But, that is all behind me for the moment and I decided that instead of whining/pining, I would go out with my mom and do something that makes both of us happy: picnic and wine taste.
So, I got to work doing a bit of research, because I'm not going to take a total shot in the dark in the state with the most AVAs in the country. I want to know where to find the best places and if, perhaps, they can offer me some 'natural' wine. So, I used a wine website (far more advanced that my own) called Discover California Wines, particularly because they have this whole, fancy section on Sustainable Wine Growing. Check out their link. So, using this tool, I was able to find the names of 31 wineries near my parents' house in both Amador and El Dorado County. From there, a whole slew of them boasted being Sustainable/Organic/Biodynamic (not that these are synonyms, but it was starting to look like what I was in the market for).
So, picnic basket in hand, full of salty cheeses, fruits, salads and water, we set off for two nearby, natural (?) wineries. Our first stop was Fenton Herriot. We were greeted by a fabulously cheery tasting room manager who guided us through the complimentary flight as well as the reserve flight at no extra charge. We're talking about 14 wines here people. We're not in the Willamette Valley here, people. While the tasting was generous, I, cannot be so generous with my compliments to the wine itself. With 3 exceptions. They had what the tasting room manager described as a bone-dry 2011 Gewürztraminer, which, while not being bone-dry, was delicious. It was one of the few wines I tried there that had a fresh acidity. The rest, sadly, were jammy, vanilla-y and seemed to share basically the same, syrupy aroma. The Jakeway Lot 4, however, had a new character entirely and some very welcomed tannins. It is a blend of Sangiovese and Syrah and it is also blended across vintages. While the drinker won't get any information about subtle influential factors between vintages across these two varietals when drinking this wine, they will certainly enjoy it for it's exceptionally good mouth-feel and flavor (when compared to its sugary compatriots). Finally, the 2011 Ruby Syrah "Port" really impressed me and I am by no means an appreciator of ports. This one had a lot of work to do to win me over as well because I was instantly repelled by its description of "liquid candy. Eyyyeeuu, isn't liquid candy what they put inside of Gushers? So, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't so sweet, in fact, it was actually quite fruity, thin and almost elegant. We left with a bottle of Chardonnay, a favorite of my dear mum's, and the Port, or should I say "Port". Not to mention a wine case worth of fancy mustards and dressings that will get to hang out and make friends with the colony of condiments living in my mom's pantry.
When I asked the tasting room manager what practices they had adopted to make their winery "sustainable" she said that she'd never been asked that before and went to the computer to look and see if their website explained something about it. When she found nothing, she said that it's
The second winery we went to, Lava Cap, was the third winery established in the area and has been around since the early 1980s. Aha! I must say that I found their wines exceptionally good. All showed great balance and a great reflection of the characteristics of their respective varietal. Again, we received a complimentary tasting of their reserve flight and were soon on our 30th taste. While I had more Zinfandel than I'm able to discern, I had a few other favorites. I really liked their 2010 Barbera, which is apparently, the favorite of many a wine club member. The first man who ever poured me a glass of wine poured me a fancy Barbera and in the months we continued to date, we drank only that. I have a very nostalgic, romantic appreciation of this varietal, particularly from this AVA because the aforementioned lover worked at the neighboring winery and always had bottles on hand. I love the richness, the mouth-feel and yes, the fruitiness. However, just like I've moved on from the lover, I've moved on from Barbera and found that it wasn't my favorite wine of the flight. I enjoyed their 2010 Chardonnay which we bought and opened on the spot to enjoy with our picnic. While it was a bit oak-y, it was nicely offset by sour apple and citrus flavors. I made one final purchase, a bottle of wine for my Spanish host-family who I will meet in about 9 days from now ¡Dios mio! While I was tempted to buy them the 2010 Grenache I thought better of it, considering that Garnacha is already such a popular varietal in Spain. Instead, I went with the 2010 Sangiovese, which, now that I think about it, wasn't the most though-out choice either. This Italian varietal is only a Mediterranean Sea away and it pairs better with heavy, richer foods. Since I'm living with them in the sultry, southern coast where paella prevails, Sangiovese might not have been the best accompaniment. Well, I hardly think they'll through me out on the streets. Pobre gringa en la calle.
When I asked the woman in the tasting room about their sustainable practices, she informed me that they strive to maintain as close to organic standards as possible, however, they don't have the certification because they occasionally use Round Up when necessary if they anticipate a problem with a certain varietal in a certain year. They do, however, believe in as little intervention as possible during the wine-making process, which could explain why their wines possess a much cleaner, truer taste than the wines I described earlier, not even 3 miles apart. Yes, this could be a difference in micro-climates, yes, this could be a differences in slope, soil content, etc...these are all true, but more than anything, they just had the taste of authenticity which really set their wines apart.
It was a great afternoon with my mom- where we talked a little about wine, about love, about daughters leaving for Spain, about mothers becoming friends and about missing things: each other, other loved ones, and, in my case- Pinot Noir.
"Kenzs", as grams(Thel) refers to you, how exciting to be going back to "the Continent".
ReplyDeleteWe'll miss you at Thanksgiving. As you probably know. it'll be here in Jamestown and we would have loved to take you over to our good friends that grow, bottle and sell wine, and have you evaluate their wine, which we'll be wine tasting at the dinner table this year.
Have a good experience over there and we know your Mom will REALLY miss you. Love Judy