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Home
> KFV Wines
There
are two categories of Kiger Family Vineyards wines:
- The
non-commercial (not-for-sale) wines that we
make at home from our estate-grown syrah and
cabernet sauvignon grapes.
- The
wines produced by the wineries that purchase
KFV syrah grapes: Robert Biale Vineyards in
2004-2007, Miller Wine Works in 2005-2007, and
Skylark Wines, who purchased and bottled 4 barrels
of our 2005 Syrah (SOLD OUT.) All of these wines
are made, marketed and sold commercially by
the wineries.
  
2007
Kiger Family Vineyards
The
Odyssey
Syrah/Cabernet
Sauvignon
Harvested
9/29/07
1,044
pounds of cabernet and syrah went into our third
vintage of estate wine.
We'll be bottling it in September 2008, and tasting
notes will be included in the
next website update in November. View
harvest party photos and details
2006
Kiger Family Vineyards
The
Odyssey
Syrah/Cabernet
Sauvignon
26
cases produced
On
October
7,
2006, we harvested 1,000 pounds of cabernet and
syrah for our
second vintage of estate wine. It aged
for eleven months in one 1-year
old 110-liter
barrel (french oak, medium toast) and one new
barrel of the same type.
Tasting
Notes:
Here
are Winemaker John's tasting notes:
"A
deep, but surprisingly bright color announces
its youthful vigor. Redolent of black and red
fruit aromas, with a hint of mocha on the palate,The
Odyssey ’06 continues to show bold fruit
with markedly soft tannins for the amount of
oak exposure (11 months in barrels, 50% new,
50% 1 year old). The wine is drinking very nicely,
and will continue to improve as it ages over
the next couple of years."
2005
Kiger Family Vineyards
The Odyssey
Syrah/Cabernet
Sauvignon
21 cases produced
In
2005, we produced our first vintage of estate
wine, which we appropriately named
The Odyssey. More than six years had passed
since we first set foot on what was to become
Kiger Family Vineyards, and those six years were
a journey filled with many lessons and adventures.
The
Odyssey 2005 is made from a blend of our estate
Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, about 63% Syrah
and 37% Cabernet. While Syrah - Cabernet blends
are rare here in California, it is a fairly common
practice in Australia. Syrah and Cabernet are
actually quite complementary, as the structure
and firm tannins typically found in Cabernet Sauvignon
provide a sturdy backbone for the jammy, black
fruit flavors of the Syrah.
Tasting
Notes:
2005 Kiger Family
Vineyards,
The Odyssey
The
2005 vintage ushered in our oak barrel aging program;
we use French oak from Tonnellerie Radoux. While
oak barrels are de rigueur for producing premium
wines, our first 3 vintages (2002 - 2004) were
much too small to fill a barrel. Typically, wines
like The Odyssey will be aged for 10-18 months
in oak barrels, with 1/3 to 1/2 in new oak barrels
and the remainder in older barrels. The Odyssey
2005 aged half in the new oak barrel, and half
in the glass storage containers (known as carboys
in the local jargon). All of the wine spent some
time in the barrel, in 4-6 month intervals as
we rotated the wine between the aging vessels
at each racking.
The
barrel imparted toasty, vanilla flavors that complement
the deep, dark fruit flavors of Syrah and Cabernet,
and enhanced the tannins and mouth feel of the
wine. Much of this comes from flavors imparted
by the oak itself, but also from the intensifying
effect of evaporation. 200-500 milliliters evaporates
through the oak barrel walls every month, depending
on temperature and humidity, which of course has
to be replaced to prevent oxidation of the wine.
This means that over the course of 10 months in
the barrel, 3+ liters evaporated out of the 110
liter barrel, giving up valuable wine to nature
but getting more concentrated flavors and aromas
in return. The wine has wonderfully complex aromas
and a silky mouth feel, along with deep, dark
fruit and chocolate flavors.
KFV
Wines by Robert Biale Vineyards and Miller Wine
Works
KFV
is still primarily a winegrowing operation. We
sell nearly all of our grapes to Robert
Biale Vineyards and Miller
Wine Works, where they make and market their
wines.
For
2005, 10 tons of our syrah was purchased by Biale,
who put it into two of its wines: the 2005 Hill
Climber Jack & Jill Sonoma Valley Syrah and
the 2005 ZAPPA, a unique Biale blend of zinfandel,
syrah, and petite sirah. Zappa was released in
April 2008 and the Jack & Jill is slated for
November 2008. Contact
Jayme at the winery for more information and
to order.
 
Look
for Hill Climber (one of their syrah labels is
above) and Robert Biale Vineyards wines in your
wine shops and restaurants. The Hill Climber wines
are still difficult to find; the best way to get
them is to join
their buying/mailing list or call us and ask
for help!
Also,
starting in 2005, winemaker Gary Miller, of Miller
Wine Works, purchased 2 tons of our syrah
grapes. Those grapes went into a Rhone style blend
that Gary calls The Works. The majority of grapes
came from Napa, so you'll see "Napa Valley"
on the label, but don't hold that against him!
The KFV Sonoma Valley syrah will shine through!
The 2005 "The Works" is set to be released
on May 1, and is probably orderable now.
 
In
2006 and 2007, Miller Wine Works and Robert Biale
split our bounty right down the middle with each
getting 6 tons of KFV Syrah in '06 and just under
4.5 in '07. For those of you who have not heard
of MWW, Gary's wines are drawing many accolades
from Robert Parker, The Wine Spectator, and other
wine industry pundits. There is a MWW wine club
and Gary distributes a monthly newsletter if you'd
like to keep up with his wine happenings.
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