Sip & Support by Purchasing VCC Wines
Culture and Wine, the Perfect Pairing.
Our new Valley Cultural Center wines serve more than just a few guests”“it serves the greater community, making it taste that much better.
Valley Cultural has teamed up with Goosecross Cellars, a beautiful family winery in Napa Valley to create the perfect blend of our culture with viticulture. A portion of the proceeds from purchasing this wine goes directly to VCC and helps us offer diverse programs and events and recognize outstanding achievements in the arts. That’s why we like to think our wine has the most delicious side effect. With four varietals to choose from, please consider buying local to support your local Valley Cultural Center. Truly it’s the perfect pairing.
This link will take you to the Torchlight Cellars/Goosecross Cellars Wine Shop.
Available Varietals
2009 Cultural Cabernet Franc
Napa Valley Cabernet Franc Vintage 2009
Because of its beautiful aromatics, Cabernet Franc is a great blending grape for Goosecross Cabernet and our ÆROS Meritage. This vintage is so packed with flavor and personality, we elected to set some aside to bottle on its own.
This double-clone blend of 100% Cabernet Franc is grown on Goosecross Cellars’ Yountville Estate. Winemaker Geoff Gorsuch comments that he utilizes vertical trellising, “which helps create optimum sunlight for even-ripening and the Estate fruit brings ripe, rich flavors to the blend giving it character & elegance.”
- Flavor profile: Berry, strawberry, chocolate, olive, bell pepper, anise, and vanilla with a soft, dry finish
- 2009 Vintage: A long growing season with grapes yielding good intensity and flavor maturity at relatively low brix
- Drink now and through: 2015
2009 Symphonic Syrah
Carneros, Napa Valley Syrah Vintage 2009
Believe it or not, in 1992 there were only about 400 acres of Syrah planted in California! The deep, bold, spicy flavors account for the thousands of acres here, now, and it thrives all over the world.
The cool, breezy Carneros location with a north-facing exposure guarantees that our hillside Syrah gets plenty of the all-important hang time it needs to develop full, ripe, rich flavors.
Goosecross Cellars Winemaker Geoff Gorsuch comments that “2009 was a challenging vintage that left us with rain at harvest, but the Syrah grapes are tough skinned and loose clustered so I was relieved to see the fruit come in looking good despite the rain.”
- Flavor profile: Complex flavors of cherry, pepper, mint, walnut, black licorice, with vanilla oak on the finish. Medium-firm tannins
- 2009 Vintage: A long growing season with grapes yielding good intensity and flavor maturity at relatively low brix
- Drink now and through: 2017
2009 VC Chardonnay
Napa Valley Estate Chardonnay Vintage 2009
After a nearly textbook growing season of mild, sunny days and cool, foggy nights, on October 13th we received over three inches of rain in 24 hours! Chardonnay was already picked by that time, so the wine shows beautiful balance, bright, lively flavors and a smooth texture on the finish.
Goosecross Cellars Winemaker Geoff Gorsuch cold fermented half of the wine in tank and the other in barrels. The barrel fermented portion had 4 months of sur lie aging to create our signature style, food-friendly Chardonnay.
- Flavor profile: Crisp and clean on the palate with ripe pear, pineapple, green apple, banana, citrus, toasty oak and ginger spice
- 2009 Vintage: A long growing season with grapes yielding good intensity and flavor maturity at relatively low brix
- Drink now and through: 2014
2010 Virtuoso Viognier
Oak Knoll, Napa Valley Viognier Vintage 2010
Viognier is an ancient and exotic variety that isn’t well known or widely available. The vine yields very little fruit making it a labor of love for a handful of producers around the world.
After gentle pressing, the juice was fermented slowly, at low temperatures, to retain the vibrant beauty of the fruit. Goosecross Cellars Winemaker, Geoff Gorsuch commented, “With such a distinctive variety, I find it’s best if I stay out of the way and go for a pure expression of varietal character.”
- Flavor profile: Pale straw in color with aromas of white peach, honeysuckle and pineapple. Citrus and peach flavors finish dry with nice minerality.
- 2010 Vintage: Vintages such as 2010 demonstrate how winemakers and vineyard managers can help “create their own luck” through attentive, diligent vineyard management. Cool weather had winemakers concerned that the grapes would not ripen before the rainy season, but overall the grapes show good flavor development and intensity.
- Drink now and through: 2013
