Wednesday (Apple Hill - El Dorado County)
Crystal Basin Cellars ($5 tasting, wines $16-$50)
NV Sparkling Wine, '10 Chardonnay, '09 "Renegade Red", '10 Barbera, '10 "Mystery Juice", '09 Syrah, '10 Mourvedre, '10 Cabernet Franc, '09 Cabernet Sauvignon, '09 Malbec, '09 Petite Sirah, '09 Pinot Noir, '10 "Campione" (Sangiovese/Merlot), '09 "Triumphant" (Cabernet Franc/Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec/Petit Verdot), NV "Dolce Bottino" Dessert Wine (Barbera/Sangiovese), NV Syrah Port
It was rainy and nasty when we stopped in for a visit - stepping into the warm tasting room was a relief, especially when the folks behind the counter pointed out the extremely long tasting list. Crystal Basin was started by a group of friends that were amateur wine-makers. During our tasting, the mood of that friendship - happiness and fun-loving - permeated throughout. It's nice to think that a group can come together, create something that they love, and share it with lots of other folks. The staff were easy to chat with, especially KZ. Even though the tasting room got quite busy toward the end of our visit, they were always on top of the situation. All of the grapes are purchased from El Dorado County vineyards. The wines are big and fun to drink - fruity, though they lack structure or subtlety. Realizing that they are so high in alcohol (16% on the Zinfandel, 15.8% on the Cabernet), it becomes apparent why the wines are quaff-able but not artistic.
Aside from those general characteristics, the wines were a mix of decent to pretty good. The Syrah was my favorite - big flavor, but it exhibited some restraint. The upper-echelon blends - the "Campione" and "Trimumphant" were enjoyable - pretty well balanced and had nice flavors - but the $50 price tags were way too steep for the quality the wine. Lastly, the Syrah Port was bizarre. It had flavors of mint, cedar, endive and arugula to it. Not what I'd look for in a wine or a port, but interesting to taste for sure.
Experience: B / Wines: C-
Crystal Basin Bistro (free tasting, wines $16-$20)
NV "Pomme" Pomegranate Sparking Wine, '11 "Kougar Koolaid" Pinot Grigio, '09 "BadaBing" Primotivo, '09 "BadaBoom" (Mourvedre/Zinfandel), '09 "Fugedaboutit" Tempranillo, NV "Suite Thing" Muscat
Recently, the folks at Crystal Basin Cellars opened up a restaurant right across the parking lot from their winery. The restaurant had a diverse selection of well priced lunch and dinners, and the staff were accommodating. To add to the dining experience, the owners decided to also have wine tasting at the bistro. Smart setup, you order your food at the counter, then go taste wine while your food is being prepped. The wines all had ridiculous names - "BadaBing, Suite Thing," etc., and the guy guiding the tasting wasn't as knowledgeable about the wines as the folks at the Crystal Basin tasting room.
On par with the names of the wines, the wines themselves were silly and lacked skill or value. The wines were basic and schlocky. Perhaps I shouldn't have high expectations for a wine tasting at a restaurant - but we were encouraged to visit and have a tasting from the folks at the winery. Go for the food, heck try the free wine tasting, but it's certainly something that you can "Fugedabout."
Experience: C+ / Wines: D
Bumgarner Winery ($5 tasting, wines $15-$39)
'11 "Silver Fork" Apple/Pear Hard Cider, '11 "Silver Fork" Rosé (Mourvedre/Barbera), '10 "Silver Fork" Mourvedre, '10 Touriga, '08 Tempranillo, '08 Petite Sirah, '08 Cabernet Sauvignon, '06 Cabernet Sauvignon
Bumgarner's tasting room is right around the corner from Crystal Basin Winery, but it's a very dramatic shift in style and mood. Their space is in a funky converted old barn, and it's hip-ly rustic on the inside. They have three wines on tap - which are the "Silver Fork" series, and folks can purchase bottles and have them refilled with those wines. Their wines are sourced from a handful of vineyards in the county. In contrast to Crystal Basin, Bumgarner's wine is serious. Even the Rosé was deeper and more grippy than I'm used to. I didn't enjoy the Tempranillo or the Touriga. Both were off-balance and didn't have compelling flavors. Here are my entire notes on the Petite Sirah: "Big, serious dude," and it sure as heck was. It seems like the winery's focus is on the Cabernet - and that was an interesting wine. Once again, it had very bold and dark tones, and definitely lacked the Cab smoothness that I like, but there was something fun about it. At 14.2% alcohol, the winemaker was definitely making an artistic choice to not let the grapes get overt and obnoxious with too much alcohol. In addition to enjoying the '08 Cab, I tried the '05, which was definitely in the same vein of the younger version, but not quite as good. My hope is that by laying the '08 down for a year or so, it will be a nice fella to enjoy on a rainy evening.
Experience: B / Wines: C+
Friday (Shenandoah Valley - Amador County)
Young's Vineyard (free tasting, wines $25-$32)
'11 Chardonnay, '11 Albariño, '10 Sangiovese, '10 Zinfandel, '09 Zin, '10 Syrah, '10 Barbera, '09 Cabernet Sauvignon, '10 Petite Sirah, NV Tawny Port
Young's gets very mixed review on Yelp, some ratings very good, others very bad. Most of the negative reviews said that the staff was snotty. The folks that liked the place said that the staff were nice, wine was good, and the grounds are beautiful. I'd have to agree with the latter group. The grounds at Young's are very serene - the hilly vineyard calmly slopes toward the winery, a beautiful pond, and plenty of outdoor seating for those that want to relax and take in the day. The tasting room has a modern and rustic feel. And we had absolutely no qualms with the staff. The guy that took care of us really took care of us. A bonus was the utterly massive dogs that were roaming the property and loping up to folks for pets. They looked like Golden Retrievers, but were like 120-140 pounds. Super sweet dogs.And indeed the wines were good, though some were better than others. Across the board the wines showed restraint, especially in comparison to other wineries in the area. There was a nice variety to the flavors. The Syrah was the least enjoyable - high acidity and a clash of flavors. The Sangiovese was banging - tart but friendly. The exciting finish to the tasting was the Tawny Port. I don't frequent Ports, but this one was a lovely drink - approachable sweetness, and a fun nutty finish.
Experience: B / Wines: B
Terre Rouge and Easton Wines ($12 library tasting, wines $16-$95)
'09 Grenache Blanc, '09 "Vin Gris D'Amador" Rosé (Mourvedre/Grenache/Syrah), Easton '07 Zinfandel - Fiddletown, '09 "Tête-a-Tête" (Syrah/Mourvedre/Grenache), '06 Syrah - Sentinel Oak, '06 Syrah - High Slopes, Easton '04 Cabernet Sauvignon,
Library Tasting: '09 Viognier, '09 "Ascent" Syrah, '08 "Ascent" Syrah, '01 "Ascent" Syrah
Bill Easton, the winemaker of Terre Rouge / Easton has a reputation that proceeds him. He's one of the original Rhone Rangers - the folks that worked hard to bring Rhone style grapes (Syrah, Grenache, Viognier, etc.) to California. He's also one of the earliest winemakers to establish a winery in the Sierra Foothills. From all accounts, he's a master at making wine, and an ambassador for the wines of California. Since he's so well appreciated, it's no surprise that the tasting room was jam packed. As it turned out, every year on the day after Thanksgiving, the winery hosts a library tasting of it's premiere wine: "Ascent," hence the large crowd. We decided to do a regular tasting, then join the library tasting of the Ascent in the back room. We managed to find counter space, and were well attended to by the staff.All of the wines were extremely well made - and worked with the regional characteristics (high acidity, tart fruit) rather than fighting against the flavors or letting a high alcohol level wash the subtle flavors away. According to a staff person, no Terre Rouge / Easton wine goes over a 14.5% alcohol level. Each wine was enjoyable and individualized. The '07 Zinfandel was an exciting wine to try because it comes from a vineyard that's nearly 150 years old. It was well balanced and flavorful. The Syrahs were excellent, especially the "High Slopes." I appreciated the fact that they were pouring and selling wines that had been aged a few more years that other wineries. It's a pet peeve of mine that wineries advise that you age a wine a number of years, perhaps to excuse how underdeveloped it's tasting at that time. If the wine doesn't taste ready yet - don't pour it. I guess it has something to do with taxes paid by the wineries on unsold wine, but I appreciate Terre Rouge managing to work that out. In addition, even though the wines that were poured were aged, the didn't have a tired out quality, they tasted young and vibrant.
After enjoying the normal tasting, we shifted to the back room for the library tasting. Lo and behold, Bill Easton was the one doing the pouring. It appears that I'm becoming a huge wine fanboy, because I talked that dude's ear off for quite a while. He was very polite, and was kind enough to share loads of information about technique, regional history, and general viticulture.
The library wines were superb. The Viognier was solidly built - not fragile like many Viogniers - and very enjoyable. The "Ascent" Syrahs were mighty awesome. The '09 definitely needed time to age, but had very interesting levels and was excellent quality. The '08 was robust with tannins, and had a playful sweet fruit edge. The '01 was straight poetry. Despite it's age it was youthful. The tannin grip was mature, which provided a strong backbone. Acid and nice dark berry fruit slipped in happily.
Experience A- / Wines: B+
Jeff Runquist Wines (free tasting, wines $20-$28)
'10 Cabernet Franc, '10 "Z" Zinfandel, '10 Sangiovese, '10 Syrah, '10 Petite Sirah, '10 Souzao, '10 Tannat
Last stop of the day, and another packed joint. Runquist's tasting room was bursting at the seams. The tasting room is a large space with a wrap-around bar, and there were people three deep trying to taste wine. Thankfully the winery had a temporary bar in the barrel room, which was a bit more calm and easier to get pourings at. Jeff Runquist is a longtime winemaker, working for major wineries in Northern California. Eventually he decided to create his own wine, using grapes sourced from Amador County (Zinfandel), Paso Robles (Cabernet), Clarksburg (Petite Sirah), among others. There was definitely an interesting intersection of Runquist's wines that covered the places that I visited on this trip in El Dorado (Crystal Basin and Bumgarner) - big, dark & high overt acidity, while also showing off some of the restraint from the Amador wineries (Young's and Terre Rouge). The Zin was the pick of the litter with bold fruit and balanced acid. The Syrah was enjoyable, but was more of a crowd pleaser than an artistic wine. The Sangio was disappointing - it was rough and had too much toasty oak showing up throughout. It was neat to try some of the lesser known varietals - Souzao and Tannat, though neither jumped out at me during the tasting as superb wines.
Experience: C+ / Wines: C+
After doing this trip a second time, the results were similar to the first trip, though a bit more refined. The majority of the wineries are wrangling the grapes grown there - dealing with high acidity and potentially high levels of alcohol. The low nutrient soils, and high elevation are helpful in forcing the grapevines to strain themselves which sends more high quality flavor to it's fruit. However the greater variety of temperatures in the growing season (near freezing in the spring and hot in the summer) versus the more moderate climates of the premiere growing regions in California means that it's more difficult to create superb wine. So it's interesting to see how the different wineries react to those constraints. Some wineries, like Crystal Basin create big, silly and friendly wines. Wineries like Bumgarner seem to come to grips with these issues, and make dark and acidic wines. Finally, wineries like Terre Rouge successful navigates the environmental circumstances and makes very talented wines that exhibit the most positive values of the region. The Gold Country is still a new wine region. Many wineries are still experimenting with which varietals are best grown. Zinfandel seems to have a home in the region, and Syrahs are gaining in popularity. Sangiovese and Petite Sirah also were bottled at many of the wineries.
I'm not sure that I'll be able to convince my in-laws to allow me to drag them along to tastings during the Thanksgiving break next year - it's becoming apparent that my sister-in-law, my wife and I are the only ones who get a kick out of these. But I won't give up quietly. Admittedly, not all of the wineries are amazing, but there's an authenticity to the wineries that I thoroughly enjoy. While there are a few places that are held by hyper-corporate conglomerates, most are family owned and operated. And in some instances, the winemaker will even be around, and you can yammer at them incessantly, like I love to do.
