Marga's Foodblog

Sunday afternoon we took my father wine tasting in the Russian River region. We'd previously taken him to Napa and Sonoma and wanted to go somewhere new. We started late so we only hit four wineries, but it was a very pleasant (if long) trip. The region is very pretty, the wineries are much less busy than those in Napa or Sonoma and they are more generous with their wines, I think you could taste an average of 7-8 wines at each winery we went to. Hint for next time: eat before we go.

We only hit four wineries:

Martinelli Winery was our first stop and it had by far the best wines we'd ever tasted at a winery. They were also the most expensive at $35-50 a bottle. The artisanal wines are hand-made (that is to say, without the use of heavy machinery) and they were all very smooth and non-tanic and yet quite complex. These are the types of wines you can sip for hours and still enjoy every minute of it. We were particularly fond of the Sauvignon Blanc (and we're not white wine drinkers), though my dad's favorite was the Giuseppe & Luisa Zinfandel. We'll have to go and get a bottle sometime to gift him.

Suncé Winery, our second stop, looked more like a house than your typical winery. It's very small, and run by a Croatian winemaker who was also our host at the outside wine tasting. We weren't so fond of the wines. We found them generally shallow and not interesting. An exception was the Mariage a Trois, a mixture of cabernet, zinfandel and syrah, which I liked enough to buy a bottle.

By the time we arrived at De Loach Vineyards I was already a bit tipsy, and much more than that by the time I left. The winery has been recently sold to a French company that is planning to turn it organic in time (we wish them luck!). The wines were very much every-day wines, easy to drink, not too tanic, but not too complex either. Some of them are sold at Trader Joe's and I would definitely buy them there.

After lunch and sobering up quite a bit, we headed to Korbel, where we got to taste some of their new (and sold only to wine club members) red champagnes. They were interesting as a novelty, but we didn't find them particularly succesful. They were too shallow as red wines and the bubbles retracted rather than added to the experience. We did really enjoy several of their regular champagnes, however. The Korbel Non-Vintage Blanc De Noirs was particularly excellent and I will definitely buy it and serve it in the future.

In all we had a great time and this is certainly a region worth visiting again.

We spent part of today, our 11th anniversary, winetasting in Livermore - our closest winemaking region. The wines were generally pretty good, though not remarkable, and the wineries cute and modern. In all we had a great time. We made it to four wineries, apparently all I can take before getting too tipsy.

Concannon Vineyards, our first stop, seems to specialize in Syrah. Here we learned what a difference a few years aging can make. The 2000 Syrah was completely undrinkable for me - it was too tannic and acidic. The 1995, on the other hand, was quite pleasant. We found the other wines to be OK but unremarkable. I probably liked the Cab most of all, but it tasted just like your run of the mill $10 Cab (though it was probably more expensive than that). On the plus side, this winery has a very nice tasting room.

Stony Ridge Winery, our second stop, features not only their wines but those of Crooked Vine Winery, owned by the same people. Here we met some new wines for us like the orobianco (nicely drinkable) and the nebbiolo (id). But the Malvasia Bianca, a not-too-sweet dessert wine, was by far our favorite. If we only ever drank the dessert wines we bought, we'd have bought a bottle.

Our third stop was Steven Kent which was featuring Tamás Estates wines. All the wines here were nicely priced, completely drinkable but not too interesting. In a way, these are the perfect wines to serve at a party. They are sure to not offed anyone, beginners won't find them too challenging and wine lovers won't find them too cheap.

Finally, we went to Murrieta's Well, a very cute "boutique" winery owned by Wente. Murrieta is trying very hard to be different by offering unique blends and not-very-common grapes. It has a Chilean winemaker that comes a few times a year to select the grapes and do the blending. You have to pay $5 to taste six wines here, and is probably worth it as they were by far the best wines we tasted in Livermore. Of the two white I liked the "Los tesoros de Joaquín" Chardonnay & Semillon blend the best. It was a smooth yet bodied wine that I could imagine would be perfect for sipping before a hearty meal or drinking with bread and cheese. Of the reds, I liked the Tempranillo quite a bit as well, specially for the price. It was smoother than a cab but probably as satisfying. I also really liked the Sarzuela, a mixture of tempranillo with other grapes, though probably not enough to justify the difference in prices. Murrieta's pride and joy, the Red Vendimia, surprisingly didn't do much for me, even though it's a blend of cab and other varietals that I like.

A couple of weeks ago, my sister Kathy and her friend Anna were in town and I decided to take the girls winetasting. Once again we headed to Livermore as it's significantly closer to us. It was quite fun, we visited several wineries and had lunch at one of them. Anna became exposed to a few new wines, even found one she liked, and while Kathy didn't try anything (she's not a wine drinker) she said she enjoyed herself.

Once again, I was not impressed by the quality of the Livermore wineries. I am not a wine connoseur by any means, and I'm mostly a Cabernet Sauvignon drinker - that's great if you're in Napa, not that great if you are in Livermore where Cabs don't a abound. I prefer complex, smooth, oaky flavors, and these were rare. In all, my impression was that the wines were young and simple, generally easy to drink but not fun or interesting. I didn't find any wines that attracted me. Most of the wines are only available at the winery and at local grocery stores.

The guide below is mostly for my benefit, so that I can remember the experience and decide where I want to go back in future trips.

We started at Garré Winery with lunch at the Café Garré (good sandwich, OK pastas) before tasting. I found their wines easy drinking but unremarkable, often lacking complexity. Their Nonna's Reserve, a combination of Merlot, Barbera and Cab Frank was particularly disapointing, it tasted mostly like cab frank but was very shallow. A 2000 Merlot was very melow, but had a sharp finish. The wine tasting room itself is very plain.

I was happier with the wines at Cedar Mountain, perhaps because they were tasting cabs. I wasn't too excited about the 2002 Cab which was easy to drink, but didn't have much depth, but loved their '98 Cab which was very well balanced - but way overpriced at $50 a bottle. A '99 Duet, a combination of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, was more reasonable at $22, but tasted younger and less refined than the cab. The tasting room here was also plain, but the people were very friendly and very much into wines, which made the wine tasting more fun.

Ríos Lovell charges a $4 tasting fee (you get to keep the glass) which is worth it given the quality of their wines and the friendly attitude of the attendant - who let us taste wines not in the list. In general, I found their wines to be much more finished, more balanced and substantial than those at the other wineries. I really liked their '2001 Reserve Estate Chardonnay ($14), it was somewhat tanic and oaky and not too sweet. Anna enjoyed their '2003 Viognier ($16) which tasted like an explosion of flowers and had a sharp, yet nice, finish. She also liked their 2001 Barbera ($18), an easy drinking yet nice wine. I wasn't impressed by their Cab, which was in need of tanins. The tasting room was one of the larger ones, and had a nice store. I'd go back here again.

Tesla Vintners offers wines from 4 local wineries, the tasting room is very small and crowded but cute and it offers some cool novelties for sale that I hadn't seen elsewhere. The server looked like a grandma and was quite pleasant and there is a grassy area outside and even a little playhouse for children to play in. If I ever came winetasting with the kids along, this would definitely be a spot. Here we tried the flavored champagnes by Little Valley winery. They are a gimmick, of course, but I rather liked the almond one - though I'm not sure if enough to drink a whole glass of it. The other wines we tasted were fine, easy drinking but not sophisticated.

Livermore Valley Cellars is a small, family winery behind a new McMansion housing development. We wanted to like the wines, many of them inventive mixes, but we didn't. Most of them were shallow, tasted too acidic and lacked finishes. The woman serving them to us also gave us a weird vibe.

Finally, we went back to Concannon, where once again I noticed that their new syrahs are almost undrinkable while their older ones are quite good. This is one of the prettier tasting rooms in the valley and it has a nice grassy area outside, so while I'm not crazy about their wines, it makes a nice stop.

This week Mike and I took a mini-vacation to the northern California wine country. We spent three days wine tasting, in Napa, the Russian River Valley and Mendocino. Of necessity, we visited only a few wineries, but you can read my notes from them. Alas, I'm in no way a wine connoisseur and I'm completely unable to taste any of the dozens of flavors experts can discern in wine. Berries? mango? licorish? I can't find them. So don't take my reviews too seriously. In reality all I can say is what I liked and what I didn't like, which may be very different from what you like. I tend to like full-bodied wines, neither light or heavy in tanins and with a well defined oakiness (which I didn't find at all in this trip).

Anyway here is my report from Napa. Reports from the Russian River Valley and Mendocino will follow.

On the second day of our wine country trip, we headed to the Russian River Valley. I'd been there only a couple of months before, when my friend Lola treated me to a wonderful girls-weekend-out for my birthday, and I was eager to go again. I found the wineries in the Russian River Valley more relax and more friendly than those in Napa, and I was there purely for relaxation (OK, and wine tasting too).

Last time, the helpful manager of the West Sonoma Inn, where we had stayed, had recommended we go tasting at the wineries on Olivet Road. We hadn't managed to do it, but it made sense to try them on our way from Calistoga. So there we headed.

On our third day in the wine country, we tried the wineries in the Anderson Valley in Mendocino. I had never been to this part of California before and enjoyed the wine tasting experience very much. None of the wineries we visited were as beautiful as those we’ve been to in Napa, Sonoma and even the Russian River, but they were nice, friendly and relaxing experiences.

We started at Yorkville Cellars a small family winery that sells organic wines. It’s run by an English lady and it’s been there since 1986. They mostly sell at the winery, local shops and restaurants. We’d had organic wines before and had not been particularly impressed by them, so Yorkville pleasantly surprised us. The tasting room itself was small but featured a veranda with picnic tables and a view of the vineyards. They had a very friendly black lab greeting you. Tasting was complimentary and they gave us good sized pours.

After our trip to the wine country, Mike and I seem to be getting into wines. We'll see how long it lasts. But we're happy with our half a dozen collection of good quality reds, 3 sweet wines and 2 sparkling. Not very much, specially if we start drinking it up. Alas, wine is not hard to find :)

Last night we opened a bottle of Tobin James 2002 James Gang Reserve Zinfandel. We had won it the previous day at a charity raffle.

It had a very strong fruity aroma, and was somewhat sweet, with a strong hint of plum. It was smooth, somewhat acidic, and really nice to sip by itself. It also went well with dark chocolate, marrying in your mouth. I thought it might be too fruity/sweet for the red meat we were having that night, but they went very well. The wine dried up and let the taste of the meat win over. Very good. Mike liked it too.

I first tried Beringer wine when I went wine tasting at their impressive operation in Napa many years ago. They give a great tour of their facilities - or at least they did back them - but their wine seemed inferior. Outside the winery, it's certainly affordable. Last night I wanted to drink some wine with our steaks (steaks two nights in a row, courtesy of Costco's large sizes), but I didn't want to open another bottle of expensive wine (and for me expensive is anything over $10), so I decided to open this Beringer bottle that somebody had brought us. It wasn't that great.

It didn't have much of an aroma to speak off, and the taste itself was very mild. Low on tanins with a bare hint of oakiness. It did improve when drank with the steak, assuming a complimentary role. I'd drink it again, but with food.