This week it’s all about Scotto Cellars with my guest Bradley Gray.
Scotto Cellars is a 5th generation family owned and managed wine company who treats team members not only as collaborators but as family members that are encouraged to think creatively with a can-do attitude. Everyone at Scotto Cellars is an innovator who learns more while we listen than when we talk but doesn’t shy away from expressing our positivity, enthusiasm, passion and honesty in ourselves and more importantly our wines.
With a history stretching back to 1883 and Italy the 5th generation now operating Scotto Cellars has big shoes to fill. From early 1934 and selling gallon jugs of Villa Armando Rustico from a push cart, (Villa Armando is one of the oldest wine brands in the U.S. and has filled more than 200,000,000 glasses with traditional red wine) to the 5th generation today. The wine making history at Scotto Cellars is BIG.
Anthony Scotto Sr. passed along the Villa Armando brand to Anthony Scotto III when he started Scotto Cellars in 2004.
Anthony Scotto III. and his siblings; Natalie, Paul and Michael continue the family tradition. Anthony says; “Today my brothers, sister and I are 5th generation vintners building a family wine business for future generations. We still produce Villa Armando, along with newer brands like Lodi Avenue Cellars that we sell domestically and overseas. We appreciate the importance of our wholesalers, brokers, retailers, on-premise and export partners, so we focus on building these long term relationships. We hope you’ll enjoy our wines and share them with your family and friends, like our family has done for five generations.”
Bradley Gray is the Public and Media Relations Manager for the Scotto Cellars organization. He joined Scotto Cellars in May of 2013, and oversees publicity for the Scotto Family’s 40-plus brands of premium wine, hard apple cider and mead. Like everyone at Scotto Cellars, he wears many hats, so if he’s not courting wine journalists, he may be on a sales trip promoting Pacific Coast Hard Apple Cider, creating advertisements for wine magazines or shooting photographs at a wine gala in San Francisco. Bradley Gray is a 20-year wine industry public relations veteran based in Sonoma, California.
2015 Rich & Creamy Chardonnay from Scotto Cellars
The world may not need another Chardonnay, but wine lovers who covet bright fruit flavors, creamy vanilla oak accents and the softer, more elegant flavor profiles that come from malolactic fermentation wish that every Chardonnay could be RICH & CREAMY!
This well balanced release is unusually versatile and complements richly flavored entrees including seafood with cream sauce and buttery pasta dishes; it’s also a great pour to contrast with sparsely seasoned broiled fish or baked chicken.
Varietal Composition: 85% Chardonnay, 12% Chenin Blanc, 3% Symphony
Barrel Aging: 50% barrel fermented in French and American oak; 10 months sur lie,
ALC 12.5% TA 0.65 RS 0.3
Tasting Panel 91/100
In the second half I’ll be talking to Martin Ervin he is the Dad – C.E.O. responsible for 9 Lazy Kidz soon to be 10. He is a hard worker and very attentive Father. His hot sauce will knock your socks off! Literally. . . “Now don’t you be lazy….. pick your socks up at least when they get knocked off.” The first edition of this energetic new family run company is “Q’s Spicy Mango Sauce” (Q for Quintin) and I can attest to the great flavor of this fine sauce. It needs to come in a bigger bottle so it can be consumed like soup!
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We’ll tell you all about this BIG family and what sauces will be coming in the future. Check out Quintin’s sauce and order some today.