I found myself in NorCal with two events schedule on the first two weekends of the month of June, and very little in between. So I took advantage of the circumstance and decided to do some mid-week wine exploring. During the week in the Sierra Foothills the wineries don't see a lot of traffic, and many of them aren't open. So I planned to visit the ones that were open, and found myself getting a lot of one on one treatment. The first day of my visit I was accompanied by an old friend who knew very little about, and on the second day was joined by a friend whose worked for a winery in Sonoma for many years. It was a great way to catch up with both friends.
Monday (Shenandoah Valley - Amador)
Terre Rouge / Easton ($5 tasting, wines $12-$24)
Easton '10 "H" House Rosè (Grenache/Mourvèdre/Roussanne), Easton '05 Barbera, Easton '11 Zinfandel, Terre Rouge '09 "Tête-a-Tête" (Syrah/Mourvèdre/Grenache), Terre Rouge '08 Muscat "à-Petits Grains"
Our
November visit to Terre Rouge was incredible - so I figured I should swing back though to make sure that it wasn't a fleeting experience. It being a Monday and all, it was just me and Doug, the tasting room manager, and an old black lab that kept coming in and going out.
Doug was very polite and knowledgeable about the wines. As with the first time that I visited, I felt that all the wines were nicely balanced and had utilized the acid dynamic quite well to give the wines structure. I had not tried the Rosè during my first visit. It was nice but a bit too sticky. Similarly, the Zinfandel was well-made but a little too sweet for my taste. I did very much enjoy the "Tête-a-Tête" - serious but easy, tart blackberries, nice complexity. Also the sweet wine at the end, the Muscat, was good times.
Experience B+ / Wines: B+
Bray Vineyards ($5 tasting, wines $15-$24)
'11 "BrayZin Hussy Blonde" (Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc/Viognier/Verdelho), '12 Viognier, '10 "BrayZin Hussy Red" (Zinfandel/Sangiovese), '10 Sangiovese, '10 Barbera, 09 Zinfandel, '09 "Tres Vinas" (Grenache/Sangiovese/Petite Sirah) '08 Port (Petite Sirah/Zinfandel), '08 "Vino Tinto" Port
Bray's logo - which can be found all over the winery - is a road sign of a dude riding a tractor while chugging a bottle of wine. It's a fun sign, but not surprisingly the wines that accompany that logo are generally high alcohol, and not complex. The space is chill and rustic - and wide open to accommodate the party style atmosphere that I imagine comes through on the weekends. Since it was Monday though, it was just me and Robin, the wife part of the husband and wife team that own the place.
Across the board the wines were clumsy - there weren't distinct layers within the wines - just an jumble of flavors. And most of the reds ran over 15% alcohol - generally meaning that subtle flavors were overtaken by the heat of the alcohol. As my tasting went on, I think it became clear to Robin that I wasn't enjoying the wine. I wasn't being a dick about it, but I wasn't that enthusiast either. It's an uncomfortable feeling when you know - that they know - that you aren't digging their wines, and there's no one else there to attend to. It's a situation that I definitely encountered again on the trip later.
Experience: C+ / Wines: C-
C.G. Di Arie Vineyard & Winery ($5 tasting, wines $18-$35)
'12 Sauvignon Blanc, '09 Rosè "Di Arie", '09 Barbera, '09 Primotivo "Block #4", '09 "Sierra Legend" (Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Syrah/Primotivo)
From checking out the website of C.G. Di Arie - I had a feeling that this was going to be a unique visit. I can't quite explain it - whether it's the fact that you can convert the text to Chinese, or that there's a QR code (not sure what you're supposed to do with that on a website, don't QR codes lead you to websites when you're on a smartphone?), it was sure to be a strange place. Also adding to the uniqueness is the fact that the owner, Chaim Gur-Ariah, was a cereal inventor, and created Captain Crunch. The tasting room itself definitely had a sense of style - lots of granite counter tops and dark wood shelving.
The wines were just decent. The Sauvignon Blanc and the Rosè were quite bland. The Barbera had some weirdness going on with it - a note of char and rotten fruit. The Primotivo and the Legend were more enjoyable, but too jammy and sweet. Across the board I felt that the price of the wines - which were generally higher than most other Amador wineries - were not justified considering the quality. Ultimately the wines weren't as unique as I had hoped.
Experience: B- / Wines: C+
Andis Wines ($5 tasting, wines $17-$32)
'12 Sauvignon Blanc, '11 Primotivo, '11 Barbera, '10 "Painted Fields" (Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah/Petite Sirah), '10 Petite Sirah, '12 Rosè (Zinfandel/Barbera)
A sleek and modern joint. Andis, like Helwig, is one of the newest wineries in the area - and used the same architect as Helwig to design their winery, though there is a notable difference in design aesthetics between the two wineries. Helwig has a bit of a Western style, whereas Andis is more about fitting within the surrounding landscape. I was quite impressed by the building and the overall feel of the place. We had a great meandering conversation with the tasting room manager while she attended to us.
Overall I enjoyed the wines - they had nice textures and pretty good balance. I was smitten with the Sauvignon Blanc - nice flowers and acid. The reds were flavorful - maybe a little bit too much at times, but still enjoyable. The was Rosè served last, so it was as expected a bit sweet, which I did not enjoy. The prices were slightly higher than I would have liked to pay, but they are definitely doing good work there.
Experience: B+ / Wines: B
Wilderotter Vineyard ($0 tasting, wines $17-28)
'12 Rosè (Grenache/Tempranillo), '12 Viognier, '11 Chardonnay - Russian River Valley, '11 Sauvignon Blanc, '09 Mourvèdre, '09 Grenache, '10 Rhone Blend (Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre), '10 Zinfandel, '09 Petite Sirah
Wilderotter was our last visit of the day. It's a cute little building - I'm not sure how it would be on a busy day, but it was quite cozy with just us there. The woman there was patient with us, and a pleasure to speak with. The list of wines was quite long, about thirteen total. We were welcomed to try as many as we wanted - I exercised my well-known restraint, and only had nine. The whites were generally boring, not bad, but not exciting. The Grenache and I did not get along whatsoever. It had a strong flavor of artificial raspberries which overwhelmed any other flavor. That same note showed up in the GSM as well. The rest of the reds were reasonably enjoyable, especially the Mourvèdre. I wrote a note that it had "neat meat."
Experience: B / Wines: B-
Tuesday (Shenandoah Valley - Amador)
Renwood Winery ($5 tasting(s), wines $19.99-$49.99)
Taste of Renwood List: '12 Sauvignon Blanc, '09 Barbera, '09 Primotivo, '09 Tempranillo, '10 Syrah
King of Zin List: '10 "Premier Old Vine", '10 "Merida", '10 "Flutist", '10 "Musician's", '10 "Bewick's", '10 "Niceforo",
Special Reserve List: '10 Grandpère, '10 Dry Creek
I really didn't think I'd enjoy Renwood. It's long been a hulking corporate winery, and it's wines can be easily found on supermarket shelves. I try to avoid hulking wineries. Clearly they are successful, but because of their size, I doubt their ability to make authentic wine. I'm not experienced enough at wine tasting to know whether their wine is truly authentic or even if their tasting room conveys authenticity - but I do know that I enjoyed the wines and the experience.
Perhaps our experience was aided by the fact that my companion on this day worked at a winery. Throughout the day this connection meant that we received discounts on wines, and often friendlier service. The young dude that took care of us was really nice, and very passionate about Amador County wine. The tasting room and the outside area was quite nicely designed. Apparently Renwood was recently bought by an Argentinian investor, and had been redone within the past year.
The tasting list was split into five different groups: all zins, a variety, worldly varietals, dessert wines, and the reserve. Each list would cost $5. We tried the variety list, the zins list, and the reserve (our tasting fees were waived thanks to the industry connection). All of the non-Zinfandel wines were playing it safe and were boring. However the Zins were quite the opposite. They weren't overly exuberant, quite restrained actually, but really neat and intricate. Most were playful, pretty, and subtly structured. Each wine also expressed unique characteristics. The Premier Old Vine Zin was very good quality and reasonably priced at $20. The other Zins were $40 to $50 - and very enjoyable, but priced a bit high. I really enjoyed trying the Grandpère. It was calm and wild at the same time.I was really excited to try it. I'm actually a bit obsessed with the Grandpère vineyard. It's grows
the oldest Zinfandel in Amador County - over 140 years old.
Experience: B+ / Wines: B+
Cooper Vineyards ($0 tasting, wines $20-$38)
'12 "Roundpen" Carignane Rosè, '12 Pinot Grigio, '12 Sauvignon Blanc, '10 Mourvèdre, '11 Alicante Bouschet, '10 Barbera, '11 Primotivo "Tesero", '10 Primotivo, '11 Zinfandel
I'd visited Cooper
a year and a half prior, and knew that it was a great representation of Amador wine. My Sonoma friend had never been to Amador before, so I wanted to make sure that we visited Cooper - to ensure that I took her to at least one winery that I could vouch for. Unfortunately our visit was on a Tuesday, and Cooper is not open on Tuesday. Thankfully they were willing to unlock the doors for us and allow us to have a tasting. The two ladies there were fun to chat with, and had lots of advice about which wineries to visit in the area.
Since we were the only visitors that day, all of the wines that we were served were coming out of the wine fridge and had been resealed with vacu vin corks. Not to say that the wines showed poorly, but I definitely made a effort to heat up the wines with my hands to make sure that the wines opened up in my glass. Some of the wines didn't strike my fancy, but I still could recognize that they were adeptly made. We were given a side-by-side tasting of the Primotivos (the premium Tesoro next to the regular) - and the Tesoro was much more balanced and impressive. Both the regular Primotivo and the Alicante were too jammy. The Mourvedre was simple but very enjoyable, and the Zinfandel was quite nice - cute nose, subtle, nicely edged.
Experience: B+ / Wines: B
Sobon Estate ($0 tasting, wines $11-$24)
'12 "ReZerve" Grenache Rosè, '12 Viognier, '11 Zinfandel "Old Vines", '10 Zinfandel "Cougar Hill", '09 "ReZerve" Zinfandel, '11 Syrah, '10 "ReZerve" Primotivo, '10 "ReZerve" Petite Sirah, '10 ReZerve Tannat
Sobon's been around for quite awhile. The winery is has been running since 1856. The history is front and center to the experience - there's a number of antique farming and wine-making items that are put on display in the cluttered on-site museum. That throwback quality is within the tasting room as well, a big wood paneled dusty room. Quite honestly, the whole place could have used some sprucing up. As was the theme of the day, we were the only patrons there. We asked the tasting room person if we were the only people that she had seen that day, and she answered dryly, "No, the dishwasher repairman was here earlier." Unfortunately, that was the end to her comedy routine.
The wines were across the board less expensive that the wines at all of the wineries that I visited on this trip. The Rosè was $11, and the reserve (or as they called it ReZerve) red wines topped out at $24. The Rosè and the Viognier were bland. Most of the reds were bland jam bombs - clunky and without subtlety. The main flavor was enjoyable in some of the wines - such as the Cougar Hill Zin and the Tannet, but at other times was too sharp - as in the Petite Sirah.
Experience: C+ / Wines: C
Helwig Winery ($5 tasting, wines $16-$24)
'12 Sauvignon Blanc, '12 Helwig Rosè "de Shanendoah" (Zinfandel/Syrah/Viognier), '11 Tempranillo, '10 "Round Up Red" (Zinfandel/Syrah/Petite Sirah/Malbec), '10 Zinfandel
Going to Helwig was a stark shift from just coming from Sobon - the oldest to one of the newest. The buildings are modern but with a bit of a rustic theme. It's clear that part of the business plan for Helwig is as an event space. There's all sorts of lookouts and gathering areas where weddings, etc. could take place. The complex sits on top of a hill above the rest of the area, and there are gorgeous views in every direction. There's lots of outdoor space to picnic and relax. Inside is quite airy with a huge wraparound bar to deal with a high volume of customers during the busy times - this time around it was mostly an empty room.
I have an apprehension that wineries in the Sierra Foothills (ex: Cielo and David Girard) that double as event spaces. There's a tendency to let the quality of the wine take a back seat to selling event opportunities. I don't think Helwig befalls that fate. My main thought about the theme of the wine was "structured play," silly, showy, and a bit safe. I guess what I mean was that the wines were easy drinkers, were nicely structued, but were a bit tame and mainstream. I did enjoy the Rosè and the Zin quite a bit. I did not enjoy the Sauv - a bit too sticky.
Experience: B+ / Wines: B
Dobra Zemlja Winery ($5 tasting, wines $16-$26)
'10 Sauvignon Blanc, '12 Viognier, NV "Milan Ruz" Red Blend, '10 Grenache, '10 Barbera, '09 Syrah, '10 Zinfandel
There is not one word that exists in the English language that I can use to explain the level of confusion and outrage that I felt while tasting wine at Dobra Zemlja. Perhaps by combining many of them together I can do so: whatthefuckareyoucrazywhytareyouproudthatyourwinesareseventeenpercentalcoholpleasedontnodont.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the wines at Dobra were pure crazy juice. All of the reds were 16% or above in alcohol. My note on the Syrah was "jammy as fuck, what the hell?" Now I've had some hot wines before, but never, ever this crazy. Sometimes high octane wines are sneaky - you don't even notice that they are hovering around the 16% line. Sometimes you can taste the heat, but it's still kinda fun. For whatever reason the winemaker/owner at Dobra just wants to make a wine version of white lightning with different kinds of grapes. The nice woman that served us (and tried to overlook the fact that we were really hating the wine) told us that the owner recently visited his home country of Croatia, and was quite disappointed that there weren't +15% wines being made there regularly. I'm thinking that's a red flag. All the negatives aside, there's definitely a sense of humor to the winery and the grounds are quite interesting - just don't try the wine.
Experience: C / Wines: F
Amador 360 Winery Collective ($5 tasting, wines $18-$36)
Simone Gusto '11 Vermentino, Damas'10 "Shenandoah Blanc" (Roussanne/Marsanne/Viognier), Yorba '08 "Shake Ridge Red" (Syrah/Petite Sirah/Mourvèdre/Grenache), Fiddletown Cellars '10 "Concerto" Barbera, Fiddletown Cellars '10 "Old Vine" Zinfandel, Fiddletown Cellars Fiddletown Cellars '11 Petite Sirah, Yorba '08 Tempranillo, Fiddletown Cellars '10 "Private Stock" Red (Alicante Bouschet/Barbera)
It was the end of a long, hot day - so I can't be sure if we were just in an off mood, or if this place had a strange vibe - probably a mix of both. The Collective pours and sells wines from small wineries don't have their own tasting rooms. While the owner was a bit uncomfortable, he definitely cares a lot about promoting Amador wines. There's a neat antique store style to the interior.
The wines were on a spectrum of okay to good. The main two wineries that we tried were Yorba and Fiddletown. I had recently read about Yorba Winery, and was very interested in checking that out - which was part of the draw to visiting there. I did not enjoy Yorba's Shake Ridge Red - a bit of an inorganic flavor, but I did enjoy their Tempranillo. Fiddletown's wines were also a mixed bag - the Zin and Petite Sirah were not good, but the Private Stock red blend was really enjoyable.
Experience: C+ / Wines: C+
Thursday (Fair Play and Apple Hill - El Dorado County)
Cedarville Vineyards ($0 tasting, wines $20-$29)
'11 Viognier, '11 Grenache, '11 Zinfandel, '08 Petite Sirah, '10 Cabernet Sauvignon
Back in November we went to Terre Rouge for a tasting and met Bill Easton. While talking his ear off about a number of different topics, I did ask his advice about what other wineries should be visited in the Sierra Foothills. He immediately suggested Cedarville, so I knew I needed to check it out on my next visit. It was also my first visit to the
Fair Play AVA, a dense cluster of wineries in an old mining area, far off the main highway that runs through El Dorado County.
Cedarville is owned and operated by Susan Marks and Jonathan Lachs. They met while studying enology at UC Davis, worked at wineries in Napa, then took a long break to work in the tech industry. Slowly they returned to wine and acquired the vineyard in Fair Play in 1995. Four years later they fully returned to the wine world and have been at the helm of Cedarville ever since.
On a very hot day, Susan welcomed us and led us into the winery. She showed us around the manufacturing area. It was spartan and interesting. They had built an ingenious bunker into side of a hill next to building for wine storage. She was super friendly and happily answered all of our questions.
The wines held up well to my high expectations. They were beautiful, smartly made, and intricate. The Viognier was serious, complex, pretty, had great acidity and layers of a different fruits. The Grenache was the rockstar of the trip - it was masculine and feminine all at once. All of the wines were very well balanced. I even enjoyed the Petite Sirah - which tends to be one of my least favorite wines. I appreciated the Cabernet, it was well structured, though I still have not been blown away by a Cab from the Foothills.
There two things that I take away from my Cedarville visit: it's a good idea to go to wineries that Bill Easton tells you to go to, and I should revisit Cedarville in the near future.
Experience: B+ / Wines: A-
Madroña Vineyards ($5 reserve tasting, wines $14-$28)
'10 Zinfandel, '09 Zinfandel "Signature", '08 Cabernet Sauvignon "Signature", '08 "Quartet" (Cabernet Franc/Merlot/Petite Verdot/Malbec), '09 Syrah "Signature", '09 Nebbiolo, '11 Barbera, '11 Dry Riesling "Signature", '09 "Mélange" (Viognier/Roussanne/Marsanne), '11 Riesling
Madroña is located right in the middle of the Apple Hill tourist area. Thankfully for me the hoards of tourists were nowhere to be found on the day that I visited. The tasting room is surrounded by a grove of tall pine trees, and the building looks neatly like a forest ranger station. Inside was a small group of folks that were having a great time enjoying the wine.
Unfortunately, I did not share their enthusiasm. The list was long, there were eighteen different wines to taste (five of were from the reserve list). I only tried eleven. The whites were clumsy. I wrote in my notes that the Mélange tasted like syrup poured over unripe fruit. As wide as of a variety of a reds that there were, they all tasted very similar to one another and had the same profile: fruity, simple, bland, and high acid.
I'm not sure what was so off-putting to me about Madroña, they seemed like nice folks. I got the feeling that they got to a certain level of quality and specific style with their wine making a long time ago, and stayed at that level, but continue to add new varietals to their list to keep things fresh.
Experience: C+ / Wines: C-
Grace Patriot Wines ($5 tasting, wines $18-$30)
'12 Pinot Gris, '12 Riesling, '12 "Hip Hip" Rosé (Tempranillo/Pinot Gris), '07 "FIVE PM" (Tempranillo/Syrah/Pinot Noir), '07 Tempranillo, '07 "Aboriginal Red" (Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah)
Grace Patriot has a neat space. The tasting room is adjacent to a historic ranch house and barn, and the overall design and style integrates old and new elements. Also the room looks out onto the beautiful Crystal Basin forest. I visited on a very slow day. The winemaker, Tyler Grace was studying at the counter when I walked in, and he was quite surprised that a customer came in. He and the tasting room attendant gave me a lot of attention. Both were nice folks.
It's a newer winery, started in 2000, and it seems that they are still experimenting with blends and types. I enjoyed the wines. They were calm and simple. The whites were enjoyable, they were some of the better whites that I had on this trip. The Rosé had good crispness and was a fun drink. Tempranillo was used in three of the wines, which is interesting because you don't see a lot of that grape in the region. I enjoyed the reds - they lacked complexity, but had good flavors and pretty good balance. All of the reds served were '07 vintage, I wonder if the younger reds don't show well and need at least five years of aging.
Experience: B / Wines: B-
I'm becoming more familiar with the Sierra Foothills wine region, and I'm starting to note how it's changed over the past few years. There is a good amount of growth with wineries such as Andis and Helwig recently coming online, and with Renwood undergoing a large remodel. Old sleepy wineries such as Sobon, Bray, Dobra and Madroña are potentially becoming outmoded, though old standards like Cooper and Terre Rouge still stand tall. A very recent development that shows the growth of the region is that most wineries are now charging a $5 tasting fee, normally waived with a purchase. Six months ago that was rare to see.
A takeaway from the trip was that while it's nice to miss the crowds by visiting tasting rooms mid-week, it can be a uncomfortable experience with you're the only person there, you clearly don't like the wine, and they can tell. Perhaps I'll stick to the weekends in the future. It was a lovely trip, and a great way to spend the period between my two scheduled events.
I've built up a pretty good amount of animosity toward San Antonio Winery over the past three years. Three years ago was the summer when I really started to become enthusiastic about wine. That summer we went on a family trip basically in the middle of nowhere. We flew into Reno, picked up a rental car, stopped at a Costco and loaded up on provisions. We asked for some advice on which wines to choose from the Costco wine guy, and he enthusiastically directed us to a bottle of Stella Rosa, a wine we had never heard of before (somehow). We bought some other wines, but that was the one that he really got our hopes up about. So we get out to our vacation spot, and we're having a great time. I'm relaxed as all hell and have started to read Terry Theise's awesome book Reading Between the Vines. Reading this book, relaxing, and drinking wine, it was ideal - until we pop open the Stella Rosa. It was bad news. Sticky sweet nastiness. That's not to say it ruined the vacation, or turned me off wine - clearly that hasn't happened - but it kind of offended me. My dislike was further fueled over the many, many billboard's that have seemed to crop up across the state promoting Stella Rosa - "Stella gets around." Each time I saw those I remembered how much I disliked that wine. 
First impression of the place - there is a ton of stuff being sold. A big space is filled with many displays of wine, beer, liquor and food. Off to one side is a cafe. There's a very long tasting bar that runs the length of the room, so there's lots of places for wine drinkers to plug in. Behind the bar is a wall shelved with more wine, beer and liquor. All of the beer, and most of the liquor for sale are not products from the San Antonio regime - they just have a really good alcohol selection for folks, which I find strange, basically making San Antonio Winery a liquor store with a winery theme.
None of the wines impressed. I didn't hate them, honestly they were better than I expected, but after my Stella Rosa experience I had low expectations. The white blend was nicely crisp, though the fruits were jumbled. Additionally it had 14.9% alcohol per volume, which is a bit steep for a white. The Rosé - interesting that it was a Gamay - had watermelon notes, sneaky pepper and a too watery finish. The Zinfandel has a rough tart entry and was overly oaked. The Syrah had big tannins and unripe plums - it was my least favorite of the group. I couldn't locate a specific flavor within the Petite Sirah, just purple. The Malbec was the best, and the priciest of the lot. Pretty good length, the flavors were a bit clumpy, and there was a harsh sharp note that made the wine less enjoyable. Last, we finished up with the Orange Moscato. It was syrupy and industrial.
As far as I can tell, San Antonio Winery is a very successful business. They have a large presence in LA, and establishments in San Bernardino County and Paso Robles.The LA space is huge, and they obviously deal in high volume. The prices for the wines that we tried were steep for the quality, but I can imagine that people are willing to pay those prices. I found it a bit odd that on the way out there are road arrows for at least a block directing people out. Perhaps they've had patrons get turned around on the industrial streets around their place, but I more took them as a sign that I should be fine just visiting the one time. 
