Our 2017 harvest is complete with wonderful looking fruit.
Sian Morris formally joins our family artisan wine venture as Wine Representative!
Sian has been quite involved in our wine business since we started making wine when she was 8 years old. She contributed to our label designs, was involved in the annual harvests and the multiple bottlings where she was needed to place the capsules on the bottles, to the point where we would take her out of school to help. Her frequent walks through the neighboring vineyards educated her of the growth cycles of the different varietals. Sian has even stomped on grapes to make some tasty Cabernet Sauvignon sorbets!
Growing up surrounded by grapes and with various bottles of wine at the dinner table, Sian can now offer her knowledge of our award-winning wines to the public. After 12 years of discussions about wine and being quizzed about the various varietals, as well as drinking wines in Europe and Bermuda with a lower drinking age, Sian is now well versed to represent our wines in California and to our Bermudian market. Congratulations Sian!
WILD HOGGE'S 2012 PINOT NOIR WAS WELL RECEIVED BY THE WINE ENTHUSIAST!
OUR 2012 PINOT NOIR WAS AWARDED 93 POINTS!
Here is what Matt Kettmann of the Wine Enthusiast had to say:
Wild Hogge 2012 Pinot Noir (Paso Robles)
Sichuan pepper and sultry mulberry aromas meet with seaweed and iodine aromas on the nose of this bottling. Deep strawberry fruit melds with black sage, licorice, mint, and slate-like minerality on the palate.
Thank you Matt!
WILD HOGGE 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon awarded 90 POINTS from the WINE ENTHUSIAST!
The Wine Enthusiast continues to award our wines high scores and just awarded our 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon 90 points. Their evaluation will be in the April magazine or on-line sooner. We will post that as soon as we get word.
The grapes for this Cabernet are a blend of two blocks of grapes which give the wine a rich tapestry of ripe fruit from the hilltop vines with the well structured tannins from the cooler valley vines. The resulting blend is a well balanced Cabernet Sauvignon with a broad range of fruit and tannin flavors.
Cheers!
2012 WILD HOGGE Pinot Noir awarded 93 POINTS by the WINE ENTHUSIAST!
We just received notice that we have gotten 93 points for our 2012 Pinot Noir by the Wine Enthusiast. Results and details will be published in April and we can't wait to see what they wrote. This is a classic Pinot Noir from Paso Robles grown in a cooler microclimate showing good fruit with austere flavors. Enjoy!
Harvest is underway and it looks wonderful!
Picking Cabernet Franc for our Moongate blend.
A GOLD MEDAL FOR 2009 TREE FROG!
Affairs of the Vines awarded Wild Hogge's 2009 Tree Frog a GOLD Medal in their Cabernet Shootout!
Wild Hogge's Moongate, 2010, is awarded 92 points by Wine Enthusiast
92 Wild Hogge 2010 Moongate (Paso Robles).
It’s too bad that this blend of 75% Zinfandel, 12% Cabernet Franc and 13% Syrah is only found in Bermuda. Elderberry, tobacco and blueberry-stuffed chocolate power the dense nose, yet the palate shows a fresh lightness, with mint and menthol lifting the cherry juice and tannic grip that structures the sip. —M.K.
abv: 16%
Wine Enthusiast/Best of Year 2015 December issue
Wine Enthusiast Awards Wild Hogge 2011 Pinot Noir 94 Points!
94 Wild Hogge 2011 Pinot Noir (Paso Robles).
Unfortunately only available in Bermuda, this wonderful bottling shows salted brambleberries, crushed violets, asphalt, rosemary and pin-pointed florality on the fresh yet concentrated nose. The palate is zesty and darkly focused, with elderberries, stewed plums, thyme and Earl Grey tea. It’s quite a complex effort. — M.K.
Abv: 13/8%
Wine Enthusiast/Best of year 2015
Michael Robinson highlights Wild Hogge's Moongate
"Grape Expectations: We Haven’t Zinned for a While"
Robinson, Michael.
The Royal Gazette [BDA] 18.09.15 Print
Crljenak Kastelanski is... Zinfandel
Of course I could have said that we haven’t Primitivo-ed (Italian) or Crljenak Kastelanskied (Croatian) for a while, as both are considered the DNA match for the grape that Californians call Zinfandel. Today I will not be writing about the pink version that resulted from a “stuck fermentation” back in 1975 or how it has made rather a fortune for the lucky folks involved. You see, sometimes the process of fermentation will just stop as it did in this case, while quite a bit of sugar remained in the juice, and it had also not absorbed enough tannins from the skins to turn a true red. The winery decided to bottle it as it was and the rest is history!
Wild Hogge Wines
When Huw and Dale Morris left Bermuda a few years ago they settled in Paso Robles, that is now one of the fastest growing wine areas in California and the wines that they make exclusively for our Island are called Wild Hogge. The production, as you can imagine, is very small and only one hundred and sixty eight cases of their 2010 Moongate were made. This is a blend of 75% Primitivo, 12.5% Cabernet Franc and 12.5% Syrah. Primitivo (Zinfandel) gives rich, ripe fruit, Cabernet Franc adds a little black pepper and the Syrah just balances the overall richness.
The wine spent two years maturing in American oak and then another two in bottle before being released. The earthiness, dark berry fruit and blackberry jam would be so good with any lamb dish or rich Italian fare. $39.95 and be sure to check out the Winslow Homer water-colour label of wild hogs on our South Shore and also the foil top with an impression of our hog penny.
2015 Pinot Noir has been picked
This summer has been a bit strange, with hot then cool spells and even real rain one day - unheard of! We picked our Pinot Noir a bit earlier than normal and the fruit looks amazing, although the smaller clusters do result in lower yields. The drought plays a part along with a cool May but the quality looks to be very good. The drought also made us decide to just pick Pinot Noir this year. Yields were down everywhere.
Drinkthosewords blog wine review
A found review of our wines written on a wine blog. Jade Moon is the parent company of Wild Hogge wines and the label used for our wines in the States. Thank you wine writer Carolyn!
Jade Moon
October 18, 2014
You might think that wineries with huge opulent estates and sprawling views ought to have delicious wine. You may assume all that money means better quality juice. You may be right but I doubt it. If you like the view, go drink it up! At the end of the day, the wine you’ll want to have is from a smaller producer like Jade Moon.
It is their careful attention to detail and fearless pursuit of flavor that make their wines balanced yet complex. Each wine is crafted with respect to the iconic traits of each varietal. Their Sauvignon Blanc has bright crisp acidity but they’ve tamed its harsh grapefruit profile, allowing slight herbal flavors of sage shine through. It makes a wonderful sipper and an even better pair to sumptuous salads or slightly spicy shellfish. Their round supple Chardonnay has a range of flavors starting with a little butter that follows with thick succulent lemon curd and a whiff of honeysuckle. It is your mate for a saucy barbecue or rich creamy lobster mac and cheese.
These whites are under their Wild Hogge label that is exported to Bermuda. But their reds under the Jade Moon label are available locally in many of California’s scrumptious restaurants. The Odyssey in Paso Robles for one has discovered how their richly textured wines unearth a bounty of flavors alongside their eclectic menu options. Each full bodied red has an amazing array of bright and dark fruit with a long finish you’ll remember. You just can’t get this flavor from a mass produced wine! If your palate is particular, find winemakers like this with the same appreciation, refined palate, and strong sense to continue feeding that brilliant passion.
posted in Paso Robles, Wine