For this day's journey, we knew that we wanted to hit up a few places in the Fairplay/Pleasant Valley area of El Dorado County. We knew that we wanted to go to Skinner first, and considering that Sierra Vista was on the way back to the in-law's, we'd make that our final stop. What we didn't account for is how long we'd spend at Skinner, meaning that any plans to hit up any places in between were scrapped.
Skinner Vineyards and Winery ($10 tasting, wines $18-$48)
"Seven Generations" (Grenache Blanc/Roussanne/Picpoul Blanc/Viognier), '12 Rosé (Mourvèdre/Grenache), '12 Grenache - Estate, '11 "Eighteen Sixty One" (Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre), '11 "Dry Diggings" (Syrah/Grenache/Mourvèdre), '11 "Six Horse" Zinfandel, '09 Syrah - Stoney Creek Vineyard, '12 Grenache -Sumu Kaw Vineyard, '12 Grenache - Fenaughty Vineyard
During this visit, I had started reading Jon Bonné's The New California Wine. What a great book. In it he seeks and finds wineries that are doing their own thing, eschewing the California archetype of wine (big, bold, jammy). Since reading it, I decided to visit a number of wineries that he recommended that I hadn't heard of. Skinner was one of those. The Skinner story is a neat one. The current generations of Skinners, Mike and Carey, as well as their son Kevin and his wife Kathy came upon historical info about James Skinner - a great great great grandfather to James. James Skinner, a Scottish miner, had established a winery in gold country in 1861. Learning this, they decided to purchase land in the same area, and start up a new Skinner winery - to extend the family tradition. The space that they have built is gorgeous. A great, tall wooden building rests on a hillside that overlooks forested hills. Inside are a number of historical photos and drawings that tell the Skinner story.The staff were very knowledgeable, some of the most astute in the area. The were good ambassadors for the family. I would say that there was one weird thing. Right near the tasting bar was a spiral staircase that wound down into what looked like a wine cellar. Everyone that came in, including us asked "Oh cool! Can I do down there?" And each and every time they answered, "NO! That's a private space just for the family!" This folks, is what you call an attractive nuisance. Everyone knows that spiral staircases are badass, especially ones that go down to secret cellars. And at the time that I was there, there wasn't any signage declaring the space off limits. But whatever, just weird. It did highlight the slight awkwardness of the space and the staff.
Regardless, the wine was banging. The white was super enjoyable, and the Rosé was a delicious ride. They allowed us to try a number of their Grenaches. All were great. The Estate was calm, quiet preserves, followed by late acid. The Sumu Kaw Vineyard Grenache was ridiculously light, but still carried acid and flavor. It was like a macho Rosé. The Fenaughty Vineyard Grenache was concentrated juice with pretty and light acid. Both of the GSM blends were good, I enjoyed the Eighteen Sixty One more. The Zinfandel, their one non-Rhone varietal, was a fine take - calm entry, grows in the mouth, blueberries, and a slight zip at the end. The Syrah was a big mamma-jamma. It was well constructed, mature, but too overbearing for me.
Experience: B / Wines: B+
Sierra Vista Vineyards and Winery ($0 tasting, wines $18-$35)
'13 "Old Vine" Chardonnay, '11 Roussanne,'13 Sauvignon Blanc, '13 Viognier, '13 Grenache, '11 Mourvèdre, '02 "Fleur de Montagne" (Grenache/Syrah,Mourvèdre/Cinsault), '04 "Fleur de Montagne", '08 "Fleur de Montagne", '12 "Fleur de Montagne", '09 "Old Clone" Zinfandel, '11 Syrah "Ancient Vine Reserve", '10 "Red Rocks Ridge" Syrah, '05 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, '12 Viognier Dessert Wine "Doux", '04 Viognier Dessert Wine "Doux"
There are a number of new, hip and well-heeled wineries in the Sierra Foothills - Skinner for one, but also, Andis, Turley, and Renwood. Sierra Vista is none of those things. It's been around since 1977, and is about as unassuming as a winery can be. We sat down at picnic tables with our leftover turkey sandwiches and looked out over the vineyard and the rolling hills beyond. While we sat, the owner and winemaker, John MacCready, and his family happened by. He was goofing off with his grandkids, or actually probably great-grandkids. Even though he's eighty two, he was still shimmying back and forth on one of the kid's scooters pretty well - or perhaps he was the one who got a shiny new scooter from Santa for Christmas.The staff inside the tasting room were just as sweet. The wine list was exhaustively long, and it was only through great insistence on our part were we able to persuade them to allow us to skip a few wines here and there. Even through our protests, they were still able to get us to try sixteen (!!) different wines. Part of the reason that the list was so long was because they were doing library tastings of their "Fleur de Montagne" Rhone blend. Just the same, the list was quite varied.
Basically, there were a few big hits for us with the wines, and lots of misses. The table whites were not especially enjoyable. We liked the Viognier okay, but it wasn't very remarkable. Many of the reds were off-balanced, too sharp, sweet, with concentrated fruit, or had off-putting flavors. The "Fleurs" were pretty good, especially the younger ones, the older ones a bit sticky. The guy that was serving us was kind enough to hold on to some of the '05 Cabernet that they had, instead of serving what was left to a couple of other folks there ahead of us. He told us "You guys seem to like wine a lot, I think you'll get a kick out of this." The dude was right. It was fantastic. And given the other wines, we were taken aback. It had been decanted for a full day ahead of time. With a big cocoa nose and hits of toast, it was quite pretty, some sneaky sweetness, and a nice layer of dust. It was a tremendous experience. Finally we tried the dessert wines. The '12 was too quiet, but the '04 was tons of fun. Nutty, grippy, with slight hints of greeness.
Experience: B+ / Wines: B-
El Dorado County never ceases to intrigue. It's almost always going to assure good conversation and interesting history. It's hard to know if the wines are going to impress, surprise or underwhelm. Skinner and Sierra Vista represent two very distinct aspects of the region - new investment versus old-timer. Both are aggressively independent, and for that they are completely within the sweet spot for what's to love about the area. Just one thing though, do not go down the secret staircase.
