Whole Foods, Local Vintners Create ‘One Wine’ Custom Blends

Whole Foods Market’s Southern California stores have teamed up with local vineyards to offer three new “One Wine” custom blends.

Partnering with vineyards including Ampelos, Happy Canyon and Sextant, Whole Foods Market designed this collaborative wine-making program to bring shoppers unique, local varietals, straight from the cellar to the shelves. Available for a limited time at Whole Foods Market’s Southern California stores, the latest edition of special One Wine labels include a pinot noir, merlot blend and cabernet sauvignon.

“The partnership we have forged with these local vineyards has taken root and flourished over the last seven months,” said Roger Fawcett, Whole Foods Market Southern Pacific Region specialty associate coordinator. “Our collaborative efforts have helped us think outside of the barrel and create these one-of-a-kind wines, providing Whole Foods Market shoppers with access to special occasion wines at everyday low prices.”

With their unique climate, geography and soil, the Santa Barbara County and Paso Robles areas are local gems in Southern California’s precious wine country. To date, 16 handcrafted wines have resulted from Whole Foods Market’s One Wine collaborations, including partnerships with Ampelos Cellars, Au Bon Climat Winery, Clendenen Family Winery, Happy Canyon, Hartley Ostini Hitching, Hearst Ranch Winery Post Winery, Margerum Wine Company, and Sextant.

The newest One Wine creations include:

• One Wine Ampelos Pinot Noir ($29.99): As one of the first vineyards in the U.S. to be Sustainability in Practice, organic, and biodynamic certified, Ampelos Vineyards sits on the rolling Santa Rita Hills and enjoys the perfect recipe of sunlight, cool breezes and rich clay soil that yields life to organically grown grapes. After aging 28 months in French oak, 10 specific barrels were chosen for their dense characteristics of fruit, spice and tannins. A true collaboration of earth, vines, craftsmanship and friendship exist in every bottle.
• One Wine Happy Canyon Vineyards Merlot Blend ($17.99): The 2010 Happy Canyon Estate Merlot is a blend of the five principle Bordeaux varietals grown on property. It is comprised of 75 percent merlot, 20 percent cabernet sauvignon, two percent cabernet franc, two percent Malbec and one percent Petit Verdot. Happy Canyon Vineyard, owned by the Barrack family, produces some of the most sought-after wines from this special area.
• One Wine Sextant Cabernet Sauvignon ($19.99): Proprietors Nancy and Craig Stollers’ passions of fine wine and gourmet cuisine coincides with their love for the ocean as exemplified in the namesake of their winery. Sextant Wines celebrates the Central Coast as a wine destination and as an appellation that produces world-class wines with local flavor. This exclusive estate bottled wine was fermented in stainless tanks and aged in 30 percent French, American and Hungarian oak barrels. The 2011 One Wine consists of 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.