Little Vineyards Band Blend Track 15, Sonoma Valley
91 Points and Silver Medal, 2024 California State Fair
Tasting Notes
Inviting aromas of cedar and black pepper. Fresh boysenberry and raspberry fruit with an underlying hint of watermelon. Has a smooth and juicy entry, a pleasing middle, and concludes with an even and balanced finish. An approachable red that can strike a pleasing chord for the avid sipper.
Inspired by the love of music and wine, the Band Blend story began on a typical afternoon at Little Vineyards. With an onsite recording studio, and the band’s music flowing through the vines, it was quickly discovered that band practice was better with a Little wine. Our winemaker, Ted Coleman, made a special blend just for the band and chalked BAND BLEND on the barrelhead so the band could easily find their secret wine. From that day on, the band would fill up their jugs before practice and play music inspired by the delicious blend. Eventually, the word got out that there was a special “behind-the-stage” blend, and we are happy to share this with you.
The Little Vineyards Family Winery is located in the heart of Sonoma Valley’s historic grape growing region. The wine is crafted by hand in small batches and gravity transferred into the very finest oak barrels available. We hope you enjoy the intense flavors and aromas unique to our outstanding appellation consisting of sun bathed rocky soil, warmed by underground artesian hot springs and cooled nightly by coastal marine layers. Our focus is in creating wines that truly showcase this appellation…wines we hope you will enjoy time and time again.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Three of us sat down to sample and discuss this offering. No pairings. All of our impressions were very similar.
On the nose we got berries and earthiness. The earthiness evoked being in a barrel room.
On tasting, the berries stood out, but not too fruity-sweet. Mild/medium tannins. A really well-balanced combination of the grapes. The finish left a touch of sweetness on the back of the palate.
We all enjoyed this very much. It’s a straight forward drinker. Pleasant and uncomplicated. “Approachable”, as the tasting notes mention. We felt it would be a great red for backyard cookouts and casual get-togethers. The ladies thought it would be a good wine to drink sans bra. So, um, yeah.
I expected the CM price to be in the $10-$12 range. Not the best QPR IMO.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
NV Little Vineyards Band Blend Track 15 - $10 = 4.75%
Hello out there in casemate land - we finished off a bottle or two at band practice yesterday and this is the juice that drives us still, scrumptious! Wow - track 15 - time does fly. Anyway enjoy the last little bit of this as the track 16 is nearing release status.
This one takes me back, Track 9 was my first order from Casemates over 7 years ago! The blend inside the bottle has changed a bit from that first order, but the outside looks nearly identical from what I remember. After a day of fun in the sun it was time to contemplate dinner. The label didn’t mention the blend (and I try not to cheat and read anything about a wine online before writing up my review), so I counted how many eggs I had on hand and decided to make some pasta and a red sauce.
I poured a glass while getting the ingredients ready and noticed the legs coated the glass. For an aroma it was predominately earthy, with an ever so slight bit of alcohol. I didn’t get a lot of fruit or other aromas. I took a quick sip and noticed there wasn’t a ton of body, but a decent amount of tannins. This isn’t one I would immediately open and serve, and I didn’t think it was great on its own (full disclosure, I thought the same about Track 9).
After the sauce had some time to cook and the pasta was ready, it was time to sit down for dinner. We now were able to get a little plum on the nose. It was a bit dry on the front of the tongue with not a lot of flavor, with all of the flavor (I got some plum here too) and tannins coming as I continued the sip and swallow. I don’t get a ton of fruit though.
The wine really held up well to the tomato, garlic, and onion in the pasta, and I think this will pair well with any type of food that has a little kick. I can eat some garlic or get a bit of red pepper flake, take a sip of wine, and I instantly taste the wine, not the food. My first guess was that this had a Cabernet Sauvignon in it, but I didn’t think it was the majority because of the body (it just had that vibe of “I’d go well with a steak”).
On day 2 the aroma was similar to day 1, but I thought the flavor benefited from the extra day (we had 2/3 of the bottle left over). There isn’t a strong describable flavor that stands out to me, which makes this one harder for me to review (I’m rarely one to be able to pick flavors out of thin air, and I couldn’t tell you what leather with hints of stone, tobacco, and dryer lint taste like). I think there are more indescribable flavors in this one, at least for me (maybe mineral-y is one that comes to mind).
Thanks for being a return Band Blend wine drinker, every year is a little different. Track 15 is predominately Syrah which has oaky overtones. Meant to be an easy open with the screw cap, definitely goes with a good steak and other heartier meals.
Little Vineyards Band Blend Track 15, Sonoma Valley
91 Points and Silver Medal, 2024 California State Fair
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$279.96/Case for 12x Little Vineyards Band Blend Track 15, Sonoma Valley at Little Vineyards
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Aug 4 - Tuesday, Aug 5
NV Little Vineyards Band Blend Track 15
4 bottles for $69.99 $17.50/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
The OG! I’m overflowing with reds but how can I pass this up? Rats would be nice tho.
Rat here.
Three of us sat down to sample and discuss this offering. No pairings. All of our impressions were very similar.
On the nose we got berries and earthiness. The earthiness evoked being in a barrel room.
On tasting, the berries stood out, but not too fruity-sweet. Mild/medium tannins. A really well-balanced combination of the grapes. The finish left a touch of sweetness on the back of the palate.
We all enjoyed this very much. It’s a straight forward drinker. Pleasant and uncomplicated. “Approachable”, as the tasting notes mention. We felt it would be a great red for backyard cookouts and casual get-togethers. The ladies thought it would be a good wine to drink sans bra. So, um, yeah.
I expected the CM price to be in the $10-$12 range. Not the best QPR IMO.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
NV Little Vineyards Band Blend Track 15 - $10 = 4.75%
Hello out there in casemate land - we finished off a bottle or two at band practice yesterday and this is the juice that drives us still, scrumptious! Wow - track 15 - time does fly. Anyway enjoy the last little bit of this as the track 16 is nearing release status.
Rich Little
@littlewinery Good day!..hey you posted on instagram around Aug '24 you were bottling track 16. Do you hold in bottle a year or so or just depends?
Its been a long time since a Little Vineyards offer here.
This one takes me back, Track 9 was my first order from Casemates over 7 years ago! The blend inside the bottle has changed a bit from that first order, but the outside looks nearly identical from what I remember. After a day of fun in the sun it was time to contemplate dinner. The label didn’t mention the blend (and I try not to cheat and read anything about a wine online before writing up my review), so I counted how many eggs I had on hand and decided to make some pasta and a red sauce.
I poured a glass while getting the ingredients ready and noticed the legs coated the glass. For an aroma it was predominately earthy, with an ever so slight bit of alcohol. I didn’t get a lot of fruit or other aromas. I took a quick sip and noticed there wasn’t a ton of body, but a decent amount of tannins. This isn’t one I would immediately open and serve, and I didn’t think it was great on its own (full disclosure, I thought the same about Track 9).
After the sauce had some time to cook and the pasta was ready, it was time to sit down for dinner. We now were able to get a little plum on the nose. It was a bit dry on the front of the tongue with not a lot of flavor, with all of the flavor (I got some plum here too) and tannins coming as I continued the sip and swallow. I don’t get a ton of fruit though.
The wine really held up well to the tomato, garlic, and onion in the pasta, and I think this will pair well with any type of food that has a little kick. I can eat some garlic or get a bit of red pepper flake, take a sip of wine, and I instantly taste the wine, not the food. My first guess was that this had a Cabernet Sauvignon in it, but I didn’t think it was the majority because of the body (it just had that vibe of “I’d go well with a steak”).
On day 2 the aroma was similar to day 1, but I thought the flavor benefited from the extra day (we had 2/3 of the bottle left over). There isn’t a strong describable flavor that stands out to me, which makes this one harder for me to review (I’m rarely one to be able to pick flavors out of thin air, and I couldn’t tell you what leather with hints of stone, tobacco, and dryer lint taste like). I think there are more indescribable flavors in this one, at least for me (maybe mineral-y is one that comes to mind).
Thanks for being a return Band Blend wine drinker, every year is a little different. Track 15 is predominately Syrah which has oaky overtones. Meant to be an easy open with the screw cap, definitely goes with a good steak and other heartier meals.
/giphy straight-welcoming-camp
