Dear Davies and Schramsberg Club Members,
Can you believe that we are turning 60 this year? As we kick off our Diamond Anniversary, we reflect on the passion, commitment and camaraderie that has sustained us all along the way. Stretching now over generations, our team continues fine-tuning techniques in the vineyard and the winery, building on the energy and courage of our predecessors with optimism and enthusiasm for the future.
It is difficult to adequately share the volume of gratitude that we hold for our club members and devoted fans around the world. Thank you for delighting in each vintage with us and making it possible for us to do what we do. We invite you to join us throughout 2025, as we hold celebratory events at Schramsberg on Diamond Mountain, at Davies in St. Helena, and across the country. In the meantime, please enjoy these delicious new releases and library selections from our red and sparkling wine portfolios. Here’s to an outstanding year ahead!
Thank you for following the QR code to this welcome letter, where we will first give attention to some of our longest-tenured employees and business partners that have sustained us over the decades. We will then give our best shot at introducing the stellar lineup of wines in our February club shipment program. And in closing, we will bring attention to some of the key events on our schedule over the first half of the year.
Two current staff members deserve specific recognition here, both who started with us in 1980, only 15 years after Jack and Jamie revived the winery and replanted the vines here at Schramsberg on Diamond Mountain. Long-time Club Manager, Beth Wagner, a Wisconsin native, joined us as a temporary receptionist when the Main Office was still in the basement of the house. Senior Cellar Lead Miguel Moreno, a Michoacan native, joined us as a temporary harvest hand when the Annex Office still served as a bunk house for the crew. Little did Jack and Jamie know that this duo would play such a major role in moving our winery forward over the next 45 years! We couldn’t be more thankful.
Two long-time business partners are also more than worthy of recognition here. The Wine Service Cooperative, founded in St. Helena in 1972 by legendary vintners including Joe Phelps, Don Chappellet and Jack Davies has evolved from a local cased-goods storage depot to a full service, multi-location warehousing and shipping facility, recently establishing an east coast base in Louisville, Kentucky. Capitani and Company, a multi-generational family-owned CPA Firm, has assisted us annually since 1976, with our financial review and audit needs. The father and son combination of Jack and Scott has provided us with the valued, consistent independent accounting evaluation for nearly 50 years. It is safe to say that we wouldn’t have been able to thrive as we have without these two critical relationships.
On to the club shipment wines, let’s start with the library red bottles headed to Jack & Jamie’s Circle members. We are thrilled to present the depth of age now available in our Davies cellar, including these two from the stellar 2013 vintage: Ferrington Anderson Valley Pinot Noir and J. Davies Estate “jd” Diamond Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. In this second of four consecutive dry seasons, our first Pinot was picked on September 7 and our first Cabernet on September 9. The bright, juicy ripeness of this early season is still evident in these 12-year-old selections.
All Davies Club members will also receive the current vintage (2022) of these two wines, in addition to our 2022 Davies Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This year was also dry, low-yielding and early along California’s North Coast, with the first Pinot picked on September 15 and the first Cabernet on September 13. Again, the vibrant fruitful nature of the season’s small-berried clusters shines in these bottles. Just west of Boonville, the Ferrington Vineyard is one of Mendocino’s most highly regarded sites, farmed by Norman Kobler and owned Kurt Schoeneman. The “jd” Cabernet is the first of our three Diamond Mountain estate wines to be released. With kisses of Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot, its breadth of fruit is smoothly layered over a supple, rounded palate. The Davies Napa Valley Cabernet, on the other hand, is an interesting counterpoint to the “jd”, as the former is crafted from the full range of red Bordeaux varietal vineyards that we work with across the region.
For the library sparkling wine collectors in the Riddler’s Circle, you will be excited to receive two gently aged Blancs offerings from our cellar. The 2009 J. Schram, disgorged seven years ago, is in a prime state right now, exhibiting caramelized power and seasoned richness on a crisp, tart, and lingering frame. Its partner offering, the 2016 Blanc de Blancs, with five more years than our current release, is just picking up some of the tantalizing glazed citrus and baked apple notes, characteristic of developing Chardonnay.
All Schramsberg sparkling club members have our latest vineyard-designate bottlings coming their way, each from the cool, wet and late 2019 vintage. The Tognetti Blanc de Blancs bottling, our fourth from Bob, Wendy and this second-generation grapegrowing family’s dark loamy soils on the south side of Carneros Creek, exhibits tasty citrus curd and candied tones with vibrant length. Our first Badgley Family Vineyards Bennett Valley offering is from a unique, cool pocket on the north side of Sonoma Mountain. We’re thankful to Kevin, Judy and their family for the opportunity to work with their vineyard in crafting this supple Brut style, a blend of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
On to 2025! We look forward to a year of formation, interaction and celebration ahead! Some early 2025 highlights will include the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival (April 10-13), Wine Spectator Grand Tour (April 26, May 2 & May 10), BottleRock (May 23-25), and Auction Napa Valley (June 6-7). We look forward to raising a glass with you at these events.
We wish each of you, your families, and your communities the very best for the year ahead.
Hugh, Monique, the Davies Family, and the greater Schramsberg Community