A Guide to Wine, Food & the Good Life
To subscribe and be notified anytime we post a new article, enter your email address in the box below, then click on Subscribe Now.

Featured Wine Commentary

Similar Articles:

  1. Vintage Tastings – A Day at the Tilsons
  2. Vintage Tastings – A Top Ten for 2023
  3. WINE EVENTS WITH WINES FROM MY CELLAR ARRANGED AND ORGANIZED BY ACKER MERRILL
  4. JOSH JENSEN, FOUNDER OF CALERA WINE COMPANY, HAS PASSED BUT HIS LEGEND WILL LIVE ON FOREVER
  5. FREDERICK ESMONIN
  6. OLD CHAMPAGNE - ONE OF LIFE'S GREAT PLEASURES
  7. TIS THE SEASON!
  8. BOUCHARD PÉRE ET FILS
  9. CHANIN WINE COMPANY
  10. GREAT 2018 RED BURGUNDIES FROM DOMAINE ANNE & HERVE SIGAUT
  11. 2018 RED BURGUNDY
  12. 2018 GERMAN ROSÉS
  13. 2018 ROSES - IT'S TIME & IT LOOKS LIKE WE ARE IN FOR A REAL TREAT!
  14. CALERA WINE COMPANY - A GREAT CALIFORNIA WINE STORY NOW ENTERING ANOTHER CHAPTER
  15. A RECENT VISIT TO DIAMOND CREEK VINEYARDS – FALL 2018
  16. GAMBAL-WORK WINERY
  17. 2018 HILLSIDE HOUSE SUNSET SOIRÉE WITH JIM CLENDENEN OF AU BON CLIMAT
  18. IS IT ROSÉ TIME?
  19. DOMAINE BALLOT-MILLOT – HISTORY, OLDER WINES & THE 2015 VINTAGE, AND TASTING NOTES ON THE 2015S
  20. BIEN NACIDO ESTATE AND SOLOMON HILLS ESTATE
  21. A VISIT TO TYLER WINERY
  22. ALONG THE BURGUNDY TRAIL – VINTAGE 2014
  23. SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAIN VINEYARD AND QUINTA CRUZ
  24. RIDGE VINEYARDS & THE DROUGHT YEARS 2012-2015
  25. BONNY DOON VINEYARD: A PIONEER PRODUCER WHERE OLD IS NEW
  26. VISIT TO CALERA & NEW AND OLD WINES
  27. DIAMOND CREEK VINEYARDS
  28. TYLER WINERY
  29. MARIETTA CELLARS
  30. CHANIN WINE COMPANY & LUTUM WINES
  31. MASSICAN WINERY
  32. DOMAINE BALLOT MILLOT
  33. DOMAINE SAUMAIZE-MICHELIN
  34. ALONG THE BURGUNDY TRAIL - VINTAGE 2013
  35. CALERA WINE COMPANY
  36. RIDGE VINEYARDS
  37. BIEN NACIDO ESTATE AND SOLOMON HILLS ESTATE
  38. RIDGE VINEYARDS AND TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD
  39. TYLER WINERY AND CHANIN WINE COMPANY
  40. ALONG THE BURGUNDY TRAIL - VINTAGE 2012
  41. WORLD CLASS CENTRAL COAST WINERIES: New Releases From Calera, Domaine Eden, Mount Eden Vineyards, Ridge Vineyards, and Tablas Creek Vineyard
  42. BERNARD PORTET’S NEW WINEMAKING PROJECT, HERITANCE
  43. CALERA WINE COMPANY
  44. THE OJAI VINEYARD
  45. TYLER WINERY
  46. ALONG THE BURGUNDY TRAIL – VINTAGE 2011
  47. DOMAINE DONATSCH
  48. THE COMPLETE(R) STORY
  49. SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAIN VINEYARD & QUINTA CRUZ: TWO IN ONE
  50. THE BIG KAHUNA LINE UP
  51. RIDGE VINEYARDS
  52. AU BON CLIMAT & QUPÉ
  53. MOUNT EDEN VINEYARDS AND DOMAINE EDEN
  54. MOSEL VERSUS MONTRACHET
  55. JOSEPH SWAN: A CALIFORNIA WINE LEGEND
  56. SUMMERTIME IS ROSÉ TIME!
  57. IN PURSUIT OF BALANCE: A TRADE TASTING AND MORE
  58. SPRING HAS SPRUNG
  59. THE MAYACAMAS MOUNTAINS OF NAPA VALLEY & THREE PIONEER PRODUCERS
  60. STILL DON'T KNOW JURA? YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING!
  61. THREE CRU CLASSÉ LADIES OF THE COTES DE PROVENCE
  62. ALONG THE BURGUNDY TRAIL – VINTAGE 2010
  63. THE OJAI VINEYARD
  64. KUDOS FOR CALERA
  65. THE HOLY TRINITY OF WINERIES
  66. MOUNT EDEN VINEYARDS AND DOMAINE EDEN -- SOMETHING OLD AND SOMETHING NEW
  67. RIDGE VINEYARDS - UNCOMPROMISING QUALITY
  68. The Dueling Inexpensive Red Wine Line-Ups -- Which Ones Went To The Drinking Round And Which Ones Went Down The Drain?
  69. A Pair To Draw From – Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard and Quinta Cruz
  70. T FOR TWO – TABLAS CREEK AND TYLER TOO!
  71. Que Syrah, Syrah…Wherefore Art Thou?
  72. ALONG THE BURGUNDY TRAIL - VINTAGE 2009
  73. Is “Sanity” Returning To The Market?
  74. Under The Radar California Wines
  75. More 2009 Wines
  76. A Tale of Two California Wineries – One New, One Old
  77. There Was A Legacy
  78. Surprising New Wines from Old-World Spain
  79. 2009 Beaujolais
  80. Lemmings to the Sea?
  81. 2009 Rosé
  82. Dom Pérignon in the Napa Valley
  83. A Burgundy Story
  84. A Vineyard 29 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Retrospective Tasting
  85. Champagne or No?
  86. A Visit With Robert Lawrence Balzer -- Grand Ambassador of American Wine Culture
  87. Champagne -- The Wine of Kings

MASSICAN WINERY

John Tilson • 3/3/15        Print This Post Print This PostComment Bookmark and Share

Massican Vineyard

Massican is a very small winery in Calistoga that was founded by owner and winemaker Dan Petroski in 2009. The grapes are sourced mostly in Napa Valley and production is limited to white wines with current annual production around 1200 cases. The wines are available from the winery (with a release date each April) and in limited retail distribution in seven states. In 2014 production is increasing with another wine, Gemina, which is a blend of Greco and Pinot Grigio also being added.

I recently tasted three 2013 Massican white wines that are very special. Following is background information taken from the website:
Massican is named after the coastal mountain range on the southern Italian peninsula in the region of Campania. Monte Massico garnered its mythological wine-fame when Bacchus took refuge in its foothills with a farmer named Falernus. Bacchus was so enamored with his host’s generosity that when the man slept, Bacchus cultivated his hillside fields into the most sought after white wine grapes in all of Italy.
At Massican it is our pursuit and love of unique, memorable white wines; wines that we wish to share. Iinspired by our roots in Italy, made here in Napa Valley. The winery was founded, with our first vintage, in 2009.
The history of our name resides in the south of Italy. However, the inspiration for the wine comes from the North. The Massican wines are a blend of grape varieties with the hope of promising a new, unique approach of what white wine could be – modern, spirited, different – taking the best of what California vineyards have to offer and approaching the winemaking with intellectual verve and passion.
We harvested four grape varieties in and around Napa Valley and Sonoma County in 2013 – two North East Italian white varieties, Tocai Friulano and Ribolla Gialla, coupled with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. We made three wines channeling the style and the blends made famous by such wineries as Borgo del Tiglio, Jermann, Lis Neris, Meroi, Miani, Ronco del Gnemiz, Venica & Venica and Vie di Romans, to name a few.
The wines in 2013…
Annia: a blend of Tocai Friulano, Ribolla Gialla and Chardonnay
Gemina: one-hundred percent Chardonnay
Sauvignon: one-hundred percent Sauvignon Blanc

My notes on each of these wines follow below. They are really lovely – refined, beautifully balanced, and very pure. To sign up for the mailing list click here).

 Massican

2013 Massican Annia Napa Valley White Wine
The production of this wine was 585 cases. It is a unique wine made with 44% Tocai Friulano, 36% Ribolla Gialla, and 20% Chardonnay. The Tocai Friulano grapes are harvested from vines that are nearly 70 years old.
Light yellow in color the wine has a lovely floral spice perfume with hints of melon and almond. Bright and crisp with a wonderful purity, it is light and refined with only 12.5% alcohol. Very easy to drink with lovely citrus and apricot nuances accented by a faint mineral tinged spiciness and a floral undertone, this is irresistibly delicious and a wonderful complement to lighter foods – Outstanding.     $28

2013 Massican Gemina Chardonnay Carneros Napa Valley
The grapes for this wine came from 21 year old vines in Hyde Vineyards. The production was 280 cases.
Light yellow in color with a faint golden hue this Chardonnay has a lovely floral perfume with hints of pear and white peach. Balanced and harmonious with lots of very pure fruit suggestive of peach with a faint floral spice, this wine has a wonderful bright freshness which really accentuates the fruit. It is lovely to drink now, but I would think that a few years additional bottle age would reveal even more complexity – Outstanding.    $45

2013 Massican Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley
This is one of the best California Sauvignon Blancs I have had in many years. The grapes came from vineyards in Pope Valley and the production was 335 cases.
Light yellow in color the wine has a stunning perfume with floral and herbal notes. With great fruit and intensity it is rounded and lush with a distinct lemon lime note accented by hints of grapefruit, lychee, and fresh herbs. The bright acidity gives the wine a lift and freshness that is remarkable. Matched with fresh Dungeness crab, this wine was perfect – Outstanding Plus.     $28

 

Post a Comment

2 comments for “MASSICAN WINERY”

  • Dan Petroski says:

    John, thank you for the kind words! I hope we have the opportunity to raise a glass in the near future. Cheers! Dan

    • John Tilson says:

      Thank you Dan for the beautiful wines. Keep up the good work! I’m sure our paths will cross one day and look forward to meeting you.
      In Vino Veritas,
      John

  • Post a Comment

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published.