News & Press

Fotinos Brothers Winery Wins GOLD

The competition was a rousing success! Congratulations to all the winners!

 GOLD for Fotinos Brothers Winery  2006 Pinot Noir
and finishes in the top 1.7% of all wines entered.

Thanks to your participation, the 2010 competition saw new records in
every category!

Wines entered: 3010
Wineries entered: 666
Countries entered: 15

States entered: 50 (first time in history for a wine competition!)
Canadian Provinces entered: 9
NY Wineries entered: 105
Non-NY wineries entered: 561

Thank you to 56 of the World’s top judges from 10 countries and
10 states.

Nose Diving: Good taste runs in the Family Winemakers sampling in Pasadena

By Evelyn Barge

"... I catch up with Chris Fotinos from Fotinos Brothers Winery, of which a 2006 pinot noir is the inaugural vintage, and already generating some strong buzz.

The aroma on this Napa Valley pinot is something to behold: whispers of ripened cherry with a muted, smoky oak. Delicately balanced with moderate acidity, it tastes of spiced sugarplum and slinks away in a smooth wash of tannins.

Fotinos and his winemaker brother, Tom, have the kind of epic stories that make growing up in 1970s Napa seem serene and romantic.

"Christian Brothers was a very prominent winery in Napa, and my father would take my brother and I up to visit the monks who worked in and ran the winery," Fotinos says. "He would leave (us) in the barrel aging room to play, while he discussed and tasted wine with the monks."

The Fotinos are fourth-generation winemakers -- their great-grandfather started crafting wine in Greece in the late 1800s -- and Tom's wife, Danielle, the vineyard manager, descends from settlers of the Carneros region of Napa in the 1800s.

I ask Fotinos how he balances dueling careers: He's director of sales and marketing for Fotinos Brothers Winery and has a cosmetic dentistry practice in Orange.

"In dentistry, we are sculpting very small spaces, and with wine we are making art in a bottle," he says. "Both are very time-consuming; I'm answering (your) questions ... while one of my patients is getting numb."

(To be fair, Fotinos answered my questions from his office a few days after the Family Winemakers event, not during it, but that would have been pretty darn impressive, too. Numbing patients while simultaneously pouring wine; I guess that's what they call a Botox party?)..."

Click here for full article

We're on California Life HD! Click here to watch us at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition tasting event.

 If you wish to purchase a bottle of our award winning 2006 Pinot Noir, please click here to order via our website. Act quickly, as only a small quantity remains before it's gone forever!

Salute'! 

Join us at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Public Tasting!

As many of you know, Fotinos Brothers 2006 Pinot Noir was awarded a Silver Medal in the recent San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the most prestigious wine judging event in North America. As a result, Fotinos Brothers Winery has been tapped to participate in the SFCWC Public Tasting on Saturday, February 20th in San Francisco. Acclaimed as the largest competition of American wines in the world and San Francisco’s premier tasting experience, the SFCWC Public Tasting is held at Fort Mason Center’s Festival Pavilion and features award winning wines from across the country.

The event showcases gold and silver medal wines from over 4,900 entries of over 1,500 wineries throughout the United States.There are more wine varietals available to taste at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Public Tasting than any other wine tasting event in America. There will be over a thousand wines available for tasting so come with a plan to enjoy and learn of the finest of wines America has to offer.

The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition has sold out year after year, so be sure to get your tickets in advance. You may purchase tickets by clicking here.We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, February 20th. Please stop by our booth and say hello. We'll return the favor with a very healthy pour of our award winning 2006 Pinot Noir.

If you wish to purchase a bottle of our award winning 2006 Pinot Noir, please click here to order via our website. There are only a few cases remaining, and we are very near to selling out entirely! 

Salute'! 

San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

 Fotinos Brothers 2006 Pinot Noir wins a Silver Medal

at the 2010 annual San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

To Our Friends and Colleagues,

It is our great pleasure to share with you some fantastic news. Our 2006 Pinot Noir was awarded a Silver Medal in the recent San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition! This annual event is one of the most prestigious wine competitions held in America, and we are thrilled to place so highly with our inaugural vintage.

Sixty-Three judges tasted, analyzed, and reviewed over 4,900 wines from more than 1,500 wineries across the country. The 2010 contest, whose results were published last week, is the largest ever for the San Francisco Chronicle.                            

We are very proud to say that our 2006 Pinot Noir placed in one of the most difficult and challenging categories – Pinot Noir priced at $50 and up. All other categories are price restricted, however, our category included wines priced at several hundreds of dollars per bottle. Out of over 400 entries, our Pinot was rated in the top ten! This puts us in the best 1.5% of all wines qualifying for our class – a phenomenal achievement for our very first vintage. 

My brother, Tom, and I are extremely honored to receive such an important accolade. Our family winemaking heritage dates back over 120 years, and we have continued to master our techniques for four generations. We have made it our life’s goal to continue our father’s dream – to produce world class wines at the Fotinos Family Carneros Estate. The news of this fantastic achievement seals our mantra - “Generations of Fine Wine”.                 Click here to purchase our 2006 Pinot

 Fotinos Brothers Winery is very excited for the release of our 2007 Pinot Noir this Spring. We’re confident that our next vintage will be even better than the last, and we look forward to earning a Gold Medal in the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

 

Thank you for your patronage and support!

Salute’!

 

Dr. Christopher J. Fotinos

Director of Sales and Marketing

Fotinos Brothers Winery