like, with some nice viscosity, and plums and blackberries. The finish goes on for ages, in a really pleasant way. Yes, it’s high alcohol, but that doesn’t get in the way of the actual taste. And it’s not overtly sweet, thank goodness: I suspect the residual sugar is lower on this one.
Mine’s sitting in a UPS warehouse in NJ, and not scheduled to be delivered until Tuesday. Overnight temps predicted in the 20s both nights. Glad this has a nice, high alcohol content!
Laura Michael Wines Laura’s Theme Dessert Wine, Calistoga, 500ml
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
2-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale on winery website, $540/case MSRP
About The Wineries
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
Tuesday, Jan 16
NV Laura Michael Wines Laura’s Theme Dessert Wine
2 bottles for $49.99 $25/bottle + $4/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
I bought some of this on the RPM tour a few years back. Maybe I should open it!
@klezman I think we got the 2007 vintage version
@klezman
Props to @chipgreen for still fulfilling his duties after dealing with that headache though. 
You could be an instant lab rat and not have to deal with any UPS issues!
@chipgreen @kawichris650 nope. I’ve got the 2007, bought on the 2012 RPM Tour. 2/3 Sonoma Petrie Sirah, the other 1/3 Napa Zinfandel.
Opened it about 20 minutes ago and it’s excellent. Makes me want to get a few bottles of this. The friend who’s here would take two bottles and I’d take some also. Delicious.
WOW! Thanks Santa Alice.
Took this bad boy to a family holiday party. Here are the live notes from the field:
1st sip upon opening before eating anything
Revisit after eating way too much food
even better than before. I can drink too much of this. so plesant.
tobacco, more spice, strawberry preserves? honey? raisins? fig or Medjool dates?
@connorbush WOW, after seeing the price I am for sure in for a couple of bottles. Did not even think about hanging on to this for a month once open. Our bottle did not make it out of the party alive. Everyone who tried it thought it was interesting and delightful. Not too sweet where if you have a little you don’t want anymore. I kept wanting to come back for another sip. Nice lingering / satisfying finish.
@connorbush if any so cal persons wanna split a case, holler at me!
@connorbush where in SoCal?
@klezman I split time between Santa Clarita and Carlsbad
This! is truly a Christmas Miracle.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
Laura Michael Wines Laura’s Theme Dessert Wine - $100 = 33.32%
Wish the case buy up wasn’t so high. Zero interest in ending up with more than a couple bottles of this one. Can count on one hand how many times I’ve wanted a dessert wine.
@deadlyapp eh I’m thinking about two, 25 seems like a fair price for this one.
@CruelMelody @deadlyapp yup for just shipping 2 bottles I can see the $25 price. I sure wish the ‘small’ order was 4 or 6 bottles (at a reduced small-order penalty). I could see using those including giving 2 or 3 to friends. 12 on the other hand seems like too many and I don’t think there any other casemate people in my area (western NC at the moment)
@deadlyapp @pmarin that’s fair. I assume when it’s set up like this they are pushing cases, hoping to clear inventory space
@CruelMelody @pmarin I didnt say it wasnt fair, just that I wish it wasn’t so high. Shouldn’t have anything to do with shipping, plenty of other offers with small difference in price but same quantity.
All has to do with marketing and how the client and CM want to structure it.
Dessert wine is polarizing. Its the nature of it. Its why I normally only buy halves (I opened a sauternes earlier this week and four people refused it. Glad it was only a 375).
@CruelMelody @deadlyapp @pmarin It’s both. The per-bottle shipping cost paid by WCC is probably $10-20 depending on where in the country for a two-bottle pack. The case is probably more like $3-7/bottle. Even if the winery is willing to take a haircut on the smaller lot there’s no way it can be a loss leader like that.
Anyone in the Northern Virginia area interested in going in on this?
@dianefreda I’m in Baltimore, and am not sure if this is close to you, but I’d take up to 4.
@dianefreda @Zortapa I’d be game, and would be willing to be go-between. Still have some other NOVA deliveries to make anyway, and a drop off to Z too!
@dianefreda I’m in DC, would love a bottle or two from your split.
@StaceyY Don’t get to DC often but do have a son there so maybe we can work something out.
@bunnymasseuse @Zortapa -I went ahead and placed an order-please let me know how you want to work the split.
@StaceyY -order placed, i’ll let you know when delivery arrives.
@dianefreda @Zortapa no problem!
@dianefreda thanks! I’m sure I can get to Arlington for pick up.
Had a 2003 Justin Obtuse desert wine this afternoon. It was fabulous. You’re not going to need to drink this right away.
Laura’s Theme Well, Lara’s Theme…
I am a rat!
Initial cork pull: my, this smells amazing! We’ve got some sun-dried fruits going on here: raisins and prunes, and yet some ripe fruit as well: plums and blackberries.
Pour: nice purple, with a slight red at the edges. It’s not opaque, but it isn’t transparent by any means.
Initial sip: this is almost ruby port-like, with some nice viscosity, and plums and blackberries. The finish goes on for ages, in a really pleasant way. Yes, it’s high alcohol, but that doesn’t get in the way of the actual taste. And it’s not overtly sweet, thank goodness: I suspect the residual sugar is lower on this one.
@JOATMON RS is stated at 8%, so yeah
I tried to resist. I failed. Happy New Year!!! SE MI let me know what you want!
/giphy seasonal-triumphant-chimes
I thought Laura & Michael sold their winery or was that Laura Zatilla??
@Boatman72 they did. This is part of the cleaning out of their inventory.
The prior name went away after get divorce, IIRC.
This is the status of my tracking number as of today; “We’ve received a request from the sender to return the package.”
Did anyone else get this message?
@MHBoston
Yikes, that doesn’t sound good.
@MHBoston Mine says Departed Sao Pablo at 4:24a.m. today.
@jmdavidson1 @MHBoston
Just got my shipping notice today, and it looks close enough to make it by tomorrow.
I found out what the shipping issue was. There was an error in the shipped quantity so WCC recalled the package. TY to everyone who responded.
Mine’s sitting in a UPS warehouse in NJ, and not scheduled to be delivered until Tuesday. Overnight temps predicted in the 20s both nights. Glad this has a nice, high alcohol content!
@InFrom Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow…