Wowser! Everyone is abuzz, Owners Club members and staff alike, about the inaugural release of the Heath Vineyards wines last Sunday, November 6. Membership in the Owners Club is exclusive to our traditional members, and very limited with only a few spots still available. There will be subsequent vintages of this incredible Paso Robles wine, but the 2014 is the first, and therefor destined to be the most collectable.

Actually, it was more of a party than a release. Everyone had a great time, and nearly half of our guests opted to purchase a second set of wines. The tasting was very laid back, and even though we served close to 500 members, no one felt rushed or hurried. I had a blast, getting to work beside Kathy, my beloved sweet patootie.

Heath Vineyards is located in the prestigious Willow Creek District in central-western Paso, which is like Boardwalk and Park Place in real estate terms. Four wines made their debut, including the seductive “Captivating” which is 100% Sauvignon Blanc. The three reds were a delightful Pinot Noir, a block-buster Syrah, and an elegant Cab, Merlot, and Syrah blend called “Absolution”.

A couple weeks ago I was forced to “take one for the team” as Brian likes to call it and sit down to a formal tasting of these beauties with some of my colleagues in a collaborative effort to create some tasting notes. Joining me were Brian and Jennifer, Miguel Lecuona, Patrick Goodman, and Jason Englert. These are some very qualified palates, and it was especially interesting listening to Jason talk about his wine from a winemakers perspective.

We also tasted the 2010, ’12 ’13, and ’14 Epiphany, along with the 2014 Euphoria. Needless to say, over the course of about three hours, there were lots of opinions flying around the table. We agreed on many things, disagreed on others, but always respected each others opinions. One thing we all agreed on, however, was that the Heath wines were all world-class, and that they all needed time in the bottle.

Well, the daunting job of putting all these different perspectives onto paper fell on, guess who, yours truly. This was quite a chore since I had to incorporate everyone’s thoughts, not just mine. Copies of these notes are included in every Owners Club box of wine, and proved helpful while talking about the wine last Sunday.

If you want to check out more about this great event, enjoy the photos and videos posted on our Face Book page. They were taken by my friend, colleague, and photographer extraordinaire Miguel Lequona; the very same Miguel the joined us in our tasting. Here’s a quote from him that does a great job summing up the event. “What I saw today was a great winery beloved by its customers executing a high-priority long-term plan to a very high degree of excellence.”

Cheers, everyone!