From the Parker Family Vineyards:

To all the friends we have made over the years, and the loyal customers of Benchmark Wine Group,  Brentwood Wine Company and the Wine Market Journal, the Parker family extends a very warm Happy Holidays.

This has been an exceedingly busy year for us.  The Benchmark team and I visited Florida, New York, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia and Hong Kong where we were delighted to enjoy great times and fantastic bottles with our wonderful customers and their friends.  We welcomed Scott Torrence to the team, and he is busily working to get Benchmark’s new office running in Los Angeles. We’ve been delighted to have some of the greatest wine collections in the country offered to us and have been working hard to keep the stellar juice flowing. We’ve expanded our warehouse and brought on lots of new team members to serve you better.  Brentwood is busier than ever, with lots of new collections and tremendous excitement in the auction world.  We were delighted to receive referrals in three great new books,  Keys to the Cellar (Strategies and Secrets of Wine Collecting) by Peter M. Meltzer, The Wine Lover’s Guide to Auctions (The Art & Science of Buying and Selling Wines) by Ursula Hermacinski and The Best Cellar by Jeff Smith. The Wine Market Journal is now part of our newest company, First Growth Technologies.  They’ll be announcing exciting new technology and services for the fine wine trade and serious collectors in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Since we met, Sandy and I have had a fascination for great wine. Our dream of owning a vineyard was fulfilled in 1987 when we bought a beautiful hillside adjoining what is now the Silver Oak Alexander Valley facility in Geyserville. Wine from our vineyard was part of the Mondavi and Benziger portfolios for many years and in 2001 we started making a small amount of our own wine from the best blocks for ourselves and close friends under the Parker Family Vineyards label. Over the years our wine has been placed in a number of top restaurants and casinos, but only in small quantities. We are delighted to offer library releases exclusively to our friends at very special prices.

Take 15% off a case, 25% off 3 or more cases.  Mix or match.

Parker Family Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 2003 – $29/750ml

Many people have called the Cabernet a ‘mini Martha’ for its rich chocolate, mint, jam and espresso characteristics.  We poured this wine at the Hong Kong Wine & Spirits Fair and was the favorite Cabernet of all the California wines represented!

Off the Charts Zinfandel Port 2004 – $18/375ml

Our Port is very special, made from old head pruned hillside Zinfandel vines with a painfully low production of .6 ton per acre.  The fruit ripens until sugar levels are above anything field equipment can measure (hence ‘Off the Charts’) but owing to great acidity, fruit flavors are exceedingly fresh and vibrant. As far we know, we are the only producer ever to use barrel-aged cognac-styled brandy for the fortification. The result is the smoothest, most fruit-driven port we had ever tasted: rich and pure, without the heavy minerality or tannins of old world ports but with all the class and style. Larry Stone MW liked it so much he took it with him to Europe and poured it for some of the top winemakers there, as reported in the New York Times.

“One big hit with the Europeans was a port-style zinfandel called Off the Charts from the Parker Family Ranch in California’s Alexander Valley.” New York Times

As a final holiday gift – Ground shipping to the lower 48 is on us for Parker Family wines shipped on or before December 31, 2009!  Please select Ship Delay as the shipping option when you place your order online, we will contact you to arrange shipping.

After tasting it, if you aren’t as delighted with the wine as we are, send the unopened bottles back for a no-questions-asked refund.  But we haven’t had a return yet!