Raymond Vineyards’ “Winemaker for a Day” Available at Home;
Outdoor Dining Available Again at Oakville Grocery in Napa Valley; SENSES by JCB Boutique Reopens;
DeLoach Vineyards Opens for Self-Guided Outdoor Tours;
Boisset Donates to Sonoma Family Meal;
JCB Live Happy Hours Welcome Guests
Raymond Vineyards, part of Boisset Collection, has made its most popular guest experience, the “Winemaker for a Day” blending activity, available to wine lovers at home through a kit that is shipped out from the winery and either a group or private virtual session. As shelter-in-place restrictions have started to loosen, Oakville Grocery reopens its Napa Valley outdoor dining area starting today, Friday May 22; SENSES by JCB, the fashion, fragrance and beauty boutique has reopened; and DeLoach Vineyards is inviting guests to schedule self-guided tours of its outdoor spaces. In addition to previously announced charitable initiatives, Boisset Collection is also donating a portion of proceeds from select DeLoach and Buena Vista Winery bottles to Sonoma Family Meal. The Franco-American company continues with private virtual tasting appointments for Raymond, Buena Vista, DeLoach Vineyards, JCB Collection and Wattle Creek Winery as well as its numerous online happy hours and tastings, including the four-times-a-week JCB Live Happy Hour.
Raymond Vineyards’ Winemaker for a Day
Customers can recreate Raymond’s “Winemaker for a Day” experience by ordering an at-home blending kit for $200, shipping included. The kit comes with four 750-ml bottles of the Raymond wines used for blending — an unoaked Cabernet Sauvignon, a Cabernet with new oak, Cabernet Franc and Merlot — as well as four graduated cylinders, four pipettes, blending worksheets and an instruction booklet. After a kit is purchased, buyers can choose between joining the monthly virtual blending sessions led by Jean-Charles Boisset, Proprietor of Boisset Collection, which start on Sunday, May 31 at 4 p.m., or scheduling a private virtual session with one of Raymond’s wine educators. Once customers have determined their favorite blend, they can order it, complete with a custom name as well as label image and text, for $50 per bottle ($40 for club members) with a 6-bottle minimum, shipping included. Watch a video from Jean-Charles speaking about the experience here.
Oakville Grocery Reopens Outdoor Dining Area, Resumes Daily Hours
Oakville Grocery in Oakville has reopened its outdoor dining areas, with tables available by reservation starting today, Friday May 22. Guests can make reservations for groups of six people or less in person by checking in with a grocery team member upon arrival. Tables will be spaced six feet apart and customers are asked to wait in their vehicles until their tables are ready.
Both the Oakville and Healdsburg locations have resumed daily hours and are open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is a maximum capacity of 15 guests inside at any time and customers must wear face coverings when shopping.
SENSES by JCB Reopens
SENSES by JCB, Boisset’s fashion, fragrance and beauty boutique in Yountville has reopened as of today, Friday, May 22 with regular hours from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Curbside pick-up is available, as well as inside shopping. Order online or call the store at 707.948.6907 and the team will have your items for curbside pick-up within one hour. There is a maximum capacity of 14 guests inside the boutique at once and customers must wear face coverings while inside the store.
DeLoach Vineyards Offers Self-Guided Outdoor Tours
DeLoach Vineyards offers guests the opportunity to get out of the house and take in some fresh air at its certified Biodynamic and organic Russian River Valley estate via complimentary self-guided walking tours by appointment (this experience does not include wine tasting). The approximately one-mile walking tour, which the winery started offering Mother’s Day weekend, guides guests through some of the most picturesque locations on the estate, including the Biodynamic knoll and garden. Tours are available by reservation on Cellarpass Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30 am to 3 p.m.
Boisset Donates to Sonoma Family Meal
Boisset Collection is proud to donate a portion of the proceeds from online wine sales to Sonoma Family Meal (SFM), as well as offer customers a discount in honor of the important charity, which is providing food to those who need it most during the pandemic. SFM coordinates meals for seniors, families, women’s emergency shelters and to underserved communities who are struggling through this tragic and unprecedented emergency. Proceeds from the sale of select DeLoach wines featured during the May 16 JCB Live Happy Hour with Single Thread Chef Kyle Connaughton are being donated as are those from select Buena Vista wines that can be purchased through May 27 at a 20% discount using code SFM20.
Private Virtual Tastings
Customers can set up appointments with winemakers, tasting room managers and wine club managers from Raymond Vineyards, Buena Vista Winery, DeLoach Vineyards, JCB Collection and Wattle Creek Winery Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST. A members-only group tasting will be held on May 22 at 5 p.m. PST. To access these sessions customers should order their wine flights online (links for: Raymond, Buena Vista, DeLoach, JCB, Wattle Creek) or by contacting customer service at 707.967.7667 or customerservice@boisset.com. After the purchase customer service will coordinate the tasting appointment. Shipping is complimentary for the wine flights and customers can save 30% on reorders of the flights.
JCB Live Happy Hour
Jean-Charles’ four-times-a-week online JCB Live Happy Hour sessions can be found here as well as archived on his YouTube channel. The shows air each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 p.m. through the end of May and will move to 5 p.m. starting June 1; on Saturdays they air at 4 p.m. Click here for the daily themes and individual session topics.
Upcoming episodes and guests include:
- Friday, May 22 at 6 p.m.: “Wine and the Entrepreneurial Spirit” with author and speaker Robert Kiyosaki
- Saturday, May 23 at 4 p.m.: “Wine ‘Al Fresco’ & Outdoor Grilling” with “Foodie Chap” Liam Mayclem
- Wednesday, May 27 at 6 p.m.: “Sonoma County Superstar” with winemaker David Ramey
- Saturday, May 30 at 4 p.m.: “An Ode to Truffles” with La Toque Chef Ken Frank and David Chang of American Truffle Company and Napa Truffle Festival
- Monday, June 1 at 5 p.m.: “Two Frenchman Find Themselves in Napa Valley” with Philippe Melka, Consulting Winemaker for Boisset
Wine Styles
The “Wine Styles” series that features Boisset’s distributed wines air on the JCB Live YouTube channel every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. Consumers are invited to join wholesale partners for an exploration of bottles from across Boisset’s Franco-American portfolio. Some highlights include May 25 when he guides viewers through a tasting of two sustainable Boisset wines from Russian River Valley and Burgundy and the fresh herbs to plant to produce a perfect pairing with them as well as June 9 when Boisset Cheesemonger James Ayers joins Jean-Charles for a tutorial on how to create the most eye-catching and savory cheese and charcuterie board that pairs with both white and red wines. Click here for more information and a list of the sessions, which are scheduled out through June.
Winemaker Sessions
The winemakers and representatives from the Boisset Collection portfolio are continuing with their live online sessions. Take a step back in time and taste history with the Count of Buena Vista Winery during live online sessions each Wednesday and Friday at 12 p.m. PST; click here for the wine lineups. Join Stephanie Putnam and Winemaker Thane Knutson each Wednesday at 1 p.m. PST as they take deep dives into the wines of Raymond Vineyards; go here for upcoming topics. Catch director of Sonoma Winemaking Brian Maloney exploring the wines of DeLoach Vineyards on Thursdays at 5 p.m.; check out the wines to be discussed here.
ABOUT BOISSET COLLECTION
Boisset Collection is a family-owned collection of historic and unique properties bound together by a common cause: authentic, terroir-driven wines and luxury goods in harmony with their history, their future and the land and people essential to their existence. With more than twenty-five historical and prestigious wineries and tasting salons in the world’s preeminent terroirs, including the Côte d’Or, Beaujolais, Rhône Valley, California’s Russian River Valley and the Napa Valley, each house retains its unique history, identity and style, and all are united in the pursuit of fine wines expressive of their terroir. Boisset Collection has also branched out beyond wine to the gourmet food realm as well as offers luxury goods including jewelry, perfume and home accessories of its own design and from partnerships with historic companies such as Baccarat, Lalique, Christofle and Bernardaud. To learn more about the Boisset Collection, visit www.boissetcollection.com.
