WineProGuy Wine Blog

ZAP – the Zinfandel Festival returns to San Francisco – Jan 26-28

2012-01-14T22:10:00.000-08:00

The Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP) is hosting the 21st annual Zinfandel Festival, a California legend, in San Francisco, January 26-28. This is a grand festival in celebration of America’s Heritage Wine, Zinfandel. It is held at a new venue this year, the historic Concourse Exhibition Center, South of Market. This former railway station harkens back to a classic age of travel and provides plenty of space that is handsomely finished and comfortable. And there is plenty of parking and handy to public transportation! There will be four events during those three days plus celebrity chef, winemaker dinners and plenty of fine Zins to sample.

Thursday, January 26, Epicuria – This Food and Zin pairing occurs from 6 – 9 p.m. in The Concourse. Your palate will love the discovery of the diversity of Zinfandel and its wide range of complementary flavor combinations. Mingle with winemakers and epicurean experts as you take a journey for your senses sampling the regional offerings. This event features 50 top Zinfandel wines and creations from master chefs. The Zin Kitchen will also host cooking demonstrations and talk about Zin and food pairing. Tickets are $95 for ZAP members and $125 for non-members.

Friday, January 27, Flights – This Forums of Flavor from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Square is your chance to experience discussions as diverse as the wine itself. Here you experience exclusive seminar-style tastings where you will discover themed flights of Zins and interact with Zinfandel experts. Tickets are $60 for ZAP members and $75 for non-members.

Friday, January 27, Winemakers Dinner – Viva Las Vegas at the Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Square from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. where you experience a Las Vegas style benefit with VIP taste. Dress to the nines and bring your lucky charm to this glamorous reception and dinner and enjoy private selections poured by premier winemaker hosts. The live and silent auctions feature rare and one-of-a-kind lots with proceeds benefitting ZAP programming, education and Heritage projects. Tickets are $225 per person.

Saturday, January 28, Grand Tasting – The main event is the Grand Tasting from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. for the public at The Concourse through a journey of the world’s largest single varietal tasting as you sample from hundreds of barrel samples, new releases and premier Zinfandels. Meet the winemakers and learn more about America’s Heritage Wine. Tickets are $49 for ZAP members, $59 for non-members and $69 at the door.

This is a major wine event in the Bay Area and a great opportunity to learn more about California's heritage wine, Zinfandel. The Concourse is at 635 8th Street at Brannan in San Francisco.

For more information:

ZAP Zinfandel Festival Website
Tickets

Santa Cruz Mountains Wines win at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

2012-01-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

Santa Cruz Mountain wineries brought home gold at the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, including one Best of Class, 3 Double Gold, 10 Gold, 26 Silver and 23 Bronze awards. Congratulations to those award-winning winemakers in this exciting wine region. The 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the largest competition of American wines and this year included a record breaking 5,500 entries judged by 65 prominent wine judges. The competition is always fierce and as the number of entries grow, it becomes tougher.

Best of Class awards went to La Rusticana d’Orsa for their 2008 La Rusticana Cinque Bordeaux blend. Double Gold medals were captured by Bargetto Winery for their 2009 Regan Estate Pinot Noir Reserve, Martin Ranch Winery for the Therese Vineyards 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Naumann Vineyards 2009 Tre Rosso Cali Bordeaux blend.

Other award winners for Santa Cruz Mountain wineries are:

Bargetto Winery - in addition to the Double Gold for their Pinot Noir, brought home a Bronze medal for the 2007 Regan Estate La Vita
Beauregard Vineyards– captured Silver for the 2008 Estate Chardonnay
Byington Vineyards & Winery– won Bronze for the 2008 Block 4 Pinot Noir
Cinnabar Winery– picked up a Gold medal for the 2009 Sorcerer’s Stone blend and Silver for the 2009 Mercury Rising Bordeaux Blend
Heart O’ the Mountain– got a Bronze medal for the 2008 Estate Pinot Noir
Hillcrest Terrace Winery –brought home a Silver for the 2009 Regan Vineyard Chardonnay and two Bronze medals for the 2008 Regan Vineyard Merlot and 2009 Fambrini Vineyard Pinot Noir
La Honda Winery– was happy with the Gold medal for 2008 Salinian Block Cabernet Sauvignon and Bronze for the 2009 Sequence Pinot Noir
Loma Prieta Winery– picked up a Bronze medal for their 2008 Santa Cruz Mountains Merlot
Martin Ranch Winery– in addition to the Double Gold for the Therese Vineyards 2007 Cab, also got a Silver for the 2007 JD Hurley Cabernet Sauvignon
Martin Ray Winery – captured Silver for the 2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Mica Cellars – won a Bronze medal for the 2010 Smith Road Vintners Pinot Noir
Michael Martella Wines– topped off with a Gold medal for the 2009 Carmel Hill Syrah and Bronze for the 2008 Hammer Syrah
Muccigrosso Vineyards– brought home Gold for the 2007 Pinot Noir, three Silver medals for the 2008 Lyn Zin, 2008 Pinot Noir and 2008 El Cartero Pinot Noir, plus Bronze for the 2008 Jupiter Sangiovese
Odonata Wines– picked up two Silver medals for the 2009 Machado Creek Vineyard Petite Sirah and 2009 Zayante Vineyard Syrah
Perrucci Family Vineyard– did well with two Gold medals for the 2008 Merlot and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon plus Bronze for the 2006 Special Cabernet Sauvignon
Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards– the Quinta Cruz brand won Gold for the 2009 Graciano and Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards got Silver for the 2009 Branciforte Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir
Sarah’s Vineyard– won Gold for their 2010 Chardonnay and two Bronze medals for the 2007 Merlot and 2010 Pinot Noir
Soquel Vineyards– brought home several awards including four Silver medals for the 2010 Estate Pinot Noir, 2010 Saveria Pinot Noir, 2010 Pinot Noir and 2009 Saveria Vineyard Petite Sirah, plus two Bronze medals for the 2009 Estate Pinot Noir and 2010 Lester Pinot Noir
Storrs Winery and Vineyards– captured two Gold medals for the 2010 Chardonnay and 2008 Petite Sirah, four Silver medals for the 2008 Zinfandel, 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 Late Harvest Zinfandel and 2008 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir, plus Bronze for the 2007 Christie Pinot Noir
Thomas Fogerty Winery– took home Silver for the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, and three Bronze medals for the 2009 Gewurtztraminer, 2008 Chardonnay and 2007 Cabernet Franc
Vine Hill Winery– the Cumbre brand captured two Silver medals for the 2008 Raffaelli Pinot Noir and 2008 Hicks Family Vineyard Pinot Noir and Bronze for the 2008 Godinez Pinot Noir, plus Vine Hill got two Bronze medals for the 2009 Clements Ridge Chardonnay and 2009 Pinot Noir

The public is invited to the Public Tasting to be held at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco on Saturday, February 18th at 2 – 5 p.m.
For more information:

Livermore Valley bring home Gold from San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

2012-01-14T22:03:00.000-08:00

Thirty Livermore Valley wineries picked up 143 awards at the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, including Sweepstake award as the best red wine in the competition by McGrail Vineyard’s 2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Livermore Valley winemakers took home four Best of Class, 5 Double Gold, 20 Gold, 64 Silver and 49 Bronze awards. This is in comparison with the 89 awards won in last year’s competition. Congratulations to those award-winning winemakers in this diverse wine region in the heart of the Bay Area.

The 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the largest competition of American wines and this year included a record breaking 5,500 entries judged by 65 prominent wine judges. The competition is always fierce and as the number of entries grow, it becomes tougher.
McGrail Vineyard and Winery is proud to capture the Sweepstake award as the best red wine in the competition with their 2008 Livermore Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Check this article about the award.

Best of Class awards were won by Bent Creek Winery for their 2009 Livermore Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Cuda Ridge Wines for their 2009 Merlot, Thomas Coyne Winery for the 2008 Quest Rhone blend, and Wente Vineyards for their 2009 Nth Degree Livermore Valley Syrah.

Auburn James Winery– Bronze medals for their 2008 Bella Vista Block 4 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Cottrill Vineyard Diablo Rosso
Bent Creek Winery– In addition to their Best of Class award for their Cab, picked up Double Gold for their 2009 Zinfandel Port, Silver for their 2009 Petite Sirah and 2009 Red on Red, plus Bronze for 2009 Syrah and 2009 Zinfandel
Charles R Vineyards– Gold medal for 2009 Zinfandel, Silver for 2010 Chardonnay and 2008 Syrah, plus Bronze for 2008 Petite Sirah
Concannon Vineyards– Four Gold medals awarded for the 2010 Reserve Chardonnay, 2009 Reserve Syrah, 2008 Captain Joe’s Petite Sirah and 2010 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. In addition Concannon captured 11 Silver medals and 5 Bronze medals
Crooked Vine Winery– Gold medal awarded for the 2009 Moxie Bordeaux Blend, Silver won for 2010 Fume Blanc and 2008 Petite Sirah, and Bronze for 2010 Chardonnay, 2009 Cabernet Franc and 2009 Petit Verdot
Cuda Ridge Wines– In addition to their Best of Class for the 2009 Livermore Valley Merlot but also Silver for the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and Bronze for the 2009 Petit Verdot
Darcie Kent Vineyards– Double Gold medal for the 2010 De Mayo Chardonnay, Gold for the 2010 Rava Black Jack Sauvignon Blanc, Silver for the 2008 De Mayo Zinfandel and 2009 Rava Black Jack Pinot Noir and Bronze for 2008 Petite Sirah, 2010 West Pinnacles Chardonnay and 2010 Gruner Veltliner
Eagle Ridge Vineyards– Silver award for 2005 Madlyn Port and Bronze for the 2010 Pinot Grigio
Fenestra Winery– Grabbed a Double Gold award for the 2007 Thatcher Bay Vineyards Merlot, 3 Golds for 2007 Syrah, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2010 Verdelho, plus eight Silver medals and five Bronze medals
Harris Tesla Vineyard– Won Silver for their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and Bronze for their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
Las Positas Vineyards– Picked up Silver for the 2010 Orange Muscat and three Bronze medals for the 2008 Barbera, 2007 Petite Sirah and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon.
Longevity Wines– Silver medal awarded for the 2009 Tempranillo and Bronze for the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
McGrail Vineyards & Winery– Sweepstake for best red wine for the 2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and Silver for the 2009 Chardonnay
Mitchell Katz Winery– Gold medal awarded for the 2009 Abboud Acres Shiraz, six Silver medals for 2010 Chardonnay, 2010 Pinot Gris, 2009 Sangiovese, 2009 Syrah, 2008 Falling Star Petite Sirah and 2009 Clarks Corner Petite Sirah, plus a Bronze for 2009 Zinfandel
Murrieta’s Well– won two Silvers for the 2008 Petit Verdot and 2009 “The Spur” blend, plus 2 Bronze medals for 2010 Semillon Chardonnay and 2009 Zarzuela blend.
Nottingham Cellars– captured two Silver medals for both wines entered, the 2010 Chardonnay and 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
Page Mill Winery– took home a Gold medal for 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, two Silvers for 2010 Angela’s Cuvee Rose and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon plus two Bronze medals
Red Feather Winery – won Silver medal for the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
Retzlaff Winery– picked up three Bronze medals for 2009 Chardonnay, 2006 Merlot and 2005 Cab/Merlot
Rios-Lovell Estate Winery– captured a Double Gold for the Zinfandel Syrah Port, five Silvers for 2005 Cab/Merlot, Cabernet Franc Port, Mourvedre Barbera Port and Petite Sirah Port, plus a Bronze for the 2007 Syrah
Ruby Hill Winery– won a Gold medal for the 2009 Peacock Patch Zinfandel, and two Bronze medals for the 2009 Reserve Chardonnay and 2009 Grapeful Red blend
Steven Kent Winery– took home Silver medals for the 2010 Lola Bordeaux blend and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
Stony Ridge Winery– received two Silver medals for 2010 Chardonnay and 2008 Trifecta blend and two Bronze medals for the Sparkling Malvasia Bianca and 2009 Zinfandel
Tamas Estates– in addition to the Double Gold for the 2009 Double Decker red blend, also got Gold for the 2009 Sangiovese Reserve and two Silvers for the 2010 Pinot Grigio and 2009 Zinfandel
Thomas Coyne Winery– showed off with the Best of Class for the 2008 Quest Rhone blend, plus a Gold for the 2008 Petit Verdot and two Bronze medals for the 2009 Quest Rhone blend and 2008 Mourvedre
Wente Vineyards– in addition to the Best in Class for the 2009 Nth Degree Syrah, plus two Golds for the 2009 Merlot and 2007 Merlot and three Silvers and 2 Bronze medals
Wood Family Vineyards– was awarded a Gold medal for the 2009 Muy Bueno Zinfandel, Silver medals for the 2010 Chardonnay and 2008 Madden Ranch Syrah and Bronze for the 2009 Hansen Ranch Zinfandel

Congrats to three of the newer wineries in Livermore, 3 Steves Winery picked up two Bronze medals for their Chardonnay and Cab, TateDog Wines got a Golds for their Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon and Silver for their Wanless Chardonnay, and Rigg Estate Vineyards captured a Bronze medal for their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon.

The public is invited to the Public Tasting to be held at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco on Saturday, February 18th at 2 – 5 p.m.
For more information:

Santa Clara Valley wineries shine at the SF Chronicle Wine Competition

2012-01-14T22:00:00.000-08:00

The Santa Clara Valley appellation consists of 21 wineries concentrated mostly in the southern end of the valley. But this small collection of wineries scored big at the recent 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, with 13 wineries taking home a collection of 84 medals including 3 Best of Class, 3 Double Golds and 10 Gold medals. In addition, several wineries outside of Santa Clara Valley won awards using Santa Clara Valley grapes.

Santa Clara Valley is a wine appellation with a long history of wine making and was one of the first premium wine production regions in California. But during the last few decades the “Valley of the Heart’s Delight” has achieved a premium reputation in the non-wine industries and only recently have wine lovers seen this region achieve a resurgence in winemaking. Many small boutique wineries have sprung up over the last 10-20 years concentrating on small handcrafted wines that reflect the terroir of this region.

The 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the largest competition of American wines and this year included a record breaking 5,600 entries from 1,379 wineries from more than 25 states, judged by 65 prominent wine judges. The competition is always fierce and as the number of entries grow, it becomes tougher.

Best of Class awards for Santa Clara Valley winemakers went to Martin Ranch Winery for their 2008 Therese Vineyards Syrah, Kirigin Cellars for their 2010 Estate Malvasia Bianca, and J Lohr Vineyards & Wines for their 2009 Los Osos Merlot. Double Gold medals were won by Jason-Stephens Winery for their 2008 Estate Zinfandel, and Martin Ranch Winery picked up two Double Golds, one for the 2007 Estate Therese Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Therese Vineyards Dos Ninas Vineyard Malbec.

Other award winners for Santa Clara Valley wineries are:

Castillo’s Hillside Shire Winery– picked up numerous awards including a Gold for the 2009 Estate Port-style dessert wine, two Silvers for the 2009 Zinfandel and 2008 Petite Sirah, and three Bronze medals for the 2008 Estate Sangiovese, 2009 Petite Sirah and 2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Creekview Vineyards– went home with three Silver medals for the 2010 Arroyo Seco Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 Old Vine Zinfandel and 2009 Syrah
Fortino Winery– captured three Silver medals for the California Pomegranate Fruit Wine, 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2008 Charbono
Guglielmo Winery– won two Silver medals for the 2008 Barbera and 2008 Charbono, and two Bronze medals for the 2008 Sangiovese and 2008 Estate Zinfandel
J Lohr Vineyards & Wines – in addition to the Best of Class Merlot, they also got Gold medals for the 2009 South Ridge Syrah and 2008 Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon and three Silvers for the 2010 Carol’s Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon and 2008 Carol’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Jason-Stephens Winery– came home with a truckload of 15 awards including the Double Gold for the 2008 Zinfandel, Gold for the 2008 Estate Syrah, eight Silvers for 2006 Monte Bello Road Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008 Monte Bello Road Cabernet Sauvignon, 2010 Estate Select Chardonnay, 2007 Estate Rhone Blend, 2007 Estate Merlot, 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Estate Meritage. Plus they earned five Bronze medals for the 2010 Estate Chardonnay, 2007 Estate Syrah, 2007 Estate Select Syrah, 2008 Estate Merlot and 2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Kirigin Cellars– besides the Best of Class Malvasia Bianca, two Silver medals for the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2008 Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, plus four Bronze medals for the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 Zinfandel, 2008 Estate Pinot Noir and NV Estate Red blend
Martin Ranch Winery– the top honors for the Best of Class Syrah and two Double Gold medals Cab and Malbec, plus Gold for the 2009 Therese Vineyards Carignane, and JD Hurley 2008 Merlot plus Silver for both the 2010 JD Hurley Sauvignon Blanc and 2009 JD Hurley Zinfandel
Sarah’s Vineyard– won a Gold medal for the 2010 Santa Cruz Chardonnay, six Silver medals for the 2009 Central Coast Chardonnay, 2010 Central Coast Chardonnay, 2010 Estate Chardonnay, 2010 Estate Pinot Noir, 2009 Estate Cote de Madone Rhone Blend and 2008 Charbono, plus three Bronze medals for the 2010 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir, 2007 Merlot and 2010 Central Coast Pinot Noir
Satori Cellars– got two Golds for the 2009 Merlot of the Violet Flame and 2009 Estate Joyous Reserve Bordeaux Blend, two Silvers for the 2009 Estate Zen-Zin, 2009 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon of the Blue Hand and Bronze for the 2009 Estate Oh So Zin
Solis Winery– captured a Gold medal for the 2009 Seducente, Silver for the 2007 Reserve Cara Mia Bordeaux Blend, and three Bronze medals for the 2010 Estate Chardonnay, 2009 Estate Sangiovese and 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Storrs Winery– picked up two Silver medals for the 2008 Central Coast Zinfandel and the 2009 Late Harvest Reserve Zinfandel
Sycamore Creek Vineyards & Winery– won four Silver awards for the 2009 Merlot, 2008 Estate Uvas Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009 Estate Flagship Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2008 Mosaico Bordeaux blend, plus two Bronze for the 2009 Zinfandel and 2008 Petite Sirah
Travieso Winery– earned a Silver for the 2009 El Chupacabras Red Wine

The public is invited to the Public Tasting to be held at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco on Saturday, February 18th at 2 – 5 p.m.
For more information:

UNWINED Wine Bar and Shop under new ownership

2012-01-12T21:04:00.000-08:00

Six years ago Dan and Leticia Pascal opened UNWINED, a new wine shop and wine bar deep in Almaden Valley in San Jose. Over those years UNWINED has become a favorite for winelovers in this southern end of San Jose. Dan says, “We want to thank everyone for their support during these years. We will always cherish the great memories, the people we have met and the friendships that we have developed.”

On January 10 UNWINED opens under new ownership. Rory and Anna Chitwood and Danielle Metz, the new owners, plan on continuing the friendly service, great music and wide selection of fine wines that customers have come to expect over the years. Danielle has worked at UNWINED for several years and a patron since it opened. She and Anna have been teachers at a local elementary school and Rory has been at Apple for over 20 years. Rory and Anna are long-time residents of Almaden Valley. Rory says, "UNWINED continues to be your favorite local wine bar and we are anxious to meet you and welcome you to our shop."

UNWINED provides its patrons with more than just great wine. Three wide-screen TV’s provide the latest sports entertainment via satellite. The best of Jazz is always playing in the background and on Thursday and Saturday evenings; live bands provide the entertainment while the experienced bartenders serve up the drinks. Local artists and photographers display their works on the walls and occasional art shows provides the patrons with the chance to meet the artists!

The outdoor patio provides patrons with a great venue to sample some great wines while watching the world go by during warmer days.

Now you are drinking your delicious wine, listening to some great jazz, socializing with your local friends, and watching the Sharks win on the wide screen TV. What goes better with wine than food? UNWINED offers you a wide selection of cheese plates, tapas, lasagna, salads, Panini sandwiches, desserts and more. Every Tuesday afternoon is happy hour with special menu items and discounts.

Wine lovers will find approximately 300 labels on the wall of the wine shop, while behind the bar, 50 different wines are always on the menu. At UNWINED if you are not sure whether the wine in the shop is what you want, there is a great chance that it is currently available at the bar so you can taste before you buy that bottle. Not sure what wine is right for your occasion? Check with the bartenders for help in selecting the right bottle for that special dinner or event. UNWINED also has a wide selection of wine accessories to enhance your in-home tasting adventure.

Be sure to stop by on Wednesday evenings when UNWINED host special tasting events, featuring a selected winemaker, wine style or wine region. This is the perfect chance to learn more about a winery or wine style since often the winemaker is pouring the wine!

Join the UNWINED Wine Club for a truly exciting tasting experience. The UNWINED Wine Club is unique from the standard Winery Wine Clubs. For each 6 week release the tasting crew will sample almost 100 wines to select the right wine for the UNWINED

For more information:

UNWINED Wine Bar and Wine Shop

Nottingham Cellars scores high in Wine Enthusiast

2012-01-12T20:59:00.000-08:00

Nottingham Cellars continues to shake up the wine world with several wines listed in the December 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast journal. Nottingham’s winemaker Collin Cranor has already captured 26 wine awards this year at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, San Francisco International Wine Competition and the Best of the Bay awards. He even captured the Judge’s Best award at the Livermore Valley Taste of Terroir. Now the wine press, in particular, the journal Wine Enthusiast, has awarded more accolades on this Livermore Valley winery.

The Nottingham Cellars 2008 Supremacy, a Bordeaux blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 11% Petite Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 7% Malbec captured 90 points from Wine Enthusiast. The reviewers stated that “Supremacy is young winemaker Collin Cranor’s showcase of what the right fruit and right winemaking in Livermore Valley can do with the right vision.” The price is $40. Note that Supremacy is one of only a handful of Livermore Valley wines that have reached that 90+ scale from the major wine journals.

Nottingham Cellars 2009 Del Arroyo Vineyard Chardonnay captured 89 points in Wine Enthusiast. This 2009 Chardonnayfrom Livermore Valley is a none-oaked Chardonnay, fermented and aged in stainless steel. It has a brisk acidity and great minerality, delivering flavors of apple and pear. This is a great summer wine for only $18.

The 2009 Livermore Valley Black Label Petite Sirah from Nottingham Cellars walked away with an 87 point award from Wine Enthusiast. This wine shows you why Petite Sirah is the Livermore Valley grape. The fruit is from the high quality Casa De Vinas vineyard in Livermore. It starts with a dark inky color followed with the aromas and flavors of dark fruit, black cherry, chocolate, and rich ripe tannins. It shows deep complexity and a wonderful combination of flavors that continue on forever. The price is $32

The tasting room, located at 2245C South Vasco Road across from Lawrence Livermore Labs, is in an industrial office park where you will spy their flags out front as you drive along Vasco. They are open Friday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Stop by to taste this bit of Livermore. Parking is easy so stop by for some award-winning wines.

For more information:

Nottingham Cellars

McGrail Vineyards wins top honors in San Francisco Chronicle with best red wine

2012-01-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

On January 6, the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition announced the results of the 2012 competition and the 2008 Livermore Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from McGrail Vineyards and Winery in Livermore Valley is the Red Wine Sweepstakes winner. The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the largest competitions of American wines in the world with over 5,500 entries. As a Sweepstakes winner, all 65 judges from throughout the wine industry and the country voted on this wine, selecting it as the best red wine of the year.

The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is produced from handpicked fruit on the McGrail estate along Greenville Road in Livermore. It is barrel aged for 30 months in 70% new oak, a blend of American, French and Hungarian wood. This sophisticated wine delivers lush dark fruit, baking spices, vanilla, and soft tannins that continue on to the long warm finish.

McGrail is a family owned winery that specializes in estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Jim and Ginger McGrail planted the first Cabernet Sauvignon on their property in 1999 and originally sold the fruit to local high end wine producer. By 2005 McGrail started production of 1000 cases of wine per year. They finished their new winery in April, 2008 and in September 2009 they hired Mark Clarin as their winemaker. Great grapes, perfect location and a leading winemaker have resulted in McGrail reaching new heights in Cabernet Sauvignon.

The honor of winning the 2012 Sweepstakes award in the San Francisco Wine Competition not only shows the success of McGrail Vineyards and Winery but of the quality that is coming from the Livermore Valley today.

Be sure to come to the annual Public Tasting for the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition at Fort Mason Center on Saturday, February 18th.

For more information:

Big Dog Vineyards – San Francisco Bay

2012-01-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

A visit to Big Dog Vineyards really starts miles away as you leave Silicon Valley and start the climb up Calaveras Road. You are leaving the tensions of the valley behind you as you drive past the Ed R. Levin County Park. Here you might spy a hiker along the trails, bicyclists along the road or an equestrian negotiating the bridal path. As you continue several horse ranches, keep an eye out for a hawk or owl in the trees along the side of the road. While it is tempting to follow Calaveras further into the back country of Santa Clara County, turn right onto Felter Road as it winds around the hills overlooking Santa Clara Valley. Watch for the sign pointing to Big Dog Vineyards on the left. Up along the narrow drive past yet another horse ranch you will round the bend where you are looking down upon the San Francisco Bay and you finally spot the acres of vineyards nestled up on the hillside above a beautiful home. Welcome to Big Dog Vineyards!

Mark Capalongan, owner and winemaker at Big Dog Vineyards, moved to this area many years ago to get to the country. When local winemakers suggested that he plant grapes on the hillsides he checked with UC Davis and soil analysis came back saying that this rocky, limestone, well-drained hilltop was an ideal area for Cabernet Sauvignon. Planting on a hilltop location is not only expensive, but hard work as well. But the result is a rugged 5-acre vineyard flowing up the steep slope that is reminiscent of vineyards you might see in parts of Europe. Grapevines need to undergo intense growing conditions to produce grapes with an intensity of flavors and these vines on the dry windy hilltop certainly are pushed in their environment to achieve excellent results. There is a significant bay influence with afternoon breezes to help reduce mildew problems, but generally these grapes face dry heat on the western facing slope with minimal watering. But in this location, climate is not your only worry; the hillsides house many critters that enjoy a juicy grape or tasty grape leaf, including birds, wild turkey, deer and raccoons. In fact Mark had to design a special electric fence to keep out some of the visitors!

The tasting room is open the first weekend of every month. Mark, his wife and several friends will push back the barrels in the winery to make room for the tasting bar and displays. Besides the tasting room tucked in behind the garage, there is a patio area outside where you can look up to the vineyards climbing up the hillside behind. Also note that this is a dog-friendly winery, as you can imagine from the name. The original St. Bernard has left us but Mark’s new Great Dane puppy has taken his place and soon will be the Big Dog. While this writer was visiting, several visitors had brought their dogs along for the afternoon, picked up a glass of wine from the tasting bar and retired to the patio to enjoy the afternoon. The attentive tasting room staff brought samples of current releases for them to try.

While Big Dog Vineyards is primarily famous for their Cabernet Sauvignon, they are expanding to other varietals which you can taste including a Zinfandel from Paso Robles. While not yet released (will be released in March), you might also get to taste a barrel sample of the 2010 Chardonnay from Santa Cruz Mountains. Big Dog will also be releasing a 2010 Syrah from Dry Creek Valley and a 2010 Merlot from Santa Cruz Mountains. But the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Estate Cabernet Franc are the highlights of the visit. They have also released a dessert wine produced in a port style from the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.

The 2007 Estate Cabernet Franc is produced from the grapes growing behind the tasting room and delivers a nice complex of dark fruit including cherry and raspberry with a spiciness and black pepper quality that makes it wonderful for a summer BBQ or roasted meat. The price is $29.50 per bottle and just recently this wine captured a Bronze medal from the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. This is the second year that the Big Dog Cabernet Franc was an award winner in this competition.

The 2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon won Gold at last year’s San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and is a handcrafted wine aged for 3 years in American and French Oak delivering a great complexity of aromas and flavors of dark fruit, black cherry, licorice and a long finish. The price is $28 per bottle

The 2007 Big Dog Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Dessert Wine picked up Silver at the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and has a great balance of fruit and sweet, delivering a nice warm finish that you will love. The price is $18.50 per 375 ml bottle. Note that the 2007 Cabernet Franc Dessert Wine last year won Best of Class at the 2011 SF Chronicle Wine Competition so Big Dog does know how to make good dessert wines.

Visiting Big Dog Vineyards high atop the hillside is like visiting family. Mark and his family and friends will welcome you to the tasting room and tell you about the story of the winery, how they hand pick the wines from the hillsides above the winery and the passion that goes into these hand crafted wines. Take some time to view the many awards that these wines have already earned and taste the wines, surrounded by the American Oak barrels where the next vintage is waiting for you. The tasting room is open the first weekend of every month so stop by.

For more information:

"Saratoga by Candlelight" - Saratoga Holiday Open House and Wine Stroll

2011-11-20T18:26:00.000-08:00

Thursday you will stuff yourself with turkey, and on Friday you will wear yourself out shopping. So Friday evening relax and stop by Saratoga to celebrate the holidays. Once again, Saratoga’s traditional Village Open House, held on the day after Thanksgiving, will include a Holiday Wine Stroll for your enjoyment. “Saratoga By Candlelight: A Holiday Wine Stroll In The Village” will be held on Friday, November 25, from 4 PM til 7PM.

The Village will be festively decked out, with holiday decorations at every turn, and will feature strolling carolers, horse-drawn carriage rides, pictures with Santa Claus, live musicians, artists and more than a dozen local wineries staged at local retailers & restaurants. Tree lighting ceremonies in Blaney Plaza begin at 5:30pm.

This year brings a charitable component as well: as a fundraiser for 2nd Harvest Food Bank, we will be asking attendees to donate non-perishable food in return for a $5 raffle ticket. Additional tickets may be purchased at $5 each, or 5 for $20.

Raise a glass to the holidays with premium wines from the following local wineries.

At $40, the Holiday Wine Stroll is a great value, and includes a festive logo’d glass and a program listing special offers from local merchants. Sample a wide variety of high-quality, local labels, while getting a head start on your holiday shopping! Many of Saratoga’s boutiques and restaurants will be open late, most will offer special incentives for Holiday Wine Strollers and all will glow with candlelight in celebration of this season of giving.

Register early to ensure you’ll be part of the season’s most elegant evening of wine tasting, carriage rides, sparkling lights and festive dining: all in beautiful downtown Saratoga Village! Call the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce at 408-867-0753 or register online. Tickets are $40 until November 23 and $45 the day of the event.

For more information: Saratoga Chamber of Commerce

Dutcher Crossing field-blended Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley

2011-11-15T21:29:00.000-08:00

Dutcher Crossing Winery has released the 2009 Bernier-Sibary Vineyard Zinfandel made from a field blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane and Matero (Mourvedre) picked and fermented together. “Jane and Scott Sibary have partnered their 5-acre hillside property in northern Dry Creek Valley with legendary grape grower Paul Bernier according to Dutcher Crossing winemaker Kerry Damskey. They created a unique site growing organically dry-farmed Zinfandel intermixed with 25 percent of the other varieties. Dutcher Crossing loves this mix that results in a wine that is definitely Zinfandel, but with wonderful nuances from the other varietals.

Debra Mathy, proprietor of Dutcher Crossing and winemaker Kerry Damskey are both proponents of blends and produce limited selections from unique hillside sites such as Bernier-Sibary. “At Dutcher Crossing Winery, we are perfecting the art of innovative blending and small-lot winemaking,” said Debra.

The Bernier-Sibary Vineyard is usually one of the last Zinfandel vineyards to harvest in Dry Creek Valley. The Matero and Carignane reach maturity later than the Zinfandel and Petite Sirah resulting in these wines being on the riper side and giving the wine a nice berry character, more elegant than a normal Zinfandel.

The 2009 Bernier-Sibary Zinfandel has a dark rich color. On the nose you will enjoy the maraschino cherry flavors with a bit of a chocolate quality. On the palate the cherry comes through with black fruits, raspberry and an earthiness from the Petite Sirah and Mataro. You will detect spices of cinnamon, and a bit of clove. It is suggested that you let this wine air for a bit before tasting to have these flavors reach their peak. This blend delivers a long, satisfying finish. This would pair nicely with a meal of honey glazed BBQ. The suggested price is $39.

Dutcher Crossing Winery in the heart of Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County is not only a great place to sample quality that you expect from this wine region, but also a great place to spend some time in this valley. The winery has a nice picnic area where you can gander over this lush valley while tasting these wines. They also offer a vineyard tour to learn more about what goes on to produce these wines.

The wines of Dutcher Crossing include their estate wines and also grapes from select vineyards throughout the valley. Debra Mathy is an adventurer and loves to tell you about her journey towards becoming the proprietor of Dutcher Crossing. She developed her passion for wine during her studies in Europe. Her dream was to own a winery and in 2007 she purchased Dutcher Crossing in the prime growing region of Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County.

Debra is an athlete and an avid cyclist, owning a unicycle, eight bicycles and a 1900’s high wheeler that was a gift from her dad shortly before he passed on. This same high wheeler is the symbol of Dutcher Crossing and is found on their labels and foil cap. With the help of winemaker Kerry Damskey their passion for wine shows in their wines which have been winning awards for years.

For more information: Dutcher Crossing Winery

Franciscan Wines - a Napa Valley Legacy

2011-11-15T21:26:00.000-08:00

Franciscan has been a Napa Valley legacy for over 35 years, inviting visitors along Hwy 29 to stop in for a taste of fine Napa Valley wines. Each of the talented winemakers over this period, including current winemaker Janet Myers, has left their mark on Franciscan through innovation and commitment to small-lot winemaking. Janet Myers joined Franciscan in 2003, and was appointed Director of Winemaking in September 2005. “In the heart of Napa Valley, the Franciscan estate vineyards are the perfect place for me to explore Cabernet and its nuances. I love the body and texture of Cab, how it has layers of intensity and richness, but with such finesse when you get it right.”

Bordeaux varietals do very well on the Franciscan estate where the dry-farmed, clay loam soils and medium to high-density plantings result in wines of great structures, flavors and textures. The latest two releases, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2007 Merlot are the epitome of what Napa Valley can deliver for a reasonable price.

The 2007 Franciscan Estate Merlot has been known as a Cab lovers Merlot and has a nice ruby red color with abundant aromas of dark and red plums, cherry and strawberry plus vanilla with a touch of smoky oak. On the palate these same flavors shine through with a supple elegant mouthfeel. The acids and tannins are nicely balance and deliver the flavors of plum strawberry, cherry, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, vanilla and cocoa. This leads to a very nice finish. The suggested price is only $21.

The 2008 Franciscan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon has a deep garnet color and great aromas of plum and blackberry with vanilla and baking spices. As you taste this wine you will love the flavors of blackberry, plum, and dark cherry with a touch of chocolate and various spices including cinnamon, clove and allspice. The flavors and tannins lead on to a long finish.

For more information: Franciscan Estate

2012 Vintners Hall of Fame Inductees

2011-11-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

The Culinary Institute of America announces the 2012 inductees to the Vintners Hall of Fame. The Vintners Hall of Fame celebrates the men and women whose collective vision, determination and hard work have been responsible for the growth and worldwide prestige of the California wine industry.

The Vintners Hall of Fame, housed at the Culinary Institute of America’s Graystone Campus in St. Helena was first established in 2007 and this year’s five inductees join the other 33 vintners whose bronze sculptures by artist Lawrence Newlan are displayed on the historic 2,200 gallon redwood wine barrels in the former Christian Brothers Barrel Room at the CIA. Each plaque includes a short biography of the inductee, mentioning their accomplishments and role in making California the leader in winemaking.

This year’s inductees are:

Joe Heitz earned his master’s degree in enology from UC Davis and honed his winemaking skills at a series of wineries around Fresno and Lodi. In 1951 Joe went to work for Beaulieu Vineyard under Andre’ Tchelistcheff and helped develop a control regime. He later moved to Fresno where he launched the Department of Enology at Fresno State College. IN 1961 Joe and Alice acquired their first vineyard south of St. Helena. Working from this small vineyard on 8 acres of land they established a reputation as innovative and brilliant winemakers. By 1964 the operation expanded with 160-acres in Spring Valley. Later they established a relationship with Tom and Martha May and in 1966 crafted the first Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, the first vineyard designate wine in Napa Valley. Joe set the tone for high-quality, premium priced Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley.

Peter Mondavi Sr. has received most of the awards possible in his long history in winemaking. He was named one of the twelve “living legends” in Napa Valley by the Napa Valley Vintners Association. After graduating from Stanford University in 1937 and further enology graduate studies at UC Berkeley, he was in the forefront of many enology practices that are now standards. Following his stint in the U.S. Army during World War II he returned to the Charles Krug Winery which the Mondavi family purchased in 1943, becoming president in 1966. AT the age of 96 he continues to contribute greatly to the industry.

Myron Nightingale began his career as a winemaker in 1944 and was later at Italian Swiss Colony, one of the largest wineries in California at the time. In 1953 he took over the historic Cresta Blanca Winery in Livermore where he developed a Semillon in the style of Sauternes, in which the botrytis cinerea was produced in the laboratory rather than the field. In 1971 he moved on to be the winemaker at Beringer Winery in Napa where he turned an old run-down winery into a large scale producer of world class wines, including his dessert Sauterne called appropriately, “Nightingale”.

John Parducci is revered in Mendocino where he has been making wine since he took over the family’s winery in 1940. He learned to make wine under his father and even traveled with him to the east coast during Prohibition to sell his family grapes to home winemakers. He has introduced many varietals that were previously unknown in California, including Nebbiolo, Flora and Colombard. He also introduced a non-oaked Chardonnay. He was also one of the first to bottle a varietal bearing the county’s name on the label. His passion for the industry continued, and in 1999, at the age of 81 he jumped back in the industry by purchasing Zellerbach Estates and making it over as McNabb Cellars.

Richard Sanford, an admirer of Burgundian wines got out of the Navy in the late 1960s with a passion to produce fine Pinot Noir. He determined that the place to grow this fine Pinot Noir was in Santa Barbara County to the west of Hwy 101 in the Santa Ynez Valley. He was the first to recognize the potential of the Santa Rita Hills and the first in Santa Barbara County to establish certified organic vineyards certified by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). After leaving Sanford Winery in 2005, he established Alma Rosa Winery nearby, focusing on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Albert Winkler was with the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis from 1921 to 1963, serving as the department chairman from 1933 to 1957. During this time his research in grapevine physiology and canopy management developed into standard practices in the best vineyards in the industry. His work also was important in the regional classification of California’s grape growing areas and recommended the varietals best suited for those regions. His classic textbook “General Viticulture”, first published in 1962 has been a key learning tool for thousands of winemakers.

Eugene Hilgard moved to the University of California Berkeley in 1874 from his post at the University of Michigan to head the College of Agriculture. He saw that California was a perfect site for winegrowing, yet the industry was struggling. He spent 25 years to lead California in establishing a unit at UC Davis devoted to viticulture and enology, the first in the nation and today, the leading viticulture and enology program in the nation.

The 2012 inductees will join the Hall of Fame at the 6th Annual Celebration of California Wine & Food at the Culinary Institute of America on Monday, February 20, 2011.

For more information: Culinary Institute of America Vintners Hall of Fame

Mandolin Wines - bringing together quality and value from Central Coast

2011-11-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

A mandolin is an instrument from the lute family that is noted for its brilliant tone and great carrying power. Mandolin wines reflect on their namesake as their fruit from the California Central Coast delivers full fruit flavors and great carrying power. Mandolin Vintners is a collaboration between winemaker Philip Zorn and wine executive Brent Shortridge. Philip Zorn, American-born and raised in Germany graduated from the highest rated enology school in Germany and has expanded his knowledge at several wineries in California, including Sunny St. Helena, Gauer Estate, Paraiso Springs and Tria. Shortridge began his winemaking career under legendary winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff at Buena Vista Winery. He eventually left the cellar to become vice president of marketing for Buena Vista.

At Mandolin Zorn and Shortridge concentrated on producing wines that displaced their terroir, sense of place, of Monterey County, including Santa Lucia Highlands, Arroyo Seco and Hames Valley. This region is strongly influenced by the Pacific Ocean with long hot days and cooling ocean breezes in the afternoon and fog in the morning.

The 2009 Mandolin Syrah starts with a dark ruby color and rich aromas of plum and dried cherry, leading you to a great flavor profile of a mixture of blackberry, blueberry, plum, currant and cherry, backed by multiple layers of spice and a rich vanilla quality. You will enjoy the touch of walnut and balsamic quality along with the white pepper. It is great acidity and tannins leading to a long finish. The suggested retail price is $10.

The 2009 Mandolin Cabernet Sauvignon won “Best in Class” at the 2009 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Aged for 14 months in French oak, this wine pops with rich flavors of cherries, blackberry, plum and currant. Spices include nutmeg and pepper plus a nice milk chocolate quality. The oak has done a great job of melting the tannins and fruits together into a nicely balanced wine, especially for the suggested retail price is $12.

For more information: Mandolin Vintners

Twomey Cellars Napa Valley single-vineyard Merlot

2011-11-15T21:18:00.000-08:00

Twomey Cellars Merlot represents some of the best Merlot in Napa Valley. Ray Twomey Duncan and his four sons of Silver Oak Cellars wanted to expand to other varietals besides the Cabernet Sauvignon made famous at Silver Oak. In 1999 they purchased Soda Canyon Ranch in southeastern Napa Valley with the intention of planting more Cabernet Sauvignon. But they discovered that the Merlot grapes already growing there were of top quality. Their winemaker, Daniel Baron, had developed a passion for Merlot in his years in the Bordeaux region of France working in wineries in Pomerol and St. Emilion. This opportunity with the Soda Canyon Ranch Merlot grapes would give Daniel the opportunity to produce Merlot of the same quality he experienced in France.

Using Ray’s middle name (his mother’s maiden name); the Duncans formed Twomey Cellars in 2003, moving to its current home in Calistoga. As Twomey Cellars grew, additional varietals were added including Pinot Noir from the West Pin Vineyard in Russian River Valley. They now have four Pinot Noirs from Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley and Santa Barbara County. The Pinot Noir program is located in their Healdsburg winery along West River Road and is run by winemaker Ben Cane who joined the team in 2007. He has a passion for Pinot Noir and he crafts his wines to express the different terroir of the various appellations.

Thus, just as Ray did with his Cabernet Sauvignon wineries in Alexander Valley and Napa Valley, Twomey Cellars has two different wineries that specialize in the varietals of their area. The Healdsburg winery specializes in Pinot Noir, while the Calistoga winery focuses on Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc.

The 2007 Napa Valley Merlot utilizes fruit exclusive from the Twomey Soda Canyon Ranch in southeastern Napa Valley. It is composed of 94% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. The rolling hills and volcanic soils of Soda Canyon Ranch are ideal for the French style Merlot clones, producing small intensely flavored berries. The wine has a dark ruby color and aromas of black cherry, blackberry, coffee and chocolate. This entices you to taste this delicious wine as you experience the velvety texture and explosion of fruit and floral with an obvious umami character, a savory flavor. The balance of fruit acidity and tannins leads on to a long exquisite finish, begging you to take another sip. This wine will be delicious for another 12+ years. Retail price is $50.

Be sure to visit Twomey Cellars wineries in Healdsburg or Calistoga, and the Silver Oak wineries in Geyserville and Oakville to sample some of the best wines produced in these appellations.
For more information:

2012 Vintners Hall of Fame Inductees

2011-11-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

The Vintners Hall of Fame, housed at the Culinary Institute of America’s Graystone Campus in St. Helena was first established in 2007 and this year’s five inductees join the other 33 vintners whose bronze sculptures by artist Lawrence Newlan are displayed on the historic 2,200 gallon redwood wine barrels in the former Christian Brothers Barrel Room at the CIA. Each plaque includes a short biography of the inductee, mentioning their accomplishments and role in making California the leader in winemaking.

This year’s inductees are:

Joe Heitz earned his master’s degree in enology from UC Davis and honed his winemaking skills at a series of wineries around Fresno and Lodi. In 1951 Joe went to work for Beaulieu Vineyard under Andre’ Tchelistcheff and helped develop a control regime. He later moved to Fresno where he launched the Department of Enology at Fresno State College. IN 1961 Joe and Alice acquired their first vineyard south of St. Helena. Working from this small vineyard on 8 acres of land they established a reputation as innovative and brilliant winemakers. By 1964 the operation expanded with 160-acres in Spring Valley. Later they established a relationship with Tom and Martha May and in 1966 crafted the first Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, the first vineyard designate wine in Napa Valley. Joe set the tone for high-quality, premium priced Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley.

Myron Nightingale began his career as a winemaker in 1944 and was later at Italian Swiss Colony, one of the largest wineries in California at the time. In 1953 he took over the historic Cresta Blanca Winery in Livermore where he developed a Semillon in the style of Sauternes, in which the botrytis cinerea was produced in the laboratory rather than the field. In 1971 he moved on to be the winemaker at Beringer Winery in Napa where he turned an old run-down winery into a large scale producer of world class wines, including his dessert Sauterne called appropriately, “Nightingale”.

John Parducci is revered in Mendocino where he has been making wine since he took over the family’s winery in 1940. He learned to make wine under his father and even traveled with him to the east coast during Prohibition to sell his family grapes to home winemakers. He has introduced many varietals that were previously unknown in California, including Nebbiolo, Flora and Colombard. He also introduced a non-oaked Chardonnay. He was also one of the first to bottle a varietal bearing the county’s name on the label. His passion for the industry continued, and in 1999, at the age of 81 he jumped back in the industry by purchasing Zellerbach Estates and making it over as McNabb Cellars.

Richard Sanford, an admirer of Burgundian wines got out of the Navy in the late 1960s with a passion to produce fine Pinot Noir. He determined that the place to grow this fine Pinot Noir was in Santa Barbara County to the west of Hwy 101 in the Santa Ynez Valley. He was the first to recognize the potential of the Santa Rita Hills and the first in Santa Barbara County to establish certified organic vineyards certified by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). After leaving Sanford Winery in 2005, he established Alma Rosa Winery nearby, focusing on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Albert Winkler was with the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis from 1921 to 1963, serving as the department chairman from 1933 to 1957. During this time his research in grapevine physiology and canopy management developed into standard practices in the best vineyards in the industry. His work also was important in the regional classification of California’s grape growing areas and recommended the varietals best suited for those regions. His classic textbook “General Viticulture”, first published in 1962 has been a key learning tool for thousands of winemakers.

Eugene Hilgard moved to the University of California Berkeley in 1874 from his post at the University of Michigan to head the College of Agriculture. He saw that California was a perfect site for winegrowing, yet the industry was struggling. He spent 25 years to lead California in establishing a unit at UC Davis devoted to viticulture and enology, the first in the nation and today, the leading viticulture and enology program in the nation.

The 2012 inductees will join the Hall of Fame at the 6th Annual Celebration of California Wine & Food at the Culinary Institute of America on Monday, February 20, 2011.

For more information: Culinary Institute of America Vintners Hall of Fame

Santa Cruz Mountains wineries visit the coast at Half Moon Bay on November 5

2011-10-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

Get away to Half Moon Bay, known for beautiful views, great food and fabulous wine. Live the good life by attending the Half Moon Bay Food & Wine Fare, Saturday, November 5, 2011 from noon to 4:00 p.m. at Oceano Hotel & Spa, Harbor Village Shops. Admission is free and the Santa Cruz Mountains wineries will be offering wine by the taste and bottle. Wine glass tickets are $5 and wine tickets are $1 each at the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association web site. A taste will be between 2-5 tickets. The event will feature wines from over 20 Santa Cruz Mountains Wineries and local Half Moon Bay restaurants will be cooking up some delicious food for sale from local restaurants.

As a special addition to this event, they will be pouring the Gold Medal Wines from the 2010 Santa Cruz Mountains Commercial Wine Competition. This is your chance to taste the best of the best!

A portion of the proceeds for this event will go to Coastside Children’s Programs (www.coastsidechildren.org). The Coastside Children’s Program is a child care and development center that provides quality educational activities through preschool and before/after school programs. There will be a children’s area set up at the Half Moon Bay Food & Wine Fare with games and fun so bring your children along!

Participating Wineries include:

Bargetto Winery
Beauregard Vineyards
Bruzzone Family Vineyards
Burrell School Vineyards
Cinnabar Winery
Dancing Creek Winery
Domenico Wines
Fernwood Cellars
Heart O’The Mountain
House Family Winery
Hunter Hill Vineyards & Winery
La Nebbia Winery
Martin Ranch Winery
Muccigrosso Vineyards
Naumann Vineyards
River Run Vintners
Roudon Smith Winery
Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard
Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards
Silver Mountain Vineyards
Skov Winery
Sones Cellars
Storrs Winery
Trout Gulch Vineyards
Villa del Monte Winery
Vine Hill Winery
Woodside Vineyards

For more information please visit www.scmwa.com or call 831-685-8463.

Ladies Lipstick Wine Tour: Girls Night Out! - November 5

2011-10-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

Six wineries in Livermore Valley are hosting a special Ladies Day Out in Wine Country on Saturday, November 5. Ladies, grab your girlfriends and a designated driver and come enjoy a fun day of wine tasting in Livermore Wine Country. Be pampered at every stop with girlie treats, like chocolate, cake, spa treatments, hair styling, jewelry, fashion accessories, makeup and lots more, including special wine discounts.

Visit at least four out of six wineries and be eligible to win an enormous special “Just for Girls” gift basket created by “Uptown Girls,” stuffed with amazing girly bling and delicious consumables, too! A $5 tasting fee applies at each winery. Participating wineries include Les Chenes, McGrail Vineyards, Nottingham Cellars, Occasio Winery, Retzlaff Winery and Rodrigue Molyneaux.

The first 75 ladies to visit Rodrigue Molyneaux receive roses from Fantasia Blooms and chocolate covered strawberries from Chef Tracy Flores at Castlewood, to go with a special flight of sweet wines. Relax with a by-the-minute foot, back or neck massage by Cheri, just $1/minute! Les Chenes has sassy edible works of art to taste and purchase– how about a cake purse? - from Sugar Mama Bakery, plus hair styling tips from a high end San Francisco salon. McGrail will feature Holiday Smoky Eye demos by makeup professional Sheri Balken, plus scarves and purses by CC Kelly. Nottingham Cellars offers delicious confections from Danville Chocolates and Stella and Dot Jewelry. Occasio Winery will be serving mini cupcakes from Dolce bakery, and featuring one-of-a-kind handcrafted jewelry by Holly Ellsworth Rose.
Don’t miss the “Kissing Booth” at Retzlaff, where you can have your official “Wine Babes” lipstick kiss tattoo tastefully applied by a handsome hunk! Learn how to shape brows with Nadine of La Di Da Beauty Lounge. Browse creative designs from Lynda Yonemoto of Silpada Jewelry. Indulge in Chocolate Mousse and fresh berries with Port!

See mcgrailvineyards.com for a map and details

Exclusive Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Tasting

2011-10-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Premier Cruz is the first exclusively Cabernet Sauvignon tasting of the Santa Cruz Mountains Wines. It takes place in the historic Opera House in downtown Los Gatos on November 13 from 5 – 8 p.m. The tickets are only $75 for a great selection of fine Cabs. Guests will have an opportunity to sample some of the finest examples from this cool climate appellation. Several rare older vintages will be offered and paired with food purveyors including Just Catering, The Picnic Guild and Fiscalini Cheese Company.

This year’s tasting will include library wines from many of our distinguished wineries. Two of the featured wines will be a 1978 from Ridge Vineyards and a 1984 from Mount Eden Vineyards.

Santa Cruz Mountains are world famous for their Cabernet Sauvignon. These lush mountains appear to have the perfect combination of altitude, soil and climate to produce rich, ripe Cabs without overpowering tannins. The soft, balanced wines deliver an abundance of floral and fruit, yet still have the structure to pair nicely with foods and long savory finishes.

Cabernet Sauvignon first gained importance in Bordeaux in the early 19th century and reached California some sixty years later. The earliest plantings of Cabernet in the Santa Cruz Mountains appear in the late 1870's when William Pfeffer developed his vineyard in the foothills above Cupertino. Pierre Klein purchased 160 acres on Monte Bello Ridge naming his winery Mira Valle. This property, called Jimsomare today, is part of the famous Ridge Monte Bello Vineyard. By 1889 there were over 100 planted acres of Bordeaux varieties in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Today, there are approximately 250 acres.

Recognition in the past included medals for Pierre Kleins' cabernets from the Paris and Brussels Expositions of 1889, and 1900 and praise from Frank Schoonmacher in the 1940's for Chaffee Hall at Felton and Martin Ray's cabernets made by the Rixford family at La Questa. And, of course, at the famous Judgment of Paris Tasting in 1976, Ridge Vineyards 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon went up against some of the best Cabs from Bordeaux Premier Cru vineyards in France and showed what California Cabs can do. Most recently the results of a 30 year repeat of the Paris Tasting focused international attention on the Santa Cruz Mountains cabernet.

Participating Wineries in the 2011 Premier Cruz include:

Black Ridge Vineyards
Burrell School Vineyards
Clos Tita Winery
Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards
Fernwood Cellars
House Family Winery
Hunter Hill Winery
Kathryn Kennedy Winery
La Rusticana d'Orsa
McCarthy Family Estate Vineyards
Mount Eden Vineyards
P M Staiger
Ridge Vineyards
Silver Mountain Vineyards
Testarossa Winery
Thomas Fogarty Winery
Woodside Vineyards

For more information: Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers

Lodi's First Sip Celebration - November 12-13

2011-10-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

Lodi Wine Country invites you to their annual First Sip celebration on November 12-13; 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This is your chance to be one of the first to sample the first wines of the 2011 vintage as well as other fine vintages.

Visitors can meet the local winemakers, tour the vineyards and take in the rural atmosphere of this wine region close to the San Francisco Bay Area. The winemakers have just finished bringing in the 2011 harvest and are anxious to share with the visitors. Many of the wineries are offering special activities including food and wine pairing, live music, blending seminars and tours of the vineyards. Tickets are only $35 in advance or $45 the day of the event. Tickets are good for both days of the event.

Over 40 wineries around Lodi area are participating in First Sip. You can check out what each winery is doing at the First Sip website or click on the winery name below for more information.

Abundance Vineyards – wine, food and music
Benson Ferry Winery (at Lodi Wine Cellars) - BBQ, live music, case specials
Berghold Winery – Sip wine while browsing American antiques and enjoying live music
Boitano Family Wines – Mom's cheese balles and wine plus music
Bokisch Vineyards (at CellarDoor) - Spanish tapas, 4-yr vertical tasting of Graciano, plus more
Borra Winery – "Glasses, Grapes and Wine!", Italian treats and holiday shopping
Cellardoor - tasting wines from Bokisch, Jessie's Grove, Van Ruiten Family and Michael-David Wineries
Clements Ridge – first wine release under CRV (Clements Ridge Vineyards) label
Cycles Gladiator Winery - new wines paired with tri-tip sliders and live music
d’Art Wines – barrel tasting and try their Rustic Tuscan soup
Dancing Fox Winery – barrel tasting, music, and wood-fired pizza
Fields Family Wines – barrel tasting, food and wine, bocce ball, musict and local artists
Harmony Wynelands – barrel tasting, music and food, winery tours
H-G Vineyards - music, food and wine pairing
Harney Lane Winery – barrel tasting, soup and holiday shopping
Heritage Oak Winery – wines and live music plus pizza from Rustic Pizza
Housley’s Century Oak Winery – barrel tasting, wine tasting, food and winemaker talk
Jeremy Wine Co. – barrel tasting of 2011 Old Vine Zin paired with caramel apple popps and gourmet popcorn bar
Jessie’s Grove Winery – Zoot suits and Big Band swing music and great wines, sample some soups and breads
Kidder Family Winery - Lodi's newest tasting rrom and winery, barrel tasting and Linda's warming soup
Klinker Brick Winery - barrel tastings, live music, tri-tip sandwiches
LangeTwins Winery – new vintages, Fiscalini cheese panini sandwiches
Lodi Wine Cellars – wines from Benson Ferry, Vicamont, McCay Cellars and Heritage Oak wineries
The Lucus Winery – great wines and have glass painter Ester Torrens personalize your glass
m2 Wines – Six different wine stations, port with chocolate, barrel tasting, live music
Macchia Wines – music, wine and appetizers
McCay Cellars (at Lodi Wine Cellars) - barrel tasting, wine and BBQ
McCormack Williamson Winery– Dancing Coyote wines, food and wine pairing
Michael-David Winery – barrel sampling, Guantonio’s wood fired pizzas
Mokelumne Glen Vineyards (at Clements Ridge) – German varietal wines, German sausage, fresh product, nuts
Omega Cellars - light finger food paired with various wines, custom wine barrel creations and demonstrations
Pasos Vineyards (at Vino Piazza) - aroma wheel to help evaluate wines, Latin jazz
Peirano Estate Vineyards – Taco Truck, case sales and great wine
Ripken Vineyards and Winery – new outdoor tasting room featured on DIY TV, live music, wines
Sorelle Winery– wine, live music, yummy turkey/cranberry sliders, Italian varietals
Spenker Winery – many wines, live music, Artisan craft faire just in time for Christmas
St. Jorge Winery – Portuguese food paired with wines, music and dancers, educational wine tours
Stama Winery (at Vino Piazza) – Greek style meatballs, music and aroma wheel
Toasted Toad Cellars - new tasting room in downtown Lodi, wines from all stages of winemaking process
Van Ruiten Family Winery – live music, samples of Shady Oaks olive oil, Fiscalini Cheese, Candies, and swing through a tasting of Zins, Cabs, Pinot and Chard
Vicarmont Vineyards and Winery – barrel tasting, wines, wood-fired pizza, entertainment
Watts Winery – winery tour, music, barrel tasting, food pairings, port with brownies!
Woodbridge Uncorked – wines and Woodbridge Pizza
Woodbridge Winery – wine, food, fun and wine related carnival games

For more information about Lodi Wine Country First Sip

For Halloween - try a taste of Poizin - the wine to die for!

2011-10-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

Poizin from Armida Winery in Dry Creek Valley is the wine to die for! This deep dark Zinfandel is a delicious wine with ripe ruby cherries, plums and a hint of herbs. Poizin has a velvety texture that envelopes your mouth with a richness you can expect from a fine Dry Creek Valley Zin. The 2009 Poizin has 88% Zinfandel and 12% Petite Sirah. Each bottle has a skull and crossbones symbol on the face in a blood red color and is the perfect wine for your Halloween meal with friends. The price is only $25.

The Reserve Poizin is the best of the best. Using the best and most delicious nine barrels of Zinfandel in their cellar, this wine delivers a great mixture of plum, Bing cherry, peppercorn and cranberry. You will admire the smoky aroma and the blend of mocha and blackberries with a bit of meatiness on the finish. The Reserve Poizin the bottle is hand-etched and painted with the blood red color. The bottle is dipped in a blood red wax and the color drips down the neck like dripping blood. Finally the exquisite bottle is sealed in its own wooden coffin. This beautiful, yet eerie package sells for $80.

For the white wine lovers, you should enjoy the Antidote in its 375 ml blue bottle. This dry Russian River Valley Pinot Grigio is fermented on extended lees to create a beautifully complex wine with a crisp, bright nose of cantaloupe and peach. The price is $19.

Armida Winery was founded by brothers Steve and Bruce Cousins in 1994 and they have progressively turned this Dry Creek Valley winery into a producer of artisan, single vineyard wines using grapes from the best winegrowers in Sonoma County. Their winemaker is Brandon Lapides who joined Armida Winery last year. They produce a great selection of Zinfandel, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir but their most famous wine is the Poizin and its companion, “Antidote”, a Pinot Grigio.

For more information:

Armida Winery

Silver Oak Cabernet - Life is a Cabernet

2011-09-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Silver Oak is the epitome of what Cabernet Sauvignon can be. And Silver Oak delivers two Cabernets, one from Alexander Valley in Sonoma County and the other from Napa Valley. When Raymond Duncan first visited Napa Valley in the late 1960s he was enthralled by the native beauty of the region and with the potential of the young wine industry. He began to purchase land in Alexander Valley and Napa Valley and hired renowned winemaker Justin Meyer to plant and manage the vineyards. Justin agreed, providing that he can also create a winery that will raise the standard of Cabernet in the region.

This vision has carried on over the decades for Silver Oak Winery. From the first vintage of Alexander Valley Cab to the expansion of the winery in Napa Valley, Silver Oak has focused on this vision of the potential of Cabernet Sauvignon in the region. The developed two wineries to achieve this vision , in 1981 they developed the Napa Valley Estate on the site of the old dairy farm in Oakville and in 1992 they purchased the beautiful Tudor-style estate in Geyserville that is home to the Alexander Valley Cabernet.

Over time additional vineyards were acquired, but the focus on the two separate wineries continued. As time passed, both the winemaker and the management changed, now with David Duncan serving as the winery president and Daniel Baron as winemaker, but the vision remains the same to produce the high quality cabs that are capable in the region. It is a symbol of the tradition of excellence and continuous improvement that was established by the founders many years ago.

The 2007 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a great fruit driven wine. Starting with the bright ruby color, you will lead on to the aromatic black plum, blackberry and spice aromas. Tasting the wine, you will enjoy the same rich, full dark fruit flavors with a full body and roundness to the wine, reminiscent of a cherry cobbler. The finish continues on forever, ramping up from a simple fruit forward quality to a complex rich high-end wine with a complexity of flavors.

The 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is produced with 81% Cabernet Sauvignon plus 11% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petite Verdot. These added varietals certainly add to the complexity of the wine that develops in the glass. This is a wine that you feel as much as you taste. The variety of dark fruit flavors and interesting spices build up in your mouth and continue on to a long finish. The wine is so balanced that you might have a hard time determining the specific dark fruits that include plum, raspberry, blackberry and cherry. But you will certainly know that you have experienced a wonderful wine tasting experience. This wine will continue to grow and perform for at least 15 years.

This is the wine to impress your friends around that special meal. You will savor the flavors that are brought out when paired with a great meal.

For more information:

Silver Oak Cellars

Project Paso - Quality for an everyday price

2011-09-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

Project Paso is the newest wine brand from one of the oldest winemaking families in California, Don Sabastiani and Sons. Don Sabastiani is a fourth generation California vintner with history back to 1895 when Samuele Sabastiani immigrated to Sonoma from Italy, opening his first winery in 1904.

Thirty years ago August Sabastiani worked with Paso Robles vintner Sam Balakian, using his grapes to add depth and complexity to their California appellation wine. The new brand, “Project Paso”, pays homage to that three decade partnership. “We are excited to launch Project Paso because we’ve wanted to showcase our long term relationship with Sam Balakian, a local Paso Robles winemaker, for quite a while, Paso Robles is also the hottest appellation in California right now,” said Donny Sabastiani, President of Don Sabastiani & Sons. “Project Paso is an aromatic and savory wine, at a reasonable price that has already shown strong appeal among consumers.”

Paso Robles red soils and coastal climate gives the wines an earthy complexity and elegant freshness. For whites you will detect minerality with fresh character. Red wines have bold flavors and moderate tannins.

The Project Paso 2009 Chardonnay delivers aromas and flavors of green apple, Meyer lemon and apricot with a touch of vanilla. The sur lie aging has given this wine a great full body and richness to it and combined with the acidity and fruit results in a nice wine for only $10.

The 2009 Red Wine Blend is produced with a variety of grapes including 37% Grenache, 16% Zinfandel, 14% Petite Sirah, 11% Mourvedre, 9% Barbera, 8% Lagrein, 3% Tempranillo and 2% Sangiovese from Paso Robles. All these grapes add a variety of aromas and flavors to the wine. From the Grenache you will enjoy the jammy red cherry flavors, from the Zinfandel, the spicy pepper comes into play, and the dark fruit from the Petite Sirah and Mourvedre, along with a certain earthiness, gives it some complexity. This is a very interesting wine for around $11. It recently was awarded a silver medal at the 2011 California State Fair.

Project Paso 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon demonstrates what is Paso is all about, with bright blackberry, blueberry, leather, earth and mushroom flavors. As you taste this wine you will enjoy the dark fruits of black cherry, plum, a touch of chocolate and even a cinnamon toast quality. It has a nice finish of cherry and cedar. This wine has a lot going for it for only around $11. This wine also won a Silver Medal at the 2011 California State Fair.

The 2009 Old Vine Zinfandel is a blend from three different vineyards in Paso Robles. The nose is rather intense with dark fruit, pepper and wildness. As you drink the wine you will savor these same dark fruit flavors and a certain amount of chocolate and cherry. It also has a nice finish and a price of only $10.

One thing you will notice about all the Project Paso wines is the Zork. Now what is a Zork? If is a closure that is more convenient than a cork but classier than a screw cap. It is easy to open yet protects the wine, delivering the aroma and tastes that the winemaker intended. It even has a bit of the romance of cork and can be reused to seal the bottle for the next day.

For more information:

Project Paso Wines

Steven Kent’s "Lineage" scores 95 Points & Three Puffs from Connoisseurs' Guide

2011-08-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

The Steven Kent Winery's debut release of Lineage - its ultimate Bordeaux - style red, continues to wow the critics. This time, the accolades are coming from Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine, one of the most reputable industry and consumer sources. In its August issue, CG gave the 2007 Lineage a whopping 95 Points and three coveted "Puffs." It called Lineage "deep and wonderfully expressive," saying "it ranks as the single best Livermore Valley wine in memory."

These comments echo earlier raves from two other respected publications, Wine Spectator Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. W.E. tabbed Lineage at an "Exceptional" 94 Points. And Spectator gave it an "Outstanding" 91 Points, calling Lineage "one of the best wines ever from Livermore Valley."

These impressive scores help to further cement Steven Kent Winery's reputation as one of California's "rising stars" for collectable Cabernet and "Bordeaux" varietals. Steven Kent Mirassou is especially proud of this inaugural Lineage effort: "our goal from Day One has been to showcase what the Livermore Valley region is capable of - Lineage is both a testament to the area's history and a strong statement of the future potential for world-class wines here."

The 2007 Lineage artfully combines Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Merlot from the Ghielmetti Vineyard and the winery's own estate blocks. Only 110 cases were produced; it retails for $125 a bottle. The 2007 release is fully subscribed at the winery but is available at select fine dining establishments. Collectors interested in the upcoming 2008 Lineage should immediately contact the winery, as only a few subscriber opportunities remain.

For more information: Steven Kent Winery

International Tempranillo Day – September 1

2011-08-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

TAPAS (Tempranillo Advocates Producers and Amigos Society) announces the first International Tempranillo Day, September 1, 2011: A celebration of the Tempranillo grape with all its regional synonyms. Tempranillo, indigenous to Spain and used in the great Rioja and Ribera del Duero wines, is planted in 500,000 acres of the world’s vineyards, making it the fourth most planted wine grape, and that would be enough to celebrate.

Until recently, this noble grape’s entire acreage was almost all grown in Spain. Perhaps others were confused by the 60 or more regional synonyms for Tempranillo, which in itself may be a record worth celebrating.

But things have changed: knowledge of this noble grape is rapidly spreading, creating excitement and a spirit of cooperation among adventurous vintners bringing this Old World variety to New World soils. Tempranillo today is grown in many more countries including the United States, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, France, Portugal, Turkey, Canada, China, Thailand, and more. And that’s why there is now International Tempranillo Day.

There are some great events coming up this week for the First Annual International Tempranillo Day on September 1. The festivities actually begin Wednesday night, August 31, with the following:

Lodi Progressive Dinner - Check out the menu - you don't want to miss this celebration with 7 different Tempranillos from the Lodi area, paired with 7 different small plates at local restaurants. Start at Cellar Door in Lodi, CA, and then walk to School St. Bistro, Rosewood, and Crush Kitchen to enjoy more food and wine. 5:15 pm, August 31.
Septempranillo in Paso Robles - A panel discussion and sit-down tasting of Tempranillo, with tapas, at Thomas Hill Organics Market Bistro and Wine Bar in Paso Robles, CA - 5:30-7:15 pm, September 1. Click the link - this menu looks pretty tasty, too!
TempFest in Winters, CA - A citywide celebration running from September 1 through Labor Day weekend, with events at local wineries, shops and restaurants.
Vertical Tasting at Abacela in Roseburg, OR - A vertical style tasting of library Tempranillos, including Abacela’s 1997 Estate Tempranillo, which is thought to be the first commercial bottling of 100% varietal Tempranillo produced in America in the modern era, starting at 1:00 pm on September 1.
Special Tasting of Tempranillo at Jarvis, Napa, CA - In the cave at Jarvis, by appointment only (1-800-255-5280 ext. 150), September 1.
Wine Tasting at Joe Monkey-Chimps Hangout Wine & Martini Bar, Roseburg, OR - C'mon down and try some fabulous Tempranillo wine! 500 SE Cass St., Roseburg, OR - (541) 679-5444, from 6-8 pm on September 1.

For more information visit: www.internationaltempranilloday.com

Blessing of the Grapes in Livermore Valley Heralds 30th Harvest Wine Celebration

2011-08-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

Today in Livermore Valley wine country, local clergy blessed the first grapes plucked from vines in the East Bay wine region that is home to nearly 50 wineries. The centuries-old ceremony practiced by many religions honored the vineyards, the grapes and the people who make the annual harvest a reality.

"This year’s spring was the coolest on record and the grapevines have been given a long growing season," said 5th generation winemaker Karl Wente of Wente Vineyards. "Some summertime rain presented a challenge and kept our farming team on their toes. This year’s crop is not a big as the last two years, however there is ample growth and the cool season should produce some great grapes."

The ceremony took place among the vines at the Valley's newest winery, Las Positas Vineyards on Wetmore Road. Many Livermore Valley winemakers and winery owners were present to celebrate the beginning of another fruitful harvest.

"My opinion is that we are looking at a very good harvest so far, but, if we don’t see a warming trend soon, we will be at risk of late season rains and the fruit will not be ready to pick," said winemaker Chris Graves of Ruby Hill Winery. "I think we are two to three weeks behind schedule, as far as average picking dates go. In general, I see many similarities to last year. I'm very excited about the quality of the vintage at this point--hopefully it stays that way!"

"We did not get the frost that Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Monterey and Napa received, so I see harvest finishing around Thanksgiving or so. Could be a great vintage if the weather cooperates here on out," added Concannon Vineyard Estate Manager Jim Ryan who also serves as president of the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association.

The blessing was the perfect prelude to the 30th Annual Livermore Valley Harvest Wine Celebration that will take place over Labor Day weekend. Known for its signature shuttle buses and festive atmosphere, the event is a tradition in the Bay Area. On Sunday, September 4 and Monday, September 5 between noon and 5 p.m., area wineries will offer Livermore Valley’s best wine, food, art and music to ticket holders. Bus transportation between wineries will be available on Sunday only, and wineries will offer special activities to festival guests on Monday.

Tickets for the Harvest Wine Celebration this weekend are available online at www.LVwine.org and at Bay Area Safeway stores.

For more information about the weekend festival, please visit www.LVwine.org.

Livermore Valley Wineries celebrate 30th annual Harvest Wine Celebration

2011-08-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Livermore Valley Harvest Wine Celebration marks the 30th year that people have gathered to celebrate the harvest of grapes in one of the oldest wine regions in California. Known for its signature bus service and festive atmosphere, the event is a Labor Day Weekend tradition in the East Bay. On Sunday, September 4 and Monday, September 5 between noon and 5 p.m., area wineries will offer Livermore Valley’s best wine, food, art and music to ticket holders. Bus transportation between wineries will be available on Sunday only, and wineries will offer special activities to festival guests on Monday.

Produced by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association (LVWA), the Harvest Wine Celebration highlights the local winery experience. Thirty-two participating wineries will be pouring at their tasting room locations across Livermore Valley, surrounded by lush vines, local artists, musicians and food vendors. Eleven more wineries will be pouring and hosting festivities at either Concannon Vineyard or Wente Vineyards on Tesla Road. Food at all winery locations will be locally prepared and moderately priced (under $8). Admission includes a commemorative Livermore Valley wine glass, tastings of at least two wine varietals from each participating winery, official event program and exclusive discounts on wine purchases.

On Sunday, September 4, celebration guests are invited to ride complimentary shuttle buses between winery locations. The buses will travel on three different routes, each serving six to eleven wineries. Free parking will be available at Robertson Park in Livermore, where guests can board buses and transfer between routes during the day. Bus stops may be as far as 300 feet from winery locations, so guests riding buses must be prepared to walk up driveways.

Monday, September 5 will feature a more intimate affair, as many wineries offer unique experiences to Harvest Wine Celebration guests. Examples of Monday-only special events include:

Big White House & John Evan Cellars: Aroma Bar and Sensory Education—discover the aromas of different wine varietals.
Cedar Mountain Winery: Judy’s Bees live beehive—view the queen bee and her workers. Local honey from Cedar Mountain Winery hives.
Chouinard Vineyards: Home winemaking and beer making equipment and demonstrations by Brewmaster of San Leandro.
Mitchell Katz Winery: Barrel tasting for a nominal fee
Concannon Vineyard: Historian Gary Drummond will share wine country history, secrets and regional facts.

Nova Starling, local artist and creator of the colorful painting featured on 2011 Harvest Wine Celebration posters, will display more of her artwork and greet festival guests at Concannon Vineyard on both days.

Tickets are available online at www.LVwine.org and www.EventBrite.com and at all participating Livermore Valley wineries, the Wine Steward in Pleasanton, First Street Wine Company in Livermore and Bay Area Safeway stores. Ticket “will call” arrangements vary by purchase method. Please visit www.LVwine.org for details.

The flexible ticket structure and pricing for 2011 includes:

Two-day (Sunday/Monday) ticket: $55 in advance, $65 at the event
Sunday-only ticket: $45 in advance, $50 at the event
Monday-only ticket: $40 in advance, $45 at the event
Designated Driver ticket: $10 (valid both days)

The Harvest Wine Celebration is a fundraiser for the LVWA. During the event, participating wineries are open only to ticket holders with event wristbands. No outside food is allowed and the event is not intended for children. For more information, please visit www.LVwine.org or call 925-447-WINE.

Wineries hosting Harvest Wine Celebration festivities at their tasting room locations:

Bent Creek Winery
Big White House
Bodegas Aguirre
Cedar Mountain Winery
Charles R Vineyards
Chouinard Vineyards (not on shuttle route)
Concannon Vineyard
Crooked Vine Winery
Cuda Ridge Wines
Darcie Kent Vineyards
Eagle Ridge Vineyard (not on shuttle route)
Eckert Estate Winery
Fenestra Winery
Garre' Vineyard & Winery
John Evan Cellars
La Rochelle Winery
Las Positas Vineyards
Longevity Wines
McGrail Vineyards and Winery
Mitchell Katz Winery
Nottingham Cellars
Occasio Winery
Retzlaff Estate Winery
Ruby Hill Winery
The Singing Winemaker
The Steven Kent Winery
Stony Ridge Winery
Tamas Estates
Thomas Coyne Winery (not on shuttle route)
Wente Vineyards Estate Winery
White Crane Winery
Wood Family Vineyards

Wineries pouring at Concannon Vineyard: 

Wineries pouring at Wente Vineyards on Tesla Road: 

For more information: Harvest Wine Celebration

New website on Women Winemakers

2011-08-19T05:56:00.000-07:00

A new website, http://womenwinemakers.com, has been launched, presenting a comprehensive directory of women winemakers and research data which answers, for the first time, the question of how many California wineries have women winemakers. The site is the creation of Dr. Lucia Albino Gilbert, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University, and her husband, John Gilbert, Ph.D., also a professor there. “Our searchable web-based resource introduces users to California’s talented women winemakers and their accomplishments,” said Dr. Lucia Gilbert, the lead investigator on this project. “We also provide the most comprehensive and accurate information currently available on women winemakers in California, the wineries where they craft their wine, and the evolution of their careers.”

The non-profit undertaking is educational in its focus and dynamic, in that it will be continually updated. “I am delighted about the launch of the Women Winemakers Website,” said Zelma Long, one of America’s best-known winemakers and partner for the Vilafonté project in South Africa. “It will highlight the contributions of the many women making wine; provide accurate, scholarly information about their participation in the industry; and, I hope, increase their networks and help them focus on their career paths in wine.” Sabrine Rodems, Winemaker, Wrath Wines spoke to the enhanced visibility the website brings: “Being down in Monterey where the wineries are so spread out, it is nice to have a resource where I can go to find other winemakers for advice and support; for the public, it is nice for others writing or reading about wine to see and search all the women out there making wine—it gives us a place to stand out.”

Creating the databaseDeveloping the comprehensive list of women winemakers in California was a challenging task. It was accomplished by using the index of more than 3,200 wineries supplied in the Wines & Vines Directory, visiting the websites of the wineries, talking to personnel in tasting rooms throughout the state, referring to books featuring wineries and winemakers, and talking to faculty members at the universities that have programs in oenology and viticulture. “I believe that it is the most complete list of California women winemakers in existence,” claimed Gilbert.

The study indicates the glass ceiling has not yet been shattered—only 9.8 percent of California wineries have a woman winemaker as its lead or primary winemakerAn academic psychologist, Gilbert has long studied women’s career paths, especially in the context of dual-career families and work and family life. She has also studied women’s careers in male-dominated fields. A key purpose of developing the database was to test the hypothesis that women constitute 15–20 percent of the winemakers, a widely purported percentage, even though no comprehensive list of women winemakers was available to support the assumption. The results of her study indicate that the percentage of women overall is below this range, although women in the more prominent wine regions of Napa and Sonoma appear to be making greater progress in this regard. “Using our research, we coded whether a winery’s main winemaker was a female, male, or a female-male co-winemaking team. We were able to obtain sufficient information to code the sex of the winemaker for 97 percent of the more than 3,200 wineries, omitting co-winemaking teams. A winery’s wine region was also coded,” explained Gilbert.

“The theoretical underpinnings of the study were derived from gender theory,” she continued. “We hypothesized that the visibility and cult status of a few highly acclaimed women winemakers have resulted in the perception that there are far more wineries with women winemakers than there actually are.” The study results, published on the website, found that 9.8 percent of California wineries have a woman winemaker, differing significantly from the lower end of the widely held estimate. The percentage of wineries with women winemakers for the various regions ranged from 4.7 percent to 12.4 percent, with Sonoma/Marin and Napa having the highest percentages of 12.4 and 12.2 percent, respectively.

Women Winemakers Website assists women in their winemaking careersIn the 1970s, few female students were enrolled in California university programs for winemaking. By the 1990s, that number had increased to approximately half, and continues at that level today. “Although women are making inroads in careers as winemakers, our research shows there is still a need to encourage women to enter the field and to provide the mentoring and support needed to facilitate career success,” said Gilbert. She is currently developing a taxonomy, for the website, of the career pathways of 75 women winemakers across the state and is also planning to write a book that describes the various pathways, with specific illustrations of individual women.

“Lucia Gilbert’s ambitious project has turned into an exciting website that offers so much information,” said MaryAnn Graf, California’s first woman winemaker and former co-owner of Vinquiry. Dr. Hildegarde Heymann, Professor/Enologist in the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology, concurred: “It is a great idea to have the information accessible,” she said. “Through the site, I plan to reconnect with many women with whom I have lost contact.” Graf sees the site as being useful to both men and women. “The chance to have an up-to-date list of women winemakers, their philosophies, where they worked, and how to contact them is priceless,” she said. “Women wine professionals of the future will be able to read a history and be encouraged by these winemakers’ paths. We all follow different paths.”

For more information: www.womenwinemakers.com

Grand Opening of the new Las Positas Vineyards and Winery in Livermore Valley

2011-08-08T22:16:00.000-07:00

Las Positas Vineyards and the Maier Family invite wine lovers to join with them at the Grand Opening of their new winery and tasting room in Livermore on Sunday August 14, 2011. The address of the winery is 1828 Wetmore Road, located near the junction of Wetmore and Arroyo Roads. Festivities will begin at 12 Noon and continue until 5PM include:

Live Music provided by the Jesse Hendricks Trio
Appetizers will be offered
Special Grand Opening Discounts on Current Releases

The Maiers were raised in the bay area and were high school sweethearts. Lothar went on to be the CEO of Linear Technology, a Fortune 500 company, and Lisa was an accomplished CPA. Las Positas Vineyards began when Lothar and Lisa Maier purchased a 20 acre vineyard on Kalthoff Common in the southern end of Livermore Valley in 2006 andplanted small blocks of Petite Sirah, Chardonnay, Barbera, Tempranillo, Petite Verdot, Malbec and several clones of Cabernet Sauvignon.

This investment demanded a name that will depict the quality of the wine it will produce. Research brought up the name Rancho Las Positas, the original 40,000 acre property founded by Robert Livermore when he moved to this valley. The name depicted the marriage of the old world craftsmanship of winemaking and the new world pioneer spirit chronicled in the history of Livermore Valley.

Las Positas opened their first tasting room at 682 Pinnacle Road just off Greenville Road north of Lawrence Livermore Labs as they prepared to build a new winery estate on Kalthoff Common. But then the opportunity arose to purchase the winery facility on Wetmore Road. Along with the new wine production facility and tasting room, the property also has approximately 20 acres of vineyards planted inCabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Petite Sirah, Syrah and Nebbiolo. The new Wetmore Road vineyard compliments the originalKalthoff vineyard. This same land was the same land that Charles Wetmore grew wine that won the 1889 Grand Prize at the Paris Exposition, the first California winery to win such an award, almost 100 years before the Judgment of Paris featured in the movie “Bottleshock”.

This year, Las Positas Vineyards wines have been honored with three medals of distinction for quality at prestigious annual events including a GOLD Medal from the California State Fair for the 2008 Barbera.

The Grand Opening is also an opportunity to meet the new Las Positas winemaker, Charlie Kidd. Charlie grew up in Chico and graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. After four years with wineries in San Luis Obispo County, he moved to Texas where he worked for two other wineries in the last five years. He is certainly happy to be able to return to California and join the Las Positas team.

Las Positas Vineyards is a vineyard and winery dedicated to the marriage of Old World craftsmanship and New World pioneer spirit in the production of world class wine from our estate in California’s Livermore Valley. We offer small lots of handcrafted wines that epitomize our commitment to the earth and her fruit. We promise our consumers and business partners to be true to the ideal of “good wine starts with good vines and soil.”

For more information: Las Positas Vineyards

Very successful Petite Sirah Weekend in Livermore Valley

2011-08-01T04:53:00.000-07:00

The first annual Petite Sirah Weekend, July 30-31, proved to be a great success in Livermore Valley. All of Livermore Valley came together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first bottling of Petite Sirah as a single varietal by Concannon Vineyard. Each winery offered Petite Sirah discounts all weekend.

The day started off with the sold-out Niles Canyon Railway “Petite Sirah on the Rails: A Historic Train Journey Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Petite Sirah” excursion along Niles Canyon. Over 125 passengers enjoyed a leisurely journey along beautiful Niles Canyon. Boarding in Niles, the restored historic train traveled along the same route as the original transcontinental railroad while passengers enjoyed Petite Sirah wines from some of the best wineries in Livermore Valley. Passengers enjoyed listening to John Concannon, fourth generation winemaker from Concannon Vineyards, as he told about the 2007 Captain Joe’s Petite Sirah. Mark Clarin of McGrail Vineyards and Winery covered what was involved in the production of the McGrail 2009 Petite Sirah, while Collin Cranor, the young winemaker from Nottingham Cellars explained what he does to make their award-winning wine. In addition the passengers enjoyed Charles R Winery 2008 Petite Sirah and finished up the travel with the Bent Creek Vineyards 2007 Petite Sirah Port. Each wine was specifically paired with a delicious appetizer.

A Proclamation by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors declared the weekend of July 30-31 as the Official Weekend of Petite Sirah on the Rails in Livermore Valley, honoring the Father of America's First Petite Sirah, Jim Concannon for his contributions to California and the industry and celebrating the true heritage grape of Livermore throughout the Valley. The Proclamation was signed by Supervisor Scott Haggerty and Supervisor Nadia Lockyer.

Later in the evening at McGrail Vineyards over 175 Petite Sirah lovers gathered for the sold-out dinner “A Celebration of Livermore’s Shining Star: Petite Sirah”. The evening started with 15 wineries provided an array of Petite Sirah from Bent Creek, Concannon, Charles R, Eagle Ridge, Fenestra, Garre, Little Valley, McGrail, Mitchell Katz, Nottingham Cellars, Occasio, Page Mill, Ruby Hill, Thomas Coyne and Wente. While the guests were enjoying the Petite Sirah, they listened to music, visited with friends and checked out the exciting items in the silent auction. Jim Concannon delighted the diners with his story of Petite Sirah and later grower Julio Covarrubias provided the view from the vineyard. Guests had a great time through the evening learning more about the great Petite Sirah, the wine of Livermore Valley, and left for home with a bounty of wine baskets, magnums and other items from the Silent Auction.

Guest enjoyed both events and are looking forward to next year.

Petite Sirah Celebration Weekend - July 30

2011-07-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the first bottling of Petite Sirah as a varietal, Livermore Valley will be celebrating the weekend of July 30-31.

The Niles Canyon Railway is hosting the “Petite Sirah on the Rails” on Saturday, July 30, 2011. The two-hour train ride leaves Niles at 3:30pm sharp; tickets are $45/person (21 and over, please).
Niles Canyon Railway began before the transcontinental railroad. By 1869, with the completion of the transcontinental railway, the route through Niles Canyon linked San Francisco Bay to the rest of the country.

On July 30, guests will board a restored vintage train and sample five special Petite Sirahs from some of the best winemakers in the Valley including Concannon Vineyard,Nottingham Cellars,McGrail Vineyards,Charles R Vineyards and Bent Creek Winery. Each wine will be paired with a delicious hors d’oeuvre or cheese as wine educator Steve Ferree shares the history of Livermore Valley wines, especially Petite Sirah. Fourth generation vintner John Concannon, Concannon Vineyard, Collin Cranor of Nottingham Cellars, and Mark Clarin of McGrail Vineyards will give further insight into the popularity of Petite Sirah in today’s wine landscape. Ticket price is $45 and boarding starts at 3:00 p.m. at the Niles Station in Fremont.

Following the rail excursion, McGrail Vineyards is hosting “A Celebration of Livermore’s Shining Star: Petite Sirah” from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. at McGrail Vineyards, 5600 Greenville Road in Livermore. This celebratory Petite Sirah Winetasting and Dinner featuring Livermore Petite Sirahs, honors the 50th anniversary of the bottling of Petite Sirah as a varietal, along with a special appearance by honored guest, Jim Concannon. Guests will be invited to sample past and present vintages of Petite Sirah while enjoying paired appetizers, live music, buffet and panoply of Petite Sirah. There will be an auction of unique Petite Sirah-based centerpieces created by the participating wineries, which include Bent Creek, Concannon, Charles R, Eagle Ridge, Fenestra, Garre, Little Valley, McGrail, Mitchell Katz, Nottingham Cellars, Occasio, Page Mill, Ruby Hill, Thomas Coyne and Wente. The winetasting is from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. followed by the buffet dinner and desserts 7:30 to 10:00 p.m. Ticket price is $75 per person and proceeds will be donated to the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association.

In addition to these two events, Livermore Valley wineries are offering discounts on Petite Sirah at their tasting rooms this weekend.

Come out and celebrate Livermore Valley Petite Sirah this weekend.

For more information:

Livermore Valley Taste of Terroir, exciting food and wine

2011-07-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

The Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association held their sold-out Taste of Terroir on Thursday, July 21. The 500+ visitors enjoyed the 23 Livermore wineries 16 Tri-Valley restaurants for a great wine and food pairing event.

The judges for Taste of Terroir this year were:

Courtney Cochran,Certified sommelier, entrepreneur and author of Your Personal Sommelier® in San Francisco),
Sara Schneider, Wine Editor at Sunset Magazine
Laura Ness, Wine Writer Independent Magazine

Award winners for the evening were:

Most Innovative Pairing:
Team: Cedar Mountain Winery and Porter’s Restaurant at Poppy Ridge Golf Course
Pairing: Cedar Mountain 2007 Zinfandel from Hansen Vineyard in Livermore Valley paired with local lamb meatballs on a black bean Sopapillas with Jalapeño Jelly.
Judge Laura Ness says, “Sweet and heat works like magic!”

Best Classic Pairing:
Team: Concannon Vineyard and Market Café & Bar at Marriott Pleasanton
Pairing: Concannon 2007 Reserve Petite Sirah from Livermore Valley paired with braised short rib bruschetta.
Judge Sara Schneider says, “Food simply punched up the aromatics and flavor of the wine”

Judges’ Best Pairing:
Team: Nottingham Cellars and Wild Vine Hideaway Bistro & Lounge
Pairing: Nottingham 2009 Malbec from Livermore Valley paired with a seasoned lamb skewers drizzled with a zesty Malbec sauce.
Judge Courtney Cochran says, “This is a casual pairing, not highfalutin, but very balanced and harmonious working together.”

People’s Choice (selected by the visitors):
Team: Ruby Hill Winery & Casa Real at Ruby Hill
Pairing: Ruby Hill 2008 Intesa Blend (58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Barbera) from Livermore Valley paired with braised goat with hints of cloves, coriander and vanilla on creamy goat cheese polenta with fresh cherry and micro-arugula garnish.

There were other great pairings at this event, showing the skills of the chefs and the winemakers.

Thomas Coyne Winery served their new 2010 GRUV (White Grenache, Roussanne, Ugi-blanc, Viognier) with a crab cake with Sri-Racha Sauce from

Star Anise Restaurant. The great acidity of the wine cut through the fat of the food and brought out a lot of flavor in the wine.

Occasio Winery brought their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and paired it with a lamb tenderloin with sweet potato prepared by Campo di Bocce. This lamb combined with the sweet potato really brought out the flavors of the wine quite nicely.

Rodgrigue Molyneaux Winery provided their 2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and paired it with a San Joaquin Valley Muscovy duck pate infused with local pistachios, chives and dill on toasted crostini with estate olive oil and fig coulis from Castlewood Country Club. The wine was great and the food delicious and together they made the wine pop in flavors.

Funds raised at this event benefit the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association.

For more info: Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association

Santa Cruz Mountains bring home the Gold from 2011 California State Fair

2011-07-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

The 2011 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition is the oldest and most prestigious wine competition in North America. The competition is open to all California bonded wineries selling retail and each year thousands of California wines are entered, seeking a chance to win one of the many coveted awards from the State Fair’s panel of expert wine judges.

This competition has been judging wines in California for over 150 years, recognizing the best wines in the state. The judges are selected from a wide range of backgrounds, including wine educators, wine makers, wine journalists, retailers and wholesalers, wine collectors and restaurateurs.

This year’s 2011 competition found many Santa Cruz Mountains winemakers bringing home awards including some that are Best of Class for the region.

Bargetto Winery

2006 La Vita Santa Cruz Mountains, Regan Vineyard – Double Gold – 98 points, plus Best of California and Best of Class for Greater Bay Area for Italian red wine
2008 Merlot, Regan and Peter Vineyard – Silver – 88 points
2008 Syrah, Nelson Vineyard – Bronze – 86 points

Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards

2007 Cabernet Franc , Santa Cruz Mountains Francville Vineyard – Silver – 91 points plus Best of Class for Greater Bay area
2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains – Silver – 89 points
2007 Syrah, Santa Cruz Mountains, Findley Vineyard – Bronze – 86 points

Kathryn Kennedy Winery

Non-Vintage Brut Sparkling, Santa Cruz Mountains – Silver – 89 points plus Best of Class for Greater Bay area
2001 Cuvee Twenty-Seven Sparkling, Santa Cruz Mountains – Bronze – 87 points
Plus the Kathryn Kennedy 2010 Sauvignon Blanc from California brought home Silver

Kings Mountain Vineyards

2008 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains, Kings Mountain Vineyard, - Double Gold – 98 points, plus Best of Microwinery for Red Wines

Loma Prieta Winery

2009 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains Saveria Vineyard – Bronze – 86 points
Plus the 2009 Pinotage from Lodi got a Gold medal and was Best of Class for Lodi Appellation

Martin Ranch Winery

2007 J.D. Hurley Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains – Silver – 88 points
2007 Therese Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains – Silver – 88 points
Plus the J.D. Hurley 2008 Merlot from Santa Clara Valley won Double Gold and Best of Class for Greater Bay area and the 2007 Therese Vineyards Sangiovese from Santa Clara Valley took home a Bronze

Sonnet Wine Cellars

2008 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains Muns Vineyard – Silver – 90 points
Plus the 2008 Pinot Noir from Tondre’s Grapefield in Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County got Double Gold and Best of Class for North-Central Coast region

Storrs Winery

2007 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains Wildcat Ridge – Gold – 94 points, plus Best of Class for Greater Bay area
2009 Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains – Silver – 90 points
2008 Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains Christie Vineyard – Silver – 89 points

Thomas Fogerty Winery

2008 Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains – Bronze – 86 points
Plus they took home bronze awards for the 2009 Riesling and 2007 Red Wine from Monterey County

Villa del Monte Winery

2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Villa Festa, Santa Cruz Mountains – Silver – 89 points
2009 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains, Regan Vineyards – Bronze – 86 points

Woodside Vineyards

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains – Silver – 88 pints

Sones Cellars

2009 Cancion del Mar White Blend California appellation got Gold medal and Best of Class California appellation and the 2008 Petite Sirah from Central Coast got a Silver

On July 29, the California State Fair hosts the “Taste & Celebrate the Best Wines” event, featuring these award winning wines and more from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Golden Stage. This Special Event costs $25 above the cost of Fair Admission.

For more information:

California State Fair

Livermore Valley wineries bring home the awards from the California State Fair

2011-07-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

The 2011 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition is the oldest and most prestigious wine competition in North America. The competition is open to all California bonded wineries selling retail and each year thousands of California wines are entered, seeking a chance to win one of the many coveted awards from the State Fair’s panel of expert wine judges.

This competition has been judging wines in California for over 150 years, recognizing the best wines in the state. The judges are selected from a wide range of backgrounds, including wine educators, wine makers, wine journalists, retailers and wholesalers, wine collectors and restaurateurs.

This year’s 2011 competition found many Livermore Valley winemakers bringing home awards including some that are Best of Class for the region.

Bent Creek Winery

2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley – Gold – 94 points
2008 Cabernet Franc, Livermore Valley – Silver – 88 points
2008 Petite Sirah, Livermore Valley – Bronze – 87 points
2008 Zinfandel, Livermore Valley– Bronze – 87 points
Plus their 2007 Port from Amador County got a Silver medal

Concannon Vineyards

2009 Chardonnay, Conservancy, Livermore Valley – Silver – 88 points
2009 Chardonnay, Livermore Valley – Bronze – 87 points
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley – Silver – 91 points
2008 Merlot, Livermore Valley, Conservancy, Livermore Valley – Silver – 90 points
2008 Merlot, Livermore Valley – Silver – 88 points
2007 Petite Sirah, Livermore Valley – Silver – 88 points
2008 Petite Sirah, Nina’s Cuvee, Livermore Valley – Bronze – 87 points
2008 Petite Sirah, Livermore Valley – Bronze – 86 points
Plus several wines from outside Livermore Valley brought home awards including the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc from Monterey that got Gold medal and was Best of Class for North-Central Coast Appellations.

Crooked Vine Winery

2008 Petite Verdot, Livermore Valley Del Arroyo Vineyard – Silver – 90 points plus Best of Class Greater Bay Appellation
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley – Silver – 88 points
2008 Petite Sirah, Livermore Valley – Bronze – 87 points
2008 Moxie (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot), Livermore Valley – Bronze – 87 points
2008 Syrah, Livermore Valley Del Arroyo Vineyard – Bronze – 87 points
2009 Viognier, Livermore Valley Del Arroyo Vineyard – Bronze – 86 points
2009 Chardonnay/Viognier, Livermore Valley – Bronze – 86 points

Darcie Kent Vineyards

2009 Chardonnay, Livermore Valley De Mayo Vineyard – Gold – 94 points plus Best of Region Greater Bay Appellation and Best of Class
2008 Merlot, Livermore Valley Crown Block – Silver – 90 points
2008 Zinfandel, Livermore Valley De Mayo – Silver – 88 points
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley Madden Ranch – Silver – 88 points
2008 Merlot, Livermore Valley Picazo – Bronze – 86 points
2008 Petite Sirah, Livermore Valley Madden Ranch – Bronze – 86 points
Plus Darcie Kent won a Gold for their 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from Monterey County, and Bronze for the 2009 Gruner Veltliner and 2009 Chardonnay from Monterey County

Eagle Ridge Vineyard

2010 Pinot Grigio, Livermore Valley – Silver – 90 points plus Best of Class Greater Bay Appellation
2005 Port, Mad Lyn, Livermore Valley Carter Vineyard – Bronze – 86 points

Fenestra Winery

2008 Malbec, Livermore Valley Ghielmetti Vineyard – Silver – 93 points plus Best of Class Greater Bay Appellation
2006 Conjugation (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec), Livermore Valley – Silver – 93 points
2007 Syrah, Estate Livermore Valley – Silver – 88 points
2009 Semonnay (Chardonnay and Semillon), Livermore Valley – Silver – 88 points plus Best of Class Greater Bay Appellation
2008 Zinfandel, Livermore Valley – Bronze – 878 points
2008 Petite Sirah, Livermore Valley Ghielmetti Vineyard – Bronze – 87 points
2010 Dry Rose, Livermore Valley – Bronze – 87 points
2007 Merlot, Livermore Valley Thatcher Bay – Bronze – 87 points
Plus Fenestra took home a Bronze medal for their True Red table wine from California and 2010 Torrontes from Lodi

Las Positas Vineyards

2008 Barbera, Livermore Valley – Gold – 94 points
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley Casa de Vinas Covarrubias – Bronze – 87 points

Murrietta's Well

2008 The Spur (Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, Merlot), Livermore Valley - Gold - 94 points, plus Best of California for Bordeaux Red Varietal Blend, Best of Region Greater Bay Appellation Red

Occasio Winery

2010 Angelica – Bronze – 87 points

Stony Ridge Winery

2008 Petite Sirah, Livermore Valley Del Arroyo – Silver – 90 points
2008 Trifecta (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah), Livermore Valley – Bronze – 87 points
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley – Bronze – 87 points
2009 Chardonnay, Livermore Valley Del Arroyo – Bronze – 86 points
2008 Syrah, Livermore Valley – Bronze – 86 points

Tamas Estates

Awarded Silver medals for their Central Coast wines
2009 Pinot Grigio (plus Best of Class North-Central Coast Appellation
2008 Double Decker Red (Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and Barbera).

Wente Vineyards

Awarded several medals for their wines made with fruit sourced outside of Livermore Valley
2009 Chardonnay Riva Ranch, Arroyo Seco – Gold – 95 points
2008 Pinot Noir, Arroyo Seco, Monterey – Silver – 90 points
2010 Sauvignon Blanc, Louis Mel, San Francisco Bay – Silver – 89 points plus Best of Class Greater Bay Appellation
2008 Merlot, Sandstone, San Francisco Bay – Bronze – 86 points

California State Fair

Livermore Valley Wine Tasting Special aboard the Niles Canyon Railway in August

2011-07-20T05:43:00.000-07:00

The Niles Canyon Railway 2011 Livermore Valley Wine tasting Special gets rolling this year for four Saturdays this year August 6, 13, 20, and 27. This exciting wine tasting event will focus specifically on Livermore Valley wines. As one of the Golden State's oldest wine regions, Livermore Valley played a pivotal role in shaping California's wine industry.

Spanish missionaries planted the first wine grapes in the Livermore Valley in the 1760s. In the 1840s, California pioneers looking for outstanding vineyard sites began planting grapes in the region. Robert Livermore planted the first commercial vines in the 1840s. Pioneer winemakers C. H. Wente, James Concannon, and Charles Wetmore recognized the area's winegrowing potential and founded their wineries in the early 1880s.

On the Wine tasting Special you will learn more about the Livermore Valley wine region and the history and style of many great wineries of Livermore Valley. At the same time you will also learn about the history of the rail line traveling along the original route of the transcontinental railway where trains first rolled through Niles Canyon in 1866.

Wine Educator Steve Ferree will walk you through tasting a flight of five Livermore wines. Each wine will be paired with cheese or chocolate selected especially for that wine. Each weekend will showcase a different flight of wines and different Livermore Valley winemakers. Thus over the four Sundays, 20 Livermore Valley wines will be served. The actual wines for each train will be announced later. You will enjoy an afternoon of fine wine while gently cruising through Niles Canyon, riding on history.

The Wine Tasting Special departs the Niles depot of the Niles Canyon Railway promptly at 3:30 p.m. each of the four Sundays. The price is $37.50 per person and you must be 21 to ride the train. Non-alcoholic beverages will be served for those not wishing to join in the wine tasting. You can make reservations at www.ncry.org and information is available at 510-910-7024. Proceeds support the Niles Canyon Railway preservation activities.

For more info:

Livermore Valley Taste of Terroir July 21

2011-07-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

Join Livermore Valley Winemakers and Bay Area Chefs at "Taste of Terroir" for a delectable evening of wine and food pairings showcasing the Valley's bountiful "Terroir" (French word for soil and is pronounced "ter-wah") on Thursday, July 21 from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Each winemaker and chef team has worked hard to create innovate wine and food pairings for guests to enjoy. Guests can cast their vote for People's Choice Award as they taste all of the creative pairings. In a blind tasting, our Culinary and Media Judges for the evening will present awards for Most Innovative Pairing, Judges' Best, and Best Classic Pairing. Guests can also enjoy live music on the patio and bid on silent auction lots.

The Culinary and Media Judges for the event are:

Laura Ness– Wine writer Independent Magazine
Courtney Cochran– Certified Sommelier, author and wine consultant from “Your Personal Sommelier” in San Francisco
Sara Schneider– Wine Editor for Sunset Magazine.

The following Livermore Valley wineries who are participating this year will showcase the best this unique wine region has to offer, paired with several local area restaurants. This is sure to be the best food and wine pairing event of the season.

2011 Participating Wineries:

2011 Participating Restaurants:

The Taste of Terroir will take place at the Palm Event Center at 1184 Vineyard Avenue, Pleasanton, CA. Tickets are on sale now at the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association website.

For more info:

Petite Sirah on the Rails celebrating 50 years of Petite Sirah in Livermore Valley

2011-07-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Livermore Valley is one of the most historic wine regions in the state and was the birthplace fifty years ago of the popular varietal, Petite Sirah. Livermore Valley wine history will blend with Niles Canyon Railway history to celebrate “Petite Sirah on the Rails” on Saturday, July 30, 2011. The two-hour train ride leaves Niles at 3:30pm sharp; tickets are $45/person (21 and over, please).

Niles Canyon Railway began before the transcontinental railroad. By 1869, with the completion of the transcontinental railway, the route through Niles Canyon linked San Francisco Bay to the rest of the country. On July 30, guests will board a restored vintage train and sample five special Petite Sirahs from some of the best winemakers in the Valley including Concannon Vineyard, Nottingham Cellars, McGrail Vineyards, Charles R Vineyards and Bent Creek Winery. Each wine will be paired with a delicious hors d’oeuvre or cheese as wine educator Steve Ferree shares the history of Livermore Valley wines, especially Petite Sirah. Fourth generation vintner John Concannon, Concannon Vineyard, Collin Cranor of Nottingham Cellars, and Mark Clarin of McGrail Vineyards will give further insight into the popularity of Petite Sirah in today’s wine landscape.

July 30-31 will be “Petite Sirah weekend” throughout Livermore Valley. Following the “Petite Sirah on the Rails” train excursion on Saturday, the public is invited to “A Celebration of Livermore’s Shining Star: Petite Sirah!” buffet dinner at McGrail Vineyards (separate ticket). More local winemakers will be joining us at McGrail to show off the many Petite Sirahs and other wines available in Livermore Valley. In addition, several Livermore Valley wineries will feature specials on their Petite Sirah that weekend.

Tickets for the “Petite Sirah on the Rails” are available at LocalWineEvents.com. For information about “An Celebration of Livermore’s Shining Star: Petite Sirah,” go to www.mcgrailvineyards.com/events.html.

For more information:

Nottingham Cellars - award-winning wines in Livermore

2011-07-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

While they are relative new to Livermore Valley, Nottingham Cellars has made the wine industry sit up and take notice. This year Nottingham Cellars entered six wines in the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and took home awards for each wine, 6 for 6. This was followed up with 8 awards for 8 wines at the 2011 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, 4 for 4 at the San Francisco International Wine Competition and 7 awards for 9 wines at the Best of the Bay awards! Winemaker Collin Cranor, at 25 years of age has 26 wine awards!

As an “urban” winery, you will not see large vineyards surrounding an expansive tasting room at Nottingham Cellars. Instead the winemaker concentrates on producing wine from grapes from grower partners in the valley. Collin selects the grapes that most closely resemble his style from a selection of the best sites around Livermore Valley. Currently Collin is sourcing grapes from fourteen vineyards in the area. Collin states, “I am out looking for the best fruit sources, using the best barrels and spending countless hours doing my due diligence to create wines that you will enjoy. The fact that these wines have been so well received and scored well by judges and critics alike is simply a by-product for the countless hours in the cellar and vineyards.”

The Nottingham Cellars 2009 Viognier is the first Viognier from this winery. On the nose you detect the tropical fruit and floral characteristics distinctive with this varietal. On the palate you will enjoy the flavors of peach, pear and even a touch of mango. The price is $18.

Nottingham makes two award-winning Chardonnays. The 2009 Chardonnay from Livermore Valley is a none-oaked Chardonnay, fermented and aged in stainless steel. It has a brisk acidity and great minerality, delivering flavors of apple and pear. This is a great summer wine for only $18.

The 2009 Reserve Chardonnay comes from the same vineyards in Livermore, but has been ages on oak. This gives it a very balanced body with a warmness of butter and toast plus vanilla, apple, pear and figs. This is a fully bodied Chardonnay that will pair well with foods. The price is $24.

The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon from Livermore Valley has won several awards and depicts the high quality you expect from a Livermore Valley Cab. It has aromas and flavors of dark fruit, including black cherry, blackberry and black raspberry and touch of coffee and cocoa. It has a good hint of a variety of spices including clove and cinnamon. The finish is long and tasty. The price is $27

The Nottingham Cellars 2009 Petite Sirah shows you why Petite Sirah is the Livermore Valley grape. The fruit is from the high quality Casa De Vinas vineyard in Livermore. It starts with a dark inky color followed with the aromas and flavors of dark fruit, black cherry, chocolate, and rich ripe tannins. The flavors continue on forever. The price is $28.

This year Collin started the Wine Education Series (WET), held on the second Saturday of every month. These are 25 minute discussions with the winemaker covering such subjects as pairing, varietal history, specific varietals and more. The WET is free to club members and only $10 for non-members. It is a great opportunity to learn directly from the winemaker.

The tasting room, located at 2245C South Vasco Road across from Lawrence Livermore Labs, is in an industrial office park where you will spy their flags out front as you drive along Vasco. They are open Friday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Stop by to taste this bit of Livermore. Parking is easy so stop by for some award-winning wines.

For more information:

Nottingham Cellars

Poetic Cellars - poetry in the bottle

2011-07-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

Poetic Cellars is one of the newest wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains, opening on Valentine’s Day in 2008. Winemaker Katy Lovell moved to her idyllic place in the mountains to pursue her love of wine, creating hand-crafted wines in small lot quantities using grapes from selected vineyards in California. Her creativity does not just reside inside the bottle, she also designed her own labels, plus she is an accomplished flutist and fabric artist. Her partner, Joseph Naegele shares her passion for wine and poetry and writes each poem found on the back label.

Many of her grapes are hand harvested in the vineyards she owns in Livermore Valley where she has been producing wine for over 20 years. She also sources fruit from Santa Cruz Mountains and Mendocino County.

Katy stopped by local wine shop and wine bar, UNWINED, in San Jose to provide a tasting of several of her current releases.

The 2008 Poetic Cellars Chardonnay is from the Chestnut Hill Vineyard in Santa Cruz Mountains. It has a touch of oak on the palate, but a great minerality with apricot, pears and apple and an overlay of pineapple. This is a great summer wine with good minerality and a pleasant long finish. The price is $24.

Poetic Cellars 2007 Mourvedre from Livermore Valley’s Muse Vineyards is Katy’s signature wine and delivers a great view of this robust grape. It has a nice earthy, brambly, gamey quality that is indicative of a good Mourvedre. On the nose you will detect a touch of oak, dark fruit and spice. On the palate you will enjoy the flavors of dark cherry, black raspberry, chives, spice and even a bit of tomato. According to Katy, Mourvedre naturally has a smoky flavor that shows up in this wine. The price is $28.

The 2007 Mantra is a blend of 45% Mourvedre, 45% Syrah and 10% Sangiovese. It is fantastic from the beginning to the end with an intense aroma leading to an incredible burst of fruit on the first taste and continuing to deliver all the way through the tasting experience. You will love the bright red fruits with a genuine mixture of spices. The finish continues on forever. The price is $34.

Poetic Cellars 2007 Reserve Syrah is from the Stanza Vineyard in Livermore Valley. It has an intense nose with aromas of baked plum, meat, smoke and dark fruit. As you taste this wine you will love the dark fruit, including black raspberry with pepper, clove and cinnamon. The price is $28.

The 2007 “Serenade” is a blend of 60% Syrah and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. You will thoroughly enjoy the

aromas and flavors of dark cherry, plum and spice starting from the intense nose and leading to a long warm finish.

For further information:

Poetic Cellars

House Wine - a Silicon Valley legacy

2011-05-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

House Family Wines is only the latest adventure of David House, who has been a leader in many of the companies that made Silicon Valley. Dave joined Intel Corporation in 1974 and by 1978 was the General Manager of the company’s Microcomputer Components Division, and later launched Intel’s Server Products Division. In fact Dave was mentioned as Andy Grove’s successor at one time. In 1996, after 22 years at Intel, he took the helm of Bay Networks and as they merged with Nortel he became president of Nortel Networks. He has since been Chairman of Credence Systems and Brocade Communication Systems.

On his 73 acre family compound above Saratoga he planted his Old Oak Vineyard with Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Many of his grapes are used at Mount Eden Vineyards, but Mount Eden winemaker Jeffrey Patterson also assists Dave House in producing the House Family Vineyards wines. Jeff firmly believes that wines should depict the terroir of the vineyards where the grapes are grown.

Recently this author had the opportunity to sample two of House Family latest releases, the 2008 Chardonnay and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Only about 50 cases were made of the House Family 2008 Chardonnay from the House Family Mt. Eden Vineyard in Saratoga. It was a great aroma of lime zest, chalk and apple with a certain amount of earthiness. On the palate you will enjoy texture and fine acidity with lime, apple, peach and pear flavors with a bit of earthiness and chalk continuing through, leading on to a finish of highlights of peach and apple. The price is only $34 per bottle

The 2007 Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is a nice complex Cab that includes 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petite Verdot. You will enjoy the aromas and flavors of dark fruits including plum and currants with notes of chocolate and cedar. It is still a bit young so I would suggest opening it up early and decanting it to let it breathe. This is a rich Santa Cruz Mountains Cab and sells for $36 per bottle.

For more information: House Family Winery

Mello Cielo rolls out at Ruby Hill Winery in Livermore Valley

2011-05-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

Ruby Hill Winery is introducing Mello Cielo, their new unique tour bus that is sure to be a hit among wine lovers in Livermore Valley. It has already drawn the attention of Livermore Valley residents, who enjoy watching the brightly decorated bus driving around town. “It’s become our ‘blimp’, noted Mike Callahan, one of the winery’s partners. “We get a ton of calls asking us what the bus is all about, and we’re happy to tell them.”

The bus is customized like no other in the world. The interior seats 14 passengers, with each seat crafted from an aged wine barrel. Two poles in the center are gilded in one-of-a-kind iron work of sculpted grape clusters and vines. The exterior shows off the wine theme splendidly with its bright burgundy color and lime green paint. The brightly decorated grill of grape clusters and vines is beautiful. Two wine barrels mounted on the roof add to the dramatic effect, with a third barrel attached to the back that also functions as a barbecue grill.

The Mello Cielo (named for one of Ruby Hill’s club wines, Cielo Viola) 90-minute tour starts at the Tasting Room and proceeds through the 150 acres of grape vines in the extensive Ruby Hill estate. The tour guide tells you about the various vineyards as we pass. This tour demonstrates the unique complexity of Livermore Valley as you ride past acres of vineyards on one side, while on the other you are passing the million dollar homes of the Ruby Hills community that surrounds a golf course. In Livermore, planners have gone to great lengths to incorporate agriculture among the housing areas.

Riding past Peacock Patch, home of the grapes that will go into Ruby Hill’s Zinfandel, we spot the roaming peacocks that gave this vineyard its name. In fact the Mello Cielo has a musical horn that includes a peacock call to attract the beautiful birds. One, hiding in the bushes alongside the road perks up its head in response to the peacock call. At Peacock Patch we get another chance to leave the bus and walk among the vines as the tour guide points out the new budding fruit.

As we proceed down from Peacock Patch we head towards the Ruby Hill Winery. The group debarks to tour the winery and taste some barrel samples, including the 2010 Chardonnay and a 2008 Barbera. The consensus is that these will be excellent wines when they are released. The guide informs his group of the innovative efforts employed by Ruby Hill to deliver their quality wines. We are invited into the water tower to enjoy a food and wine pairing of four wines with meats and cheeses. Winemaker Chris Graves joined us as we paired a 2008 Chardonnay, 2007 Livermore Estate Sangiovese, 2007 Merlot Reserve and 2007 Livermore Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Chris walked us through the pairing as he told us more about Ruby Hill wines. Returning to our wine chariot we proceeded back to the tasting room where we enjoyed a private tasting of a Ruby Hill port.

The Mello Cielo tours are by appointment only and are available daily. The tour fee is $25 per person, and only $15 for Ruby Hill Winery Gem Society club members. To schedule a tour, call 925-931-9463. Mello Cielo is also a valuable fundraising tool for area non-profits. Local philanthropists have donated Mello Cielo tours for auctions to help their favorite charities raise money for worthwhile causes.

For more information:

Ruby Hill Winery

Livermore Valley wine country hosts Amgen Tour

2011-05-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

A new focus on one of California's oldest wine regions happens this month as the sixth Amgen Tour of California begins Stage 4 of its demanding course in Livermore's wine country on May 18. Last year supporters came out in droves to view the world's most elite cyclists as they passed through Livermore, helping the city win coveted selection as one of 15 host cities for this year's race.

Cyclists will start in downtown Livermore then ride through wine country roads before ascending the grueling grades of the Diablo Mountains on their way to San Jose to finish Stage 4 of this Tour-de-France-style road race.

"A magnet for cycling clubs throughout the golden state, Livermore is a destination that promises a variety of exciting viewing spots," said Livermore Mayor Marshall Kamena. The event is expected to draw cycling enthusiasts to Livermore on race day and well beyond, including amateur cyclists who enjoy the challenge of riding the same course as the pros they admire. Locals and visitors alike are encouraged to ride their bikes into town for "Bike Night" sponsored by Downtown Livermore on May 17. The City of Livermore will also host a VIP tent the morning of the race, featuring wines exclusively from Concannon Vineyard, one of the first wineries founded in Livermore in 1883 and proudly celebrating 50 years as America's First Petite Sirah.

“The Tour” – Commemorative wine for Livermore Amgen Bike Tour

In celebration of the Amgen Tour, First Street Wine Company in Livermore has teamed up with Cuda Ridge Wines to produce and distribute a commemorative wine for the Livermore Stage of the Amgen Tour. They thought it would be fun to make a wine in celebration of the tour coming to Livermore. Linda Allen of First Street Wine Company named the wine, “The Tour”, and designed the label using the Livermore Amgen poster image for the front label. “The Tour” is a St. Emilion Bordeaux style which represents this important wine region in France in which the primary grape varietals grown are Merlot and Cabernet Franc. “The Tour” blend consists of 49% Merlot, 49% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot. It is a 2009 vintage using 100% Livermore Valley fruit and was barrel aged for 17 months in French Oak. Winemaker Larry Dino describes this wine as, “a perfect melding of the Cabernet Franc that has soft fruit characteristics with spice and earthiness; and the Merlot that has rich fruit characteristics. These two varietals complement each other very well to provide a well-balanced, complex blend with well-structured tannins and a bold long lasting finish.”

First Street Wine Company is the sole retail store selling this Special Edition Wine, and the wine can also be purchased at Cuda Ridge Winery. “The Tour” is $26.00 at either location.

For more information:

Cuda Ridge Winery
First Street Wine Company

Devilish good time at California Café 5 Bites Friday with Travieso Wines

2011-05-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

Palo Alto’s California Café 5 Bites Friday recently featured Campbell’s Travieso Winery. For the very reasonable price of $20 each, guests sample five Travieso wines that were paired by the chefs at California Café with five small plates while the winery representatives tell you about the wines.

Travieso wines have received 90+ point ratings by Robert Parker as well as winning Gold medals and Double Gold medals at other competitions. It is a hidden gem right here in Campbell in Silicon Valley. Fans not only remember their intriguing labels and names, but the wonderful wine held within.

Both founders Ray Sliter and Mats Hagstrom were there to share their wine with the diners at California Café. Travieso was started in Ray’s living room in 2000. Ray is a marine geologist and Mats is a doctor. By 2003 they teamed up with John Pinder at his small winery in Campbell and by 2005 Travieso was a fully bonded winery. They work closely with premium vineyards around California and focus on quality wine production using 30 to 50 percent new French Oak barrels to age the wine for 2 – 3 years.

At California Café the 1st bite was a grilled mango salad with pickled radish/lime and mizuna. It was paired with Travieso’s 2009 “La Llorona” white blend from Sonoma Coast that consists of 45% Viognier, 45% Chardonnay and 10% Roussanne. The acidity of the wine worked well with the salad, with the radish and mango flavors helping the fruit of the wine shine. The mizuna was a bit bitter for the wine, but still was tasty.

The 2nd bite consisted of shrimp Carpaccio with sliced red onion and lemongrass oil. It was paired with the 2007 Travieso “The Other Program” Dry Creek Valley Sangiovese. This Sangiovese delivers lots of bold fruit and spice, including dark cherry and raspberry. The dish helped soften some of the spice of the wine, but making them bolder.

On the 3rd bite we were treated to a crispy pork belly with a pineapple-Thai chili and wine soaked apples. They paired this dish with the 2009 “Traviesito” red wine. Traviesito, “Little Trouble”, a 2009 blend of Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Mourvedre, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. It has an intense nose of smoke, jam and black fruit. On the palate you will enjoy the flavors of blackberry, blueberry, plum and a variety of spices. The tannins lead to a pleasant finish. In this pairing the chili added to the boldness and length of the wine. In particular, the bacon flavor of the pork belly boosted the finish and length of the wine.

With the 4th bite we were served a bacon blackened salmon with grilled asparagus and avocado chermoula. Travieso provided their 2007 “El Chupacabras” red wine from Santa Barbara County. It is a blend of Syrah from two vineyards plus Grenache and Viognier. El Chupacabras delivers great aromas and flavors of dark ripe fruit including black cherry and blueberry with a medley of spices such as pepper, clove and cinnamon. The nose has a very pleasant smokiness that is evident of the French Oak that blended all those spices and flavors into such a well-balanced wine. This salmon dish really brings out the fruit in the wine. It was surprising how the avocado chermoula really enhanced the flavors of the wine.

The final 5th bite was delicious with wild blackberries in a chocolate-coffee pudding sauce. It was paired with Travieso’s 2007 “El Rey” Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a rich quality Cab loaded with smoky cedar, dark fruits, cassis, cranberry and spice. The wine really opens after some time in the glass, delivering the same dark fruit with cinnamon, clove and all spice. The wine is aged for 24 months in 50% new French oak resulting in a great California wine with quality you can expect from a fine Bordeaux wine. In addition to the 24 months of aging, four barrels received extended aging for an additional 12 months. This was a particularly delicious pairing and a perfect finish with the ripe blackberries, chocolate and coffee enhancing the spices and flavors of the wine, especially boosting the cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg and chocolate qualities of the wine.

For more information: