Wines
Rainbow Orchards is now making wine!
Our first release, of the 2007 estate bottled Rainbow wines, has been a huge success. The San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition awarded medals to all of our 2007 wines, with a coveted Best in Class for our 2007 Merlot. Even more importantly, our farmer’s market customers have given rave reviews to the wines and return weekly to pick up a bottle (or two, or three)!
Rainbow is a boutique winery, proudly producing less than 1000 cases of wine each year. We currently produce about 150 cases of each of our red varietals, which include Merlot, Cabernet sauvignon and Syrah, and 100 cases of each of our white varietals, which include Semillon and Chardonnay. We ferment our wines in small half ton lots so that we can customize the flavor profile of our finished wines through use of different yeast strains. Each of our reds is aged in a variety of neutral, French and American oak barrels to optimize the mouthfeel and aroma profile of the finished wines. We use little oak in our whites, opting to produce crisper, leaner white wines that pair beautifully with food.
Current Releases
- 2007 Merlot : easy drinking, fruit forward wine that displays red cherry and plum aromas highlighted by bright acidity and subtle toasty notes from the oak. This is a crowd pleaser, even when Cab lovers are in the crowd! The roundness and full body of our Merlot has surprised quite a few of our customers who had sworn off this varietal; one sip and you’ll know why it won best in class!
Best In Class, 2009 San Francisco International Wine Competition
- 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon: aromas of dark cherry, chocolate and spice, highlighted by toasty oak. This is a deliciously approachable Cab, with a beautiful round mouthfeel and well-integrated tannins-it’s hard to believe that this wine is as young as it is!
Silver Medal, 2009 San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition
Gold Medal, 2010 San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition
- 2007 Semillon: a dry white wine that displays an underlying pear aroma with subtle notes of citrus, highlighted by bright acidity. This is a true food wine; it pairs perfectly with seafood, fish and salty cheeses, but can stand in well for red wine with hearty meat or pasta dishes.
Silver Medal, 2009 San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition
- 2008 Chardonnay: a crisp white wine, made to highlight the apple, pear and mineral aromas that are so often masked by the buttery, oaky style predominant in California Chardonnays. The crisper style of our stainless-steel fermented Chardonnay makes it a perfect companion to food; we particularly enjoy it with a cheese and fruit plate in the afternoon!
WHERE TO FIND OUR WINES
Our wines can be purchased at several Bay Area farmer’s markets, as well as at our farm. We are currently selling wine at the following markets, with more to come:
Temescal Farmer’s Market, Oakland