Dec 30, 2022
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Onward Wines
| Owner(s) | Faith Armstrong-Foster |
| Web site | www.onwardwines.com |
| Link to this site |
Winemaker Faith Armstrong-Foster's own label sourcing grapes for small lot vineyard-designated Pinot Noir. The label displays a stout little boa which represents the primary mode of transport for her growing up on a small island in rural British Columbia.
Faith began her wine industry career as the Tasting Room Manager at Ironstone Vineyards. She then pursued a winemaking education at University of California at Davis, graduating with Highest Honors in 2006 with a Viticulture and Enology degree. She then worked for Frank Family Vineyards as a lab technician, moving up quickly to enologist and then assistant winemaker. When grapes became available from Cerise Vineyard in 2009, she founded her own label. Her husband, Sean Foster, is the Senior Winemaker at Merryvale Vineyards.
Two Pinot Noirs and a Rosé are available on the website and through a mailing list. The Pinot Noir sources are Hawkeye Ranch in the Redwood Valley AVA of Mendocino County owned by a fourth generation growing family who planted old Martini clone in the 1970s and have tended the vines ever since, and the well-known Cerise Vineyard in Anderson Valley.
Articles About Onward Wines
Reviewed Wines
2014 Onward Hawkeye Ranch Redwood Valley Rosé of Pinot Noir
12.5% alc., 280 cases, $20. Produced
from a designated press lot (5 hours in the press before pressing), cold settled, fermented cool and long in
stainless steel, underwent partial (70%) malolactic fermentation in neutral oak barrels with lees stirring. A small
amount of saignée was added in to give additional Pinot Noir character.
·
Light apricot color in the glass. Lovely
aromas and flavors of strawberry, cherry, blood orange, spice and savory herbs. This wine is eager to please
and way too good for $20.
Score: 89.
Reviewed April 20, 2015
ARTICLE »
2014 Onward Capp Inn Ranch Skin Fermented Suisun Valley Malvasia Bianca Petillant Naturale
11.3% alc., 90 cases, pH 3.08%,
$24. After grapes were de-stemmed, they were fermented on the skins
with hand punch downs in a small tank. The wine was pulled off the
skins at 1º Brix, sent to barrel, and bottled unfiltered.
·
Softer and richer on
the palate than the stainless steel fermented version with bright, crisp
flavors of citrus, fresh apricots and walnuts.
Reviewed April 20, 2015
ARTICLE »
2014 Onward Capp Inn Ranch Stainless Steel Fermented Suisun Valley Malvasia Bianca Petillant Naturale
12.4% alc., 390 cases, pH 3.10, $24.
·
Easy to like, with some richness of flavors including citrus and
pear, finishing with palate-cleansing dryness.
Reviewed April 20, 2015
ARTICLE »
2014 Onward Capp Inn Ranch Suisun Valley Malvasia Bianca Petillant Naturale
12.1% alc., 350 cases,
pH 3.10, $24.
·
Intense lemon, pear, peach and agave aromas. Very flavorful with notes of lemon, pear, peach,
blood orange and vanilla. Pleasing acidity and some finishing length. More color, flavor, aromatic brightness,
and less astringency than the 2013 version.
Reviewed April 20, 2015
ARTICLE »
2013 Onward Capp Inn Ranch Suisun Valley Malvasia Bianca Petillant Naturale
12.1% alc., 255 cases,
$24 (sold out).
·
Aromas of lemon, pear, vanilla cream and yeast. Lovely flavors of peach, pear, lemon and
grapefruit with vibrant effervescence, finishing with lemon-driven length and bone-dry lift.
Reviewed April 20, 2015
ARTICLE »
2012 Onward Hawkeye Ranch Redwood Valley Pinot Noir
12.6% alc., 275 cases, $38. More color and
concentration and slightly more tannin in this vintage compared to the 2011 vintage wine. 7-day cold soak,
100% de-stemmed, native yeast, cool fermentation, aged in 100% French oak barrels, 20% new.
·
Light reddish
purple color in the glass. Pleasing aromas of cherry, mushroom and forest floor. Mid weight flavors of fresh
cherry and spice with complimentary oak seasoning. Similar to the 2011 vintage but more to like with modest
tannins and noticeably long finishing length. This wine will give you a pinot high very quickly.
Score: 92.
Reviewed April 20, 2015
ARTICLE »
2011 Onward Hawkeye Ranch Redwood Valley Pinot Noir
12.1% alc. sold out.
·
Light reddish orange color
in the glass. Aromas of cherry, sous-bois, and sandalwood. Light and silky on the palate, but flavorful and
expressive, sporting juicy notes of red raspberry and cherry with a hint of dried herbs in the background. A
charming, demure wine that finishes with a generous wealth of cherry goodness. A window into the cool 2011
vintage that is drinking at its apogee now.
Score: 90.
Reviewed April 20, 2015
ARTICLE »
2011 Onward Cerise Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
13.4% alc., 150 cases, $58. 2/3 Pommard and 1/3 115 clones.
Yields 1.5 tons per acre. Aged 2 years in bottle. 10-day cold
soak, 100% de-stemmed, slightly warm natural yeast
fermentation.
·
This big boy draws you in with hi-tone aromas of
black cherry, dark red berry., pomegranate and rose petal. On
the palate, the wine is earthbound and deeply flavored with
notes of iron complimenting the mid weight, black raspberry, blackberry
and pomegranate flavors. There is plenty to discover in this wine, which
has firm, chalky tannins and a berry-fueled finish that leaves you begging
for more.
Score: 94.
Reviewed April 20, 2015
ARTICLE »
2014 Onward Hawkeye Ranch Redwood Valley Rosé of Pinot Noir
12.5% alc., 280 cases, $20. Produced from a designated press lot (5 hours in the press before pressing), cold settled, fermented cool and long in stainless steel, underwent partial (70%) malolactic fermentation in neutral oak barrels with lees stirring. A small amount of saignée was added in to give additional Pinot Noir character. · Light apricot color in the glass. Lovely aromas and flavors of strawberry, cherry, blood orange, spice and savory herbs. This wine is eager to please and way too good for $20. Score: 89. Reviewed April 20, 2015 ARTICLE »
2014 Onward Capp Inn Ranch Skin Fermented Suisun Valley Malvasia Bianca Petillant Naturale
11.3% alc., 90 cases, pH 3.08%, $24. After grapes were de-stemmed, they were fermented on the skins with hand punch downs in a small tank. The wine was pulled off the skins at 1º Brix, sent to barrel, and bottled unfiltered. · Softer and richer on the palate than the stainless steel fermented version with bright, crisp flavors of citrus, fresh apricots and walnuts. Reviewed April 20, 2015 ARTICLE »
2014 Onward Capp Inn Ranch Stainless Steel Fermented Suisun Valley Malvasia Bianca Petillant Naturale
12.4% alc., 390 cases, pH 3.10, $24. · Easy to like, with some richness of flavors including citrus and pear, finishing with palate-cleansing dryness. Reviewed April 20, 2015 ARTICLE »
2014 Onward Capp Inn Ranch Suisun Valley Malvasia Bianca Petillant Naturale
12.1% alc., 350 cases, pH 3.10, $24. · Intense lemon, pear, peach and agave aromas. Very flavorful with notes of lemon, pear, peach, blood orange and vanilla. Pleasing acidity and some finishing length. More color, flavor, aromatic brightness, and less astringency than the 2013 version. Reviewed April 20, 2015 ARTICLE »
2013 Onward Capp Inn Ranch Suisun Valley Malvasia Bianca Petillant Naturale
12.1% alc., 255 cases, $24 (sold out). · Aromas of lemon, pear, vanilla cream and yeast. Lovely flavors of peach, pear, lemon and grapefruit with vibrant effervescence, finishing with lemon-driven length and bone-dry lift. Reviewed April 20, 2015 ARTICLE »
2012 Onward Hawkeye Ranch Redwood Valley Pinot Noir
12.6% alc., 275 cases, $38. More color and concentration and slightly more tannin in this vintage compared to the 2011 vintage wine. 7-day cold soak, 100% de-stemmed, native yeast, cool fermentation, aged in 100% French oak barrels, 20% new. · Light reddish purple color in the glass. Pleasing aromas of cherry, mushroom and forest floor. Mid weight flavors of fresh cherry and spice with complimentary oak seasoning. Similar to the 2011 vintage but more to like with modest tannins and noticeably long finishing length. This wine will give you a pinot high very quickly. Score: 92. Reviewed April 20, 2015 ARTICLE »
2011 Onward Hawkeye Ranch Redwood Valley Pinot Noir
12.1% alc. sold out. · Light reddish orange color in the glass. Aromas of cherry, sous-bois, and sandalwood. Light and silky on the palate, but flavorful and expressive, sporting juicy notes of red raspberry and cherry with a hint of dried herbs in the background. A charming, demure wine that finishes with a generous wealth of cherry goodness. A window into the cool 2011 vintage that is drinking at its apogee now. Score: 90. Reviewed April 20, 2015 ARTICLE »
2011 Onward Cerise Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
13.4% alc., 150 cases, $58. 2/3 Pommard and 1/3 115 clones. Yields 1.5 tons per acre. Aged 2 years in bottle. 10-day cold soak, 100% de-stemmed, slightly warm natural yeast fermentation. · This big boy draws you in with hi-tone aromas of black cherry, dark red berry., pomegranate and rose petal. On the palate, the wine is earthbound and deeply flavored with notes of iron complimenting the mid weight, black raspberry, blackberry and pomegranate flavors. There is plenty to discover in this wine, which has firm, chalky tannins and a berry-fueled finish that leaves you begging for more. Score: 94. Reviewed April 20, 2015 ARTICLE »