Chapter 20: QUAIL RUN - What are people saying about this wine?

Last year, I received a message from an old acquaintance  named Christopher Sprague who is the certified sommelier at the Fort Gary Hotel in Winnipeg Canada. He had heard through the grape vine on social media that people were enjoying our wine. (no pun intended! LOL) I was intrigued to learn that he wanted to try it and I organized a way to ship some up to Mike’s Parcel Pick up in Pembina North Dakota where Canadians come to pick up goods and drive them into Canada paying duty at the border crossing. I asked him to tell me his opinion once he had a chance to taste it. He sent me a personal review that really gave me more confidence that we have a very special wine. 

Now sometimes when I taste wine, there can be some influence because maybe I know the makers or I’ve been to the winery and it’s super beautiful, so it can bounce up my perception of the wine. I decided to do an experiment. I brought the wine to a blind tasting of eight other Sommeliers. I was thinking that would give me the truth and “holy smokes” it shined! We were tasting some big guns from Napa and other wine from Sonoma- all blind. Without question, your wine was the super star! It was complex, and the freshness of the acidity just makes it a pleasure to drink! Sometimes California can taste great off the hop for one glass, but lacks a core of elegance. Your wine has that in spades!! The other wines did not! I’ve had four bottles now, and they seem to be getting even better. I’ve put six deep in my cellar because I want to see them in a year or two, or 10! It is a great triumph, and you should be incredibly proud of what you produced! There’s magic inside those bottles! I think as you get to know the vineyard better- people are gonna be knocking down your doors to get that bottle! Myself included! So trying not to gush too much here but its hard because you have created something pretty spectacular. I’m so proud to be able to tell people I know the wine producers and they’re great human beings!

That wine maker of yours really has the “touch” and knows how to build a wine for a total pallet experience. Don’t even get me started on how well it goes with food!!! I had a roast leg of lamb one night and it was a seamless match to the wine!

Thank you again for sharing some of these amazing bottles with me. It is an honour and a privilege.

James Bushee who is a friend of ours in Austin Texas is the writer and owner of a publication called wineconcepts.net . He is a certified wine educator and he has taken an interest in our vineyard and wine making venture during the past few years. We invited him to lead a blind wine tasting party for our first vintage of 2020 in the fall of 2022 once it was bottled. The wine was still young but it stood up to other Cabernets from the Napa and Sonoma region. Here is his review…

A rising star among Sonoma Cabernets is the Keating Family Vineyard’s Quail Run. It’s 100 percent Cabernet, made with grapes from a small single vineyard, and aged in French oak. The first vintage was 2020, and in a blind tasting against three far pricier Napa and Sonoma competitors, Quail Run was everyone’s first or second choice.

Quail Run is an elegant, nicely balanced wine with a subtle oak touch and moderate alcohol. I recently tasted the 2021 vintage, and found pleasant dark fruit aromas with some earthy notes. The palate displayed dark red fruit and a hint of spice, with gentle tannins and a medium finish.  I expect that it will continue to improve in bottle over the next five years or so and should easily cellar for a decade or more.

Quite simply, this wine punches far above its weight class. I’ve joined the Quail Run wine club to be assured of future allocations.

Both of these opinions suggest that Pat and I have done the best job possible in steering the vineyard and winemaking management in the right direction. In the beginning, our property was a large field of hay. We transformed it and nurtured it naturally into the healthy and well-farmed vineyard it is today. The vines are now mature and producing more grapes than we can handle. Our operation is from vine to bottle. Our wine production remains at 100 cases per year and the excess grapes are now being sold to other wineries. This limited wine production keeps the whole project manageable and exclusive. Careful attention is paid to each step of the process. Our partners are very experienced and knowledgable. The wine quality speaks for itself. 

Currently, the QUAIL RUN wine club is growing and more and more commercial establishments are interested in carrying our wine. We have chosen to allow the wine into four select wine merchant’s shops. Sonoma’s Best, The Sonoma Cheese Factory, and Enoteca Della Santina in Sonoma. In Texas, Turtle Creek Olives and Vines is selling and distributing QUAIL RUN.  Two fine dining restaurants in Sonoma serve QUAIL RUN. They are El Dorado Kitchen and Café la Haye. Harveys is also serving QUAIL RUN in Austin. Recently, Jones & Co. has picked it up in Winnipeg Canada!  Apart from that, our wine club members across the nation enjoy their allotments each spring and fall. To learn more about purchasing QUAIL RUN or about becoming a wine club member please visit www.quailrunwines.com. 

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