December '12 Local Visit - Malibu Wines

This year my work decided to have our holiday party at a local winery - not my idea - I swear. One of my coworkers is actually a member of Malibu Wines, and thoughts that it would be a great location for us to celebrate the end of the year.  It's is a short drive from LA (if the traffic gods are smiling), but it's definitely a world apart. The hillsides are steep and beautiful.

Saddlerock NV Sparkling Brut, Saddlerock NV Sparkling Rosé, Saddlerock '10 Chardonnay, Saddlerock '11 Rosé of Pinot Noir, Saddlerock '10 Merlot, Semler '08 Cabernet Sauvignon, Semler '08 Syrah

Yeah - a wine themed aquarium

Our party was on a Friday morning, we were the majority of the people there at the time, though it appears that they can get really busy. There's tons of outdoor tables, chairs, and bars to accommodate crowds. There's definitely a faux-shabby/rustic vibe throughout - wine sculptures, re-purposed barrels on the lawn, a fish tank on a wagon, rock buildings for the bars, etc. The seating areas are comfortable, with adirondack chairs with slots in the arm rests for wine glasses. There was a scenic seating area up on a slight plateau above the winery that looked out over the whole area.
The staff didn't share a lot of details about the wine - they definitely had there hands full with our group of 40, and did an admirable job. We tasted most of the wines at the winery, and then took a shuttle bus tour of the Semler family estate and vineyards that are adjacent to the winery.

Saddlerock Peak

Once on the shuttle we learned the story of the Semler family and Malibu Wines. Ron Semler is a very successful businessman, involved in defense contracts, mining, etc. He purchased Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu, and as his business ventures became more successful he added more elements to the ranch. Now, in addition to having 65 acres of vineyards, there is an extensive equestrian center. As well there are zebras, camels, emus, buffalo, and other exotic animals. Finally, Ron Semler has an extensive collection of Airstream trailers, classic trucks, and the yellow Volkswagon Bus from the movie "Little Miss Sunshine" ... so there's that.
As impressive and showy as the property is, the wine is nothing spectacular. They were generally mellow and easy to drink, but offered very little complexity and were overtly fruity. Most of the wines that we drank were from the Saddlerock label, meaning that the wine was made from grapes grown throughout the Central Coast. The Chardonnay was the the most enjoyable. It was light and friendly - mostly matured in stainless steel. The Rosé was a whiff. I've thought for a long time that Rosé is a easy to make wine, most that I've had are delicious, not this one though. Too sticky and the nice vegital note that I enjoy was covered up by the sweetness. The Merlot and the Cab seemed to be divergent takes of the same base flavor - simple, bland red fruit with no tannins for the Merlot, with tannins for the Cab. The Syrah at the end which they gave to us to accompany our catered lunch was a nice touch, but it as well it was decent but unexciting. Like stereotypical Hollywood starlet Malibu Wines is very pretty, but not deep or interesting.
Experience: B- / Wines: C-

November '12 Central Valley Pit Stop - Klinker Brick

I'm regularly listen to the 3 Wine Guys podcast, and time and time again they mention Klinker Brink, and speak of the Zins - especially the "Old Ghost" - with reverence.  So when we decided to stop at a winery in Lodi on our way back down to SoCal, it seemed like a good opportunity to visit.

Klinker Brick Winery ($5 tasting, wines $15-$37)
'11 Rosé (Syrah/Grenache/Carignane/Mourvedre/Zinfandel), '10 Sangiovese - Amador, '10 Old Vine Zinfandel, '10 "Old Ghost" Old Vine Zinfandel, "Bricks and Mortar" Red Blend (Cabernet Sauvignon/Petit Sirah/Zinfandel), '10 "Farrah" Syrah, '05 "Gold Brick" Late Harvest Zinfandel

Our visit was on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so the tasting room was busy, but there was still plenty of space at the bar. The tasting room was spacious with plenty handcrafted goods to sell. The staff generally kept on tops of things, but didn't seem all that knowledgeable about wine culture. At the end of my tasting, I asked to revisit the Rosé - and asked if I could swish out the remaining red wine with a small splash of the Rosé, but the staff person thought that was crazy and swished out with water instead. So was I got was a watery Rosé for the second tasting.
The Rosé was a fun blend of a variety of grapes, slightly sticky, but with a nice vegital note. The Zins are their bread and butter. All were jammy, were about 15.5% alcohol per volume, and were made to be appealing to a wide cross-section of wine drinkers. The quality and the flavors improved from the baseline - Old Vine, the mid-level Marisa Vineyard, and the Old Ghost - their premiere. The Old Ghost wasn't a wine that I'd pay $37 for, but it was a fun drink - also kind of neat to enjoy grapes from a 101 year old vineyard.  The Bricks and Mortar is a new blend for the winery. Another jammy fella, sweet and zippy. The Syrah was a funny wine. It had huge flavor on the front-end which gave way to a much more quiet back-end. I'm thinking that the winemaker recognized that it was too full-flavored and quieted out the wine so it would be more friendly. The Late Harvest Zin was a totally wacky finish to the tasting. Sweet chewy smoke with overt bacon notes. It was fun to sip, but I don't think that it would something that I'd want to drink much more than that.
Experience: B- / Wines: B-

The folks at Klinker Brick seem to know what they are doing. They make real wine that people want to buy. It's not stuff that's in my sweet spot, but I enjoyed it well enough - and definitely respect their business acumen. Since it's only the second winery that I've visited in the Lodi area, I don't yet have a feel for how it stacks up to other places - but my guess is that it's one of the better ones.