December '13 El Dorado County Trip - Highs and Ho-Hums

Another holiday season, another trip up to the Sierra Foothills to visit with the in-laws. It's not as though I'm using winery visits to hide away from my wife's family, I really like them, and sometimes they come along for the visits,  it's just that there's tons of downtime while I'm there, so I steal away to check out a few wineries in the area. I really enjoy the mood of the region, folks are friendly, unassuming and proud of their wines. I had the visit to La Clarine set up ahead of time. Miraflores was a place that I had intended to visit for awhile, and since it was nearby, we stopped there as well.

La Clarine Farm ($0 tasting, wines $20-$26)
 '12 White Blend (Viognier/Marsanne/Petit Manseng), '12 Mourvédre - Cedarville, '12 "Josephine + Mariposa" (Grenache/Mourvédre), '12 "Home Vineyard" (Tannat/Tempranillo/Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon)
La Clarine is definitely off the beaten path, a figurative concept that was made literal to me when driving to the farm on a bumpy back hills road. It doesn't have any signs and you can't find it on any wine region maps. Bill Easton at Terre Rouge was the first person that mentioned it to me, but then after checking out the La Clarine website, I noticed that a local wine shop - Domaine LA - spoke very highly about it, as well, Eric Asimov from the NY Times seemed to be a big fan. So I was excited to make an appointment for a visit. When we arrived, Hank and Caroline were very welcoming hosts, along with their cadre of playful dogs and twenty goats. Both Hank and Caroline have other jobs, but manage to run a small vineyard and make around 1500 cases of wine a year.
The led us on a hike up the hill to their vineyard, and discussed their growing process. Their home vineyard utilizes farming techniques that are inspired by The One Straw Revolution (a book by Masanobu Fukuoka). It's the most natural vineyard farming technique that I've ever seen. The vines were not trellised at all, and the surrounding earth was allowed to grow natural ground cover. Hank seemed to be approaching the vineyard with a c'est la vie attitude, growing a variety of grapes - Tempranillo, Tannat, Syrah, Grenache, and Cabernet Sauvignon - and seeing how they did in that situation. Though they were clear that while they weren't rigid with their growing techniques, it was still really hard work. But standing on top of that hill, seeing those happy dormant vines, and having a panoramic view of the foothills, you can see how their passion is fulfilled.
We headed back down the hill to check out the completed product. Their wine making facility is as low-frills as it gets, a work shed filled to the rafters with wine aging in barrels and winemaking equipment. We tasted the wine on a piece of countertop that was laid on a drum. All of the wines are fermented with native yeasts, and only go through malolactic fermentation if it naturally occurs. The wine is foot pressed and unfiltered. The white wine is aged in plastic "Flextanks" that mimic aging in concrete, and the red wine is only aged in neutral oak barrels. A majority of the wine that they make is sourced from other vineyards, the grapes from their vineyard go into the "Home Vineyard" blend.
We tried four different wines. The White had a full spectrum of acidity, a variety of flavors including hints of sage - very enjoyable. The Mouvédre was playful, lots and lots of authentic berries, especially strawberries and a wood bark note on the front, light and solid. The "Josephine + Mariposa" was my favorite, smooth tannins but lots of tongue prickling acid, an overall fun drink. La Clarine bottles a more than those three, but depending on the time of the year, they may only have a few available. We bought the last of the while we were there, and the Mourvedre was nearly gone too. My wife inquired whether there was anything in barrel that we could try, and Hank went into the shed with a wine thief and brought out a measuring cup filled with the '12 "Home Vineyard" Red Blend - a friendly young wine with juicy tannins and a full body, it should be a treat by the time it's bottled.
Visiting with Hank and Caroline and seeing what they are doing at La Clarine is the ultimate wine experience for me. They are two passionate and warm people that are able to pour their hearts into creating something. They are making delicious wine with very little intervention. And they are doing it their own way. And they're great hosts.
Experience: A / Wine: A-

Miraflores Winery ($0 tasting, wines $20-$30)
'12 Viognier, '06 Zinfandel, '10 Zinfandel, '07 Syrah, '09 Syrah, '10 Syrah, '10 "Methode Ancienne" Syrah, '10 Petite Sirah, '10 "Meritage" (Cabernet Sauvignon/Petite Verdot/Malbec)
The tasting room sits atop a small hill overlooking the vineyard. It's an attractive and interesting Mediterranean style, with clay style walls and lots of old wood features. Inside is a high ceilinged space and a long bar. The ladies behind the bar were decked out in Christmas hats. They were happy to pour anything we wanted from the long tasting list. What was neat about their wine list was that they featured a number of multiple vintages of the same wine, so that you could try the '07, '09, and '10 Syrah, or the '06 and '10 Zinfandel. That's only something I've seen at special reserve tastings. It's always fun to compare one vintage to another. Toward the end of our tasting, we went out onto the patio, and enjoyed our tasting and the great weather.

It's really hard for me to go from a place like La Clarine to any other winery without the following winery to be cast in a pale light. La Clarine represents an ideal wine experience Miraflores is a pretty spot, and the people there are nice, but it's  not going to be able to match up for me. Right out of the gate with the Viognier I felt that the flavors were off - too much sulphur, lack of discernible fruit, rough rather than smooth. Thankfully from there the wines improved somewhat. The '06 and '10 Zins were decent - jammy, exuberant, nice pepper, not very complex. Out of the four Syrahs that I tried, the '09 was my favorite, more restrained than the others. The '06 was good as well, bombastic flavors. The "Methode Ancienne" was made with native yeasts and stomped by foot. I really like wines that use only native yeasts, but this one was the least enjoyable Syrah at Miraflores. The Petite Sirah and the "Meritage" were not interesting. 

Given the earlier comparison, Miraflores wasn't very interesting. The wines were safe and not complex. However, compared to the wider range of wineries in El Dorado County, it's a solid place. It has a pretty space, a good vibe, and offers fun vertical tastings. 
Experience: B- / Wines: C+

Quite a day. La Clarine was everything that I expected it would be: earthy, friendly, unconventional, complex, and high quality. I'm glad we went to Miraflores as well. I had been wanting to go there for a long time, having heard that it was a well run establishment. It's a funny comparison. Miraflores is pretty much a paint by numbers place, and does so in a well thought out way. It is definitely a place with mass appeal. In hindsight we should have reversed the order of the visits. But they both exhibit the reason that I enjoy going to wineries in the Foothills. They are relaxing places where people are enjoying what they do without a pretentious attitude.