Lula Cellars Debuts First Vintage of its 2012 Mendocino Pinot Gris at Mendocino’s Crab, Wine & Beer Festival in January; Pours at Anderson Valley Wine Association’s 10th Annual Alsace Wine Festival Grand Tasting in February
MENDOCINO COUNTY, CA – (January 6, 2015) – California’s Mendocino County, home to the much-lauded Anderson Valley wine region, continues to bustle after the New Year, as the area’s two most anticipated food & wine-centric festivals take place in late-January and early-February. Each year locals and visitors alike look forward to Mendocino’s Annual Crab, Wine & Beer Festival (January 16 – 25, 2015) and the Anderson Valley Wine Association’s Alsace Wine Festival (February 7 & 8, 2015). This year, as in years past, Jeff Hansen, winemaker at Lula Cellars (www.LulaCellars.com), is pleased to announce its participation in both events, and will also be hosting an open house in support of the Alsace Wine Festival at Lula Cellars newly opened tasting room on Sunday, February 8.
As part of Mendocino’s Annual Crab, Wine & Beer Festival, Lula Cellars will be participating in its Crab Cake Cook-off & Wine Tasting Competition on Saturday, January 24, from 12 to 3 p.m., in Fort Bragg (located on the Northern Mendocino Coast). Attendees will have the opportunity to taste Lula Cellars wines while noshing on hand-crafted crab cakes from local chefs representing the best restaurants throughout Mendocino County. Festival-goers can vote for their favorite crab cakes and wines in the coveted People’s Choice Award, and see how their vote matches up with the Professional Judges’ Awards. In addition to serving its 2013 Mendocino Dry Gewurztraminer, Lula Cellars will also be debuting its 2012 Mendocino Pinot Gris – the first release of this varietal for Lula Cellars! Tickets to the Crab Cake Cook-off & Wine Tasting Competition are $85/per person if purchased before December 23, 2014, and $100 thereafter. Tickets can be purchased by visiting, www.mendocinocoastclinics.org.
Additionally, Lula Cellars will be participating in the Anderson Valley Wine Association’s 10th Annual Alsace Wine Festival. Taking place on Saturday, February 7, 2015, at the Boonville Fairgrounds, the Alsace Wine Festival offers wine lovers and aficionados the opportunity to taste Alsace-styled wines from around the world with carefully selected foods that pair beautifully with these aromatic, delicate, white wines.
As with Mendocino’s Crab, Wine & Beer Festival, Lula Cellars will be pouring its 2013 Mendocino Dry Gewurztraminer and 2012 Mendocino Pinot Gris (the Lula Pinot Gris is new to this festival as well). The Alsace-style wines will be paired with Tomales Bay oysters and Tart Flambé.
Tickets for the Alsace Wine Festival Grand Tasting are $65 per person and can be purchased by visiting, www.avwines.com/alsace-festival/.
In support of the Alsace Wine Festival, Lula Cellars will be hosting an open house at its newly-opened tasting room (2800 Guntley Road in Philo, just off of Hwy 128) on Sunday, February 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Lula Cellars will be pouring its 2010, 2011 and 2012 Pinot Noir vintages; 2012 Mendocino Ridge Zinfandel, 2012 Mendocino Pinot Gris; 2013 Mendocino Gewurztraminer; and 2013 Rosato. Guests will also be able to nosh on homemade Pallea from Karina’s Catering – touted to be the best Pallea in Mendocino County!
Lula Cellars 2013 Mendocino Dry Gewurztraminer is a dry wine offering notes of exotic spices and floral overtones on the nose, balanced with a crisp acidity and long finish. Its 2012 Mendocino Pinot Gris, also a dry wine, has traditional rose pedal aromatics with spice, lychee, and tangerine flavors.
In October 2014, Lula Cellars opened its new 22-acre Philo property to the public, which is nestled amongst the rolling hills of bucolic Anderson Valley in Mendocino County, Northern California. For festival-goers, or travelers to Mendocino County in general, Lula Cellars’ new tasting room on the property offers a unique experience for wine tasting in the Anderson Valley.
In addition to a tasting room, the new property (with a quarter mile of frontage along Hwy 128 in Philo) features a pond, a 14-acre Pinot Noir vineyard, a small-production winemaking facility, and beginning in 2015, a 10,000 square foot ‘Events Area’ that will be available for weddings and other private events.
The new pet-friendly tasting room, which offers stunning views of the surrounding property, is located at 2800 Guntley Road in Philo (at the corner of Hwy 128 and Guntley Road), next door to Handley Cellars. This lauded Pinot Noir growing area, known as “The Deep End,” is on the west end of the Anderson Valley.
The new tasting room is open Thursday through Monday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. To contact the tasting room, please call 707.895.3737.
About Lula Cellars
Lula Cellars is the small production, ultra-premium label of winemaker and “Grand Fromage” Jeff Hansen, a twenty-eight year wine industry veteran who was previously winemaker and part owner of a well-respected winery in Napa. With a yearly case production of 2,800 cases, comprised of Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Dry Gewurztraminer, Rosato (Rose of Pinot Noir) and Pinot Gris. Lula Cellars produces wines entirely from vineyards in Mendocino County, California. Since 2010, Lula Cellars has built a reputation of integrity, positive customer relations and stellar wines. The goal of Lula Cellars is simple: to produce quality, world class wines and to offer them at prices that are reasonable, by selling directly to consumers (no distributors or retailers involved). Lula Cellars was named for Jeff’s maternal grandmother Lula, who was born in 1879 and lived to the age of 89.
GOLD MEDAL 2012 Costa Vineyard (Comptche) Pinot Noir, 600 case production
SILVER MEDAL 2012 Peterson Vineyard (Comptche) Pinot Noir, 600 case production
2012 Mendocino (Comptche) Pinot Noir, 600 case production
GOLD MEDAL 2012 Mendocino (Mariah Vineyards) Zinfandel, 400 case production
SILVER MEDAL 2013 Mendocino, Rosato (Rose of Pinot Noir), 200 case production
2013 Mendocino, Dry Gewurztraminer, 170 case production
2012 Mendocino Pinot Gris, 200 case production
Please visit www.lulacellars.com for further information.
