Last fall we stopped in Reno to say hi to some friends of ours and they invited us to join them next spring touring some wineries in California's El Dorado County. I've known Sam for nearly 45 years and knew he and Glenda "dappled" in wine making so we thought this could be a good learning experience.
Every year the El Dorado Winery Association has 30 plus wineries participating in a weekend long presentation of their wines, paired with wonderful food and costumes. This year the theme was "Hollywood" so it was fun seeing the different winery personnel dressing up as pirates, Indiana Jones, Casablanca and many more.
Here at the Colibri Ridge Winery and Vineyard is a real live Indiana Jones about to show Donna a good "whipping".
It's important to understand that all the wineries involved are "mom and pop" wine makers, no multimillion dollar "Wal-mart" type corporations are allowed.
Some of the wine cellar and tasting rooms like the Auriga Winery here were no larger than the average house.
Sam and Glenda, were our weekend hosts for the wine tour. I may of said earlier that they "dabble" in wine making? Not...they are both so passionate about all there is to know about the process and taste of wine that they have started their own small vineyard a few years ago and last year made several gallons of wine from the many varieties of grapes in their vineyard. Glenda was so gracious in answering all my question and helping me not sound like a novice.
While Sam is very knowledgeable about the wine, Glenda was a walking encyclopedia.
Here Donna is learning about a "futures wine". This wine is not ready for bottling and still needs more time in these oak casks. The trick here is if the wine tastes good at this point in the process, then Glenda says it "will only get better". If you think the wine is good today, you may buy a case or two now and they will ship it to you in 6 or so months down the road. This way the winery gives you a discount on the price per case and you are assured of getting the wine, because sometimes it is all bought up before bottling.
Here Glenda is explaining one or more of the many ways to experience the wine and food. We were taught about wine aroma, body, finish, fruitiness and when the wine is on the "downside", which means it is past it's peak and will only get worse. At times I said the wine tasted thin to me, I really should of been explaining it in term of the wines body, i.e. a light body or full body.
The El Dorado wineries are nestled in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains where the climate and soil are perfect for vines to cultivate such wonderful wines such as Barbera, Zinfandels, Cabernet's and Donna's favorite, the Port. We could not have asked for a more beautiful weekend, it was sunny and warm both days with just a slight breeze. Glenda explained that the Zins and Cabs really need some 4000 plus hours of sunlight to get the correct levels of sugar in the grapes that produces such wonderful, full-bodied wines.
Sam and Glenda have very good personal relations with a number of the family vineyards here in El Dorado county. Vaughn Jodar is here with Glenda, telling each other how the their own vineyards are doing this year. Some of Sam and Glenda's cutting for their own vines came from the Jodar Vineyard.
Ok, by the end of the first day, I learned just enough about the structure of wine and oenology to throw around a few terms like taste, full-bodied, mature, aroma and balance so I might not sound like a rookie next time Donna and I go wine tasting by ourselves.
Day two of the wine tour will be in the next blog
No comments:
Post a Comment