Perlis Picks: Marietta Cellars

December 29, 2018 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

Recently, I wrote an article about Sam Bilbro’s Idlewild Wines. In the past, I’ve written about Jake Bilbro’s Limerick Lane Winery. But to truly attempt to grasp the influence of the Bilbro family on Sonoma County – indeed California – wine, one really needs to go back to where it started: Marietta Cellars.

Chris Bilbro, patriarch of the Bilbro clan, founded Marietta Cellars in 1978, naming it after his great-aunt. He bought the current winery property in 1990. Scot Bilbro took over winery operations from his father a few years back. He toured the winery with us on our visit, along with Jenifer Freebairn (Marietta’s VP of Sales and Marketing). Winery equipment is a curious mix of old and new equipment and that’s how Scot likes it. Production is now at about 65,000 cases annually and there are no direct-to-consumer sales. [So, why am I here, right?]

“Scot,” I said, “you are somewhat of a unicorn.”

Scot laughingly asked me “Michael, what do you mean?” even though I was sure he understood my point.

For many years, I have been an extremely vocal proponent of buying wine directly from small family owned wineries. “Don’t buy at big retail stores,” I’d say. “Support the little guys who are crafting their authentic wines by hand.” Now here comes Marietta Cellars, selling only to stores and restaurants through a network of distributors. And at 65,000 cases, while not a big winery in the corporate world, Marietta is definitely on the larger size of “small family owned wineries.”

Which brought me to my “unicorn” comment because off the top of my head I don’t know of any other family owned wineries that only sell wholesale.

Scot said that they were a “unicorn” in another way too. Families like the Bilbros, the Mauritsons and a few others are part of an ever shrinking group that has been farming the area for decades. While Scot in no way bemoaned the new blood that is coming into the region, he did acknowledge that families like the Bilbros are becoming more and more rare in Sonoma County.

As I said, no direct to consumer sales and therefore – no tasting room. But my writer’s card did get us an opportunity sit down with Scot and Jen to taste some of the winery’s current releases.

The largest production of the winery goes to the OVR series, which is most known for Old Vine Red but there is also an Old Vine Rose and an Old Vine Riesling. We tasted Old Vine Red Lot Number 67 which is a Zinfandel heavy blend. This wine was first produced in 1982 and doesn’t have vintage designations as it is a combination of grapes from different years.

As is a characteristic of Marietta Cellars wines, the OVR really over-delivers at its low price point – I’ve seen this wine for well under $20. My only complaint about this wine is it might encourage people to feel that this wine is so delicious why would they need to expand their horizons [i.e. pay more]?

My answer to them would be: the best is yet to come.

And that would be the next tier up, the Family series, each wine being named after a beloved member of Marietta Cellars’ extended family. We tasted the 2016 “Román” a Zinfandel (named after cellar master Roman Cisneros, who has been with Marietta Cellars over 30 years – one of several long-term employees), the 2015 “Armé” a Cabernet Sauvignon (named after Marietta’s husband) and the 2015 “Christo”, an intense Syrah-based blend named after Chris Bilbro himself.

All of these wines had great fruit and mouthfeel with long finishes, most notable to me in the Christo. But what I really got from these wines was a feeling of comfort. They are just really good tasting wines that you want to curl up and read a good book with or enjoy with a hearty meal.

These attributes carried over — and then some – to the top tier Estate series as well. As the name implies, this series showcases some of the special vineyards that Marietta works with. The 2016 Angeli Zinfandel (named after the family that settled the property in the late 1800s), the 2015 Game Trail Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2015 Gibson Block Syrah were all wines you just didn’t want to dump from your tasting glass. Especially that Syrah which was just amazing.

As I’ve said [too many times?], you can’t buy these wines directly from the winery. So, don’t go showing up on their doorstep asking for a taste. I suggest you use the Find Wine tool on their website to see where you can get your hands on some.

Michael Perlis has been pursuing his passion for wine for more than 25 years. He has had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show him the way, as well as a wonderful wife who encourages him and shares his interest. After a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as he possibly could, he had the amazing luck to meet Ev Bushman. Now, as Contributing Editor for Eve’s Wine 101, he does his best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers. Michael is also Vice President of Eve Bushman Consulting (fka Eve’s Wine 101 Consulting) http://evebushmanconsulting.com/ and President of MCP Financial. Michael can be contacted at michaelthezinfan@aol.com or michael@evebushmanconsulting.com.

Paso: Visiting Linne Calodo and Denner Vineyards

December 28, 2018 by evebushman Leave a Comment

Both Linne Calodo and Denner had been recommended to us over the years to visit, but if you’ve been paying any attention to the growth in Paso Robles you know that there are now hundreds of wineries to choose to visit. In my earlier article on Parrish Family, as well as this one, it was the first time in all of our visits to the area we were not seeing any wineries we had visited before. Everyone has their favorites, and I myself felt guilty about not seeing some of mine on this trip, but I do it all for you, dear reader, so that you can explore something new as well. So on a cool Saturday morning we set out to both for predominant Rhône blends and both by appointment only.

View from Denner patio.

Linne Calodo is on the corner of 46 West and Vineyard Avenue, so it’s extremely easy to find. A short drive up the hill and you’ll find a medium-sized tasting room for guests that would like to either sit or stand through a flight. Greeted with a menu of what we would be tasting – we knew it was ours as our name was printed on it – and a trio of red wine glasses.

We were expertly taken care of by Meghan Ball – Meghan is a new mom so she has taken a short break in her duties as assistant winemaker this year to take over as the Director of Sales. Meghan explained that guests were welcome to bring food to have for an outdoor tasting, there is sometimes live music upstairs that is enjoyed by tasters downstairs, couches and sitting areas are often used by members – as club members have always been the wineries exclusive buyers.

In fact when the tasting room opened in 2009 – they reached the maximum for wine club members. It was not until January of this year that they had re-opened the wine club for new members, and re-opened the tasting room for walk in guests. Had they not acquired more acreage they would still be closed for new tasters and members.

Linne Calodo owner and winemaker, Matt Trevisan, had switched his interests from airplanes to biochemistry – and started out with Justin Winery in 1995, the same vintage year that Wine Spectator awarded Justin Isosceles with a 100 point score. 1998 was Trevisan’s first vintage for Linne Calodo. Beginning with a 500 case production they are now at 5,000 cases. The vineyards are primarily dry farmed, all estate, they make eight to ten blends a year with four or five released twice per year, with an additional white and rose.

This struck me, Megan said that all of the wines are unfiltered and unfined, and that “through blending we create balance.” We agreed as we meandered our way through: 2016 “Rising Tides” with 77% Grenache, 14% Mourvedre an 9% Syrah; 2016 “Nemesis” with 87% Syrah, 9% Mourvedre and 4% Grenache; 2016 Outsider with 82% Zinfandel, 7% Syrah, 7% Mourvedre and 4% Graciano.

(I have no tasting notes on these wines as we were too busy chatting with Meghan all about the winery. I enjoyed everything, with a special nod to the 2016 Nemesis that had been opened 24 hour earlier. Meghan commented that the “first and last glass” of this particular wine “is a totally different experience”.)

Linne Calodo www.linnecalodo.com 3030 Vineyard Dr. Paso Robles, CA 93446 (805) 227-0797

Denner, just up Vineyard Avenue about ten minutes from Linne Calodo, has a large parking lot and several welcoming areas to taste both inside and out, a bocce court, trees, flower gardens and vineyards are all within view. We were told to take any seating area and chose a nice tall table outside to take in the sights.

Our entertaining and educational sommelier Yule from the Ukraine presented us with six wines to taste, and allowed us time with each before returning with a new wine. What we learned and tasted:

We began with a 2016 100% Viognier that I thought had perfect fresh fruit with a medium acidity. I also agreed with the provided tasting notes that described notes of orange and lime. Yule explained that this wine, and some of the others, had spent their months aging in large “cigar” barrels. I was familiar with these for their odd shape compared to the standard shaped barrel. Yule also explained that they allowed for less oxygen to reach the wine, and I presumed the large shape would also provide less oak notes in the nose and flavor.

Next we tried the 2016 Grenache with 81% Grenache, 9% Mourvedre, 9% Syrah and 1% Roussane. While our tasting notes described the wine as having aromas of cherry and raspberry I also found chocolate. The wine is all estate fruit, fairly dry, well balanced, and left me with hints of cherry cola on the palate.

Ron Denner, the owner of the property, started out being told that he wouldn’t amount to much by his father as his grades in his early school years were lacking. Between his college years, military service and owning more than one business – two involving moving dirt (the latter being the winery) Denner more than proved his father wrong. The wine named Ditch Digger is a shout out to that memory. The wine we tasted, the 2016 vintage, again an all estate wine was 50% Grenache, 25% Mourvedre, 5% Counoise and 5% Cinsault. While the tasting notes mentioned black licorice, strawberry, botanicals and spice my own palate found it to have also notes of crushed cherry on the nose and darker fruit on the palate. This wine had spent 16 months in neutral 500L and 600L oak puncheons – three times bigger than a standard barrel – allowing for less oak on the flavor.

The next wine, the 2016 Dirt Worshipper, had a great story for its namesake, and proved to be our favorite wine in the line-up. Lets start with the brief story: Yule got down on bended knee to show us what it looked like when the workers were planting the grapes that would eventually make up Dirt Worshipper, and you probably may have guessed it, yep, they looked like they were praying. The 2016 vintage was 97% Syrah, 2% Roussanne and 1% Viognier – and why use a white wine in a red blend? And why so little of it, would it make any kind of difference? Yule explained that the small percentage of white Rhônes would act as a stabilizer for their Syrah to maintain its color. Cool. I agreed with the tasting notes that showed white pepper and blackberries on the nose, and espresso and blueberries in the palate, I also found it very creamy. I also wrote down what I overheard another guest say, “If this is ditch digging we can agree he struck gold.”

The 2012 Syrah, with it’s gold ribbon on the bottle, was considered more of a library wine that can age longer due to more tannins. With notes of violets, blueberries, and white pepper on the nose and with the addition of espresso on the palate – we were in agreement with the tasting notes on our menu.

A final wine added to the lineup was the 2016 Sacred Burro of 100% Carignan. In this wine, Yule explained, the vineyard had been head trained, and since the grapes are susceptible to mold up to 80% of the fruit was cut off to allow only 20% for wine. In comparison, if left alone there would be 20 tons of Carignan harvested to an average of five tons for Cabernet Sauvignon. He further explained that without the head training, the mold could takeover other parts of the vineyard. As we went in for our taste – the wine was described as having rose petal and raspberry notes (I also found dark cherry) it would be easier to discern these aromas if we rolled our glasses, and then see if we could sniff the raspberry or cherry on the near side, and the rose botanical on the far end. It seemed to work. Something to try at home!

Note: I didn’t explain the time in oak for all of these wines, share their Vinous scores or the pricing. You can email me if you want further details: Eve@EveWine101.com or peruse their Facebook or website pages:

https://www.facebook.com/DennerVineyards/

http://www.dennervineyards.com/

To see the photo grids from all of our Paso winery visits from this trip click this.

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com

Perlis Picks: Mauritson

December 22, 2018 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

“Sense of place” is often bandied about in conversations about wine. Wines should not only be delicious but they should reflect their terroir – where they are from and the conditions unique to the vintage. The Rockpile AVA in Sonoma County is one of our favorite sources of wines that epitomize where they are from. Located at the far western end of the Dry Creek Valley, for me the wines (especially Zinfandels) from this area make me think of a combination of the power of Paso Robles with the complexity of the Russian River Valley.

So, when Clay Mauritson, in response to my inquiry about Karen and me visiting with him at his namesake winery during harvest, suggested that we spend the morning out in Rockpile to get grape samples, that sounded pretty exciting to us.

Mauritson is not too far from the entry to the Dry Creek Valley just west of Healdsburg. We met Clay there at 8 AM and headed west to Rockpile. Along the way Clay told us about some of the area’s history and the impact that Clay’s family has had on it.

Clay’s family emigrated from Sweden. Clay told us that “they settled in the Rockpile area of Dry Creek Valley and began growing grapes immediately, circa 1868. In 1884 my great, great, great, grandfather attempted to export wine back to his homeland of Sweden.” The homestead and ranch had grown to about 4,000 acres until 1968 when the Army Corps of Engineers acquired 3,300 acres of the land owned by the Mauritson family by virtue of eminent domain due to the perceived need to build a dam, thereby creating Lake Sonoma. Clay said, “When we lost the Rockpile property, my grandparents purchased the ranch in Alexander Valley where they continued growing grapes. The Rockpile property was used for livestock: sheep and cattle, but we did not resume growing grapes there until 1998.” But it wasn’t until Clay returned from college and worked in the winemaking industry in the area that he made the decision that the Mauritson name should actually be on wine bottle labels as the winery. The Mauritson winery was officially born with the release of its first vintage in 1998. The modern winery and tasting room was opened in 2004.

It didn’t take long for Clay to revisit the Rockpile area and realize its potential for making great wine. The Mauritson Rockpile Zinfandels are some of my all-time favorites. Rockpile was granted official AVA status in 2002, due primarily to the efforts of Clay’s dad Thom along with Rod Park and Jack Florence Sr.

Clay also discussed how happy he was with the current 2018 harvest. The growing season had been virtually perfect. Sometimes near the end of the growing season, the threat of impending heat spikes or rain could impact when the grapes are picked. Not this year. The grapes only needed to be picked when they were ready to be picked. Clay said that they test the grapes early and often at Mauritson, so they can plan the optimal picking window. He explained you can do a lot of things at the winery but you “can’t change the flavors” – those happen in the vineyard.

Walking the vineyards with Clay as he pulled samples to take back to the winery for testing, I felt a new appreciation for an AVA that has always been at the top of my list of favorites. And since I wanted to play “winery helper” and carry the buckets that Clay was filling, I also felt a greater appreciation for the hard work that happens in the vineyard, especially those steep ones in Rockpile. I am sure that Clay would have finished sooner without me, but my excuse is that I am 63 and out of shape while Clay is 20+ years younger and still looks like he did in his football playing days at Oregon.

We spent a couple of hours in the vineyards and I admittedly weenied out and let Clay walk at least one of them alone. But now it was time to head back to the winery and taste some wine.

While when I think of Mauritson I automatically think of Zinfandel, I soon found out those aren’t the only varietals that Clay is making, and making well, I might add.

We tasted through several wines:

2017 Mauritson Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley – I really liked the richness of this wine.

2017 Mauritson Chardonnay, Alexander Valley

2016 Charlie Clay Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley – Clay makes this with/for renowned Chef Charlie Palmer; the only wine he makes with purchased grapes.

2015 Mauritson Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley – Excellent in its own right, this was a great lead-in for the Rockpile wines…

2016 Rockpile Zinfandel, Rockpile Ridge Vineyard

2016 Rockpile Zinfandel, Cemetery Vineyard

2016 Rockpile Zinfandel, Pritchett Peaks Vineyard

All three of these wines were excellent representations of what Rockpile is known for.

We also tasted three more wines from Rockpile:

2016 Rockpile “Madrone Spring” blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Syrah

2015 Rockpile “Buck Pasture” blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc.

2015 Rockpile Cabernet Sauvignon, Rockpile Ridge Vineyard

All of these showcased the intensity of the Rockpile fruit.

Whew. Clay makes a lot of wines and we didn’t even taste all of them. But, as an added bonus we got to taste one of the wines from Clay’s single soil Cabernet series, which focuses on producing Cab from four distinct soil types. We had the 2014 Clough and it was outstanding.

Something else to consider: Annually in August, Clay Mauritson and Chef Charlie Palmer co-host the Project Zin event in Healdsburg. This is a gathering of winemakers and chefs to benefit Down Syndrome Association North Bay. The winery lineup is Zinfandel heaven and August now looks like a pretty good time to visit the area.

You’ll find that several wineries make wine from Rockpile grapes – some even own vineyards in Rockpile and other just purchase grapes from the area – and you’d be hard pressed to find wine from this AVA that you won’t like. But I heartily recommend that you at least start your enjoyment of Rockpile wines with the family that had so much to do with putting Rockpile on the map in the first place – Mauritson.

Mauritson

2859 Dry Creek Road
Healdsburg, CA 95448

Michael Perlis has been pursuing his passion for wine for more than 25 years. He has had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show him the way, as well as a wonderful wife who encourages him and shares his interest. After a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as he possibly could, he had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Now, as Contributing Editor for Eve’s Wine 101, he does his best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers. Michael is also Vice President of Eve Bushman Consulting (fka Eve’s Wine 101 Consulting) http://evebushmanconsulting.com/ and President of MCP Financial. Michael can be contacted at michaelthezinfan@aol.com or michael@evebushmanconsulting.com.

Paso: Sculptures, Winemaking and Tasting at Sculpterra

December 21, 2018 by evebushman 2 Comments

Lucky for me winemaker Dusty Nabor, of Dusty Nabor Wines, is pals with Sculpterra winemaker Paul Frankel – in fact Nabor buys his Bentley Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Frankel – and Nabor graciously offered to see about getting me an interview and a behind the scenes tour with Frankel.

My husband and Frankel in front of the many metal art pieces at Sculpterra.

When we drove up to the winery, its reputation as a sculpture garden preceding it, I made a point to tour the grounds a bit and photograph anything I hadn’t already seen before. It’s quite an impressive sight, and I believe unlike any other winery in Paso or anywhere else.

We met up with Frankel who filled us in on some of what we were seeing. There are metal sculptures, railings, a new several-feet-tall “photo album” mural just getting ready to be filled in, racks and poles for bicycles and horses – predominantly created by Bob Bentley. More about the art and artists can be read here: http://sculpterra.com/our-art/

Frankel grew up at Sculpterra, and lucky for his father, he was bitten by the wine bug when he attended Cal Poly. Frankel said you have to love farming and winemaking. His father, Dr. Warren Frankel, is currently in India working as a medical missionary with the “His Healing Hands” organization.

The vineyard was planted in 1993, beginning with 90 acres, then they purchased 160 more. There are now twelve varieties of wine grapes under vine, and pistachio acreage as well. There is also a vegetable garden and fruit trees.

Viognier does well here, according to Frankel, and is their best selling white wine. Primitivo is the most popular in their blends, and their Port is well liked too. Harvest began on September 11 this year and ended on November 1^st.

Their biggest issue: squirrels. Frankel believes there are thousands of them on the property. The have tried bombs, traps and even shooting. Now they have hired a person for the sole purpose of managing the squirrel population.

Interesting aspects on the winemaking: Frankel uses bed sheets instead of lids during fermentation. He believes the technique prevents volatility and too much alcohol in the resulting wine. They can do 10-20 tons a day for de-stemming. A lot the wines have a percentage of new oak influence. Frankel’s been at this since he was 21 and is now 26, “I enjoy the labor and (a winemaker) needs to be young. If you’re passionate (it all) works well.”

Tasting

Frankel left us at the door of the tasting room and we were aptly cared for by Iddy (Isabel) Shirley. Tasting notes were once again provided, some of which I added to. These are the wines I especially liked in the tasting:

NV Sparkling Wine

Chenin Blanc and Colombard

Notes of apple, peach and pear – quite refreshing!

2016 Viognier

I agreed: apple, peach, nectarine, white pepper. I could see why this was a favorite.

2015 Pinot Noir

Eddie liked this one a lot. Notes of tea, cherry, clove and mint.

2014 Mourvedre with 12% Petite Sirah

Smoke, jam, cedar and my top pick…so far.

2015 Figurine

43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Primitivo, 24% Merlot

Brambles, blackberry, smoke, clove and chocolate. I loved the lush fruit and long finish. This was a top pick for both of us.

2014 Cabernet Sauvignon “Bentley Ironworks”

The grapes are grown below Bentley’s workshop, near where the winery is located some distance from the tasting room. Liked the brambly quality. Another favorite of Ed’s.

2013 Petite Sirah

Besides blackberry I found it gamey and earthy, and it turned out to be my favorite wine in the tasting.

2016 Primitivo

Dark fruit, rich, lush and layered.

2015 Statuesque

38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Syrah and 24% Petite Sirah.

Loved this for its rich dark fruit.

Jagger Primitivo Port

Ed is not a port fan but he enjoyed all of the wonderful chocolate flavors in this one.

http://sculpterra.com/

To see the photo grids from all of our Paso winery visits from this trip click this.

Vintage Eve Circa Nov. 2015: A Favorite Again! Rhone Rangers LA!

December 18, 2018 by evebushman Leave a Comment

Rhone Rangers, one of the first annual events I was turned onto when I “dedicated myself to wine” in 2007, is still one of my favorites. Not only for its focus on Rhone varietals* like Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre (aka the grapes in a a “GSM” blend), Petite Sirah, Viognier and Roussane – delicious wines made famous in France’s Rhone Valley but produced in California – but also for a chance to see favorite winemakers, wineries, old friends and making new ones.

Ed Clark and Eddie Bushman at RR.

We started by being greeted at the door by long-time Executive Director Cheryl Quist, #LAWineWriters organizer Cori Solomon, Cori’s favorite side kick, her mom, and fellow wine writer Shawn Burgert. Then we grabbed a wine glass, a program, and headed off into the tasting. (For a 90-second snapshot of the tasting check out my YouTube video here.)

This year the Rhone Rangers Los Angeles event took place at The Reef, in downtown Los Angeles. Guests had an opportunity to sample over 200 wines from over 50 wineries. There was also active bidding available on wine and wine-related items in the silent auction where a portion of the proceeds benefitted the Rhone Rangers Scholarship Fund.

Prior to the Grand Tasting guests could also take advantage of wine dinners and seminars. I haven’t done that yet but I did meet a woman that had enjoyed, and learned a lot from, Vines on The Marycrest winemaker Victor Abascal’s seminar on Grenache. Mental note to take a class next time!

We also checked out the silent auction; lots of generosity from the wineries showed in the magnums and library wines offered. Not to mention where I spent the first hour, with the library and limited release wines offered below. (my notes, are in italics. If we missed a winery, it wasn’t by choice, there is just so much that it’s impossible to do it all!)

LIBRARY and LIMITED RELEASE WINES

ADELAIDA

2013 White Blend, “Finder”

2012 Estate Grenache

2012 Red Blend, “Keeper”

Winemaker: Jeremy Weintraub

The two I had and enjoyed were 2012s both from Anna’s Vineyard, the Syrah Reserve and Mourvedre Reserve.

CHACEWATER

2010 Red Blend, “Astel”

Winemaker: Mark Burch

150 Cases

A new winery for me to discover, with vineyards in the Sierra Foothills, we enjoyed the 2014 Rose, 2013 Syrah, 2012 Petite Sirah and 2010 Astel Petite Sirah.

ECLUSE WINES

2010 Syrah, Lock Vineyard, Paso Robles

Winemaker: Steve Lock

500 Cases

FIELD STONE WINERY

Six Vintage Vertical 2000—2005

Petite Sirah, State Family Reserve, Estate

Winemaker: Patrick Murray

250 Cases in Each Vintage

100+ Year Old Vines

We did a vertical tasting of Petite Sirahs from 121 year-old vines. The 2010 was awarded 94 points by Robert Parker, while we enjoyed the entire lineup from 2000 through 2005. We also tried the 2013 Trinite red blend and Petite Sirah, but sadly didn’t make it beck for the Vintage Port!

KITA WINES

2012 Red Blend, “Spe’y,” Camp 4 Vineyard

Santa Ynez Valley

Winemaker: Tara Gomez

352 Cases

53% Grenache, 27% Syrah, 20% Carignane

LAW ESTATE WINES

2010 Syrah, “Intrepid”

Winemaker: Scott Hawley

350 Cases

Besides the 2010 “Intrepid”, and this being one of my fave Paso wineries, we also loved all of the 2012’s that General Manager Oliver Esparham was pouring starting with the “Beyond Category” blend of Syrah, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvedre and Petite Sirah – one of our faves of the day. Then, in heady succession came the “Intrepid” blend of Syrah (95%) and Grenache (5%); “Audacious” blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache; “Sagacious” blend of Mourvedre, Syrah and Grenache; and finally “The Nines” 100% Grenache.

LIGHTNING WINES

2011 Grenache, Kick Ranch, Sonoma

Winemaker: Randy Hester

36 Cases

MOUNTS FAMILY WINERY

2007 Petite Sirah, “Petasera,”

Dry Creek Valley, Estate

Winemaker: David Mounts

110 Cases

Sommelier George Skorka’s pick of the day was the Mounts 2013 Viognier, so we simply had to get over there. Very refreshing. Which we then followed with the 2012 Carignane, 2012 Grenache and the 2007 Petasera. We loved their single varietals.

POMAR JUNCTION

2011 Red Blend, “The Crossing”

2011 Red Blend, “Train Wreck”

Winemaker: Jim Shumate

180 Cases Each

SUMMERWOOD WINERY

2011 Red Blend, “Diosa”

Winemaker: Mauricio Marchant

260 Cases

Voted “Best in Class” in Sunset IWC

The “Diosa” was a very tasty blend!

TABLAS CREEK

2010 White Blend, “Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc”

4400 Cases

2010 Red Blend, “Esprit de Beaucastel”

2100 Cases

Winemaker: Neil Collins

Honestly? If you only had one table to visit for Rhônes I don’t think (and yes you can correct me if I’m wrong) anyone else has more at their table to taste. We had the two library wines mentioned above, stellar, and we could barely get back to the table later to taste their entire lineup. Make sure you do!

TERCERO

2006 Grenache Blanc, Camp 4 Vineyard

Winemaker: Larry Schaffer

50 Cases

Winemaker’s First Wine Made

Manned as usual by affable winemaker Larry Schaffer, also a Rhone Rangers board member, we adored a great barrel sample of his next Rose and his 2006 – his very first – Grenache Blanc that had aged beautifully. Find Larry at his tasting room in Los Olivos.

TWO SHEPHERDS

2011 Red Blend, Syrah-Mourvedre

Winemaker: William Allen

50 Cases

VINA ROBLES

2012 Petite Sirah, Creston Valley Vineyard, Paso Robles

Winemaker: Kevin Willenborg

363 Cases

VINES ON THE MARYCREST

2013 Mourvedre

Winemaker: Victor Abascal

100 Cases

We love everything that Victor Abascal makes. Don’t ever miss visiting with him and his wife Jennifer at their table.

PARTICIPATING WINERIES (at press time)

My notes are again in italics below.

Adelaida, Andrew Murray, Bernat,

Bonny Doon Vineyard – Say yes to the 2014 Vin Gris de Cigare, aka Pink Wine of the Earth rose blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Carignane, Cinsaut, Marsanne and Counoise. Made even more special as Keith Shulsky – who used to be with Michael-David Winery – is now their National Sales Manager. Some of you may remember Keith from the wine dinner he organized at New Moon in Valencia years ago!

Burbank Ranch, Burt Street Cellars, Cadaretta, Campovida, Chacewater, Clayhouse Wines, Cornerstone Cellars, Derby Wine Estates, Eberle Winery, Ecluse Wines, Epiphany, Field Stone Winery, Halter Ranch Vineyard,

Kaleidos served up a killer 100% Syrah, the” Praying Mantis”, and I was sorry I didn’t make it back to the table to try more from them.

Kenneth Volk Vineyards, Kita Wines, kukkula, Law Estate Wines, Lightning Wines, Lone Madrone, Margerum Wine Company, Michael-David Winery,

Mitchella was a new winery for us as well. We enjoyed the 2012 Shameless GSM blend and 2012 Syrah from Paso Robles.

Morgan Winery, Mounts Family Winery,

ONX Wines is another favorite of ours, and not to be confused with a wine similarly named at Trader Joe’s. We dug Reckoning (Petite Sirah red blend), Crux (GSM with a bit of Alicante Bouschet) and Mad Crush (GSM with a nice amount of Tempranillo) poured by Associate Winemaker Jeff Strekas and Hospitality Leader Annie Bowsky.

Petrichor Vineyards, Pipestone Vineyards, Pomar Junction, Proulx Wines, Quivira, Qupe,

Ridge Vineyards had an excellent 2013 Carignane and 2011 Syrah.

Seven Oxen, Estate Wines, Summerwood Winery, Tablas Creek Vineyard, Tercero Wines, Terre Rouge, Thacher Winery, Treana & Hope Family Wines,

Two Shepherds had another stellar lineup from winemaker, and Rhone Rangers Board Member, William Allen. His t-shirt (seen here in the video) got kudos as well for helping people pronounce Rhone correctly as it read, “Are you Rhônely tonight?”

Venteux Vineyards,

Vina Robles served up their awesome 2010 Syree blend of Syrah and Petite Sirah as well as their 2012 RED4 blend.

Vines on the Marycrest and Westwood Estate Wine.

*The Rhone grape varietals, from the Rhone Rangers website:

Red Grapes: The most common red Rhone varietals are Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre, with Syrah predominant in the Northern Rhone and Grenache in the Southern Rhone. Other relatively common red grapes include Cinsault, Carignan, and Petite Sirah. Finally, the list includes some grapes that are found only in trace amounts even in France, and are just beginning to be explored in the United States, including Counoise, Muscardin, Picpoul Noir, Vaccarese, and Terret Noir. For the sticklers out there, the Rhone Rangers have adopted Petite Sirah, a French cross also known as Durif, due to its extensive interplanting with traditional Rhone varietals in California. Learn more about these red Rhone grape varieties!

White Grapes: The principal white Rhone varietals are Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne, each found throughout the Rhone Valley, with Grenache Blanc a widely planted but less well known contributor in the Southern Rhone. The other white grapes include Bourboulenc, Clairette Blanc, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, Picardin, Picpoul/Piquepoul Blanc, and Ugni Blanc. Learn more about these white Rhone grape varieties.

Eve Bushman has been reading, writing, taking coursework and tasting wine for over 20 years. She has obtained a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, has been the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video, authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and recently served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits that may be answered in a future column. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com

Paso: Visiting Vines on the Marycrest

December 14, 2018 by evebushman 2 Comments

The first time I met Victor Abascal, Winemaker/Owner of Vines on the Marycrest (VOTM) was at the Wine Classic, an event that ran a couple of decades as a fundraiser and held here at Cal Arts. I can still see Victor at his table pouring his wines, and had routinely seen him pouring his wine at other charity events, but I had never visited his Paso winery. And, as I stated in an earlier article, this trip was all about visiting wineries I had never visited before. And seeing Victor and his lovely wife Jennifer, was more than called for.

We learned that they had the property for 9.5 years, it was an almond orchard previously. When I noted the number of wines on the tasting list Jenny said, “We can’t pour less as we make too many.” One third of their sales are snatched up by wine club members.

The modern tasting room was the very first tasting room in Paso I’ve been in that is bathed in afternoon sun, very welcome as the days start at 28 degrees when we visited in early November! The place was jumping as Vic played some of his favorite music, while the bar was crowded with happy tasters that made room for two more.

For $10 – waived with purchase – we settled in to sample nine wines. Tasting notes were supplied so, as is my habit, I tend to circle what I found as well as making some additions, so my tasting notes are a collective “blend” so to speak.

2017 Viognier

100% Viognier

Lemon-lime, green apple, grass and gravel on the nose with peach and other welcoming fresh fruits on the mouth.

2017 “Summertime”

68% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 12% Syrah

Fruit cocktail, stone fruit, lime zest, passion fruit, crushed lemon grass on the nose with pink grapefruit, strawberry-rhubarb pie and lime on the palate.

2015 “Spanish Bombs”

75% Tempranillo, 12% Grenache, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Carignane

Estate grown – Carlotta’s Vineyard

With welcome aromas of berries followed by flavors of bright fruit including cherry, spice and mint.

2015 Syrah

100% Syrah, limited release.

On the nose we got blueberry, black plum, dark earth on the nose and palate as well as a bit more brightness than expected.

2015 “Heart of Glass”

50% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 25% Mourvedre

Agreed with the tasting notes in finding a raspberry liqueur note on the aroma, as well as strawberry. Tasting the wine we also found that same liqueur as well as a bit of vanilla.

2015 Sangiovese

100% Sangiovese

While I had notes of cream and mushroom wafting up to my nose the tasting notes also mentioned more I could agree with: red and black cherry, dust, earth, oak, pepper and sweet tobacco. On the palate there was also a sweetness in the finish. This was one both my husband and I agreed we both liked. Victor said it was the least planted and most performing grape in Paso, and his “has curves on it.”

2015 Petite Sirah

100% Petite Sirah

Another favorite: With a big bold nose with lots of black fruit, that carried through to the flavor along with spice and good fruit.

2015 “My Generation”

55% Zinfandel, 17% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre, 132% Petite Sirah

And another fave: Yep, I agreed with the tasting notes that mentioned cassis, smoke, candied pecan and flavors of dark berries and cola. Nothing to add except that it was grand.

2015 “Remo Belli” Zinfandel

100% old vine Zinfandel

And yet another one we really enjoyed: I noted white pepper, a creamy quality and balance followed by chocolate covered cherry, Chambord liqueur and a bit of pine needles.

Not wine: “Back Patio Bliss” is a live CD offered for purchase at VOTM. Five years’ worth of music “recorded live on our back patio” and includes music from “national touring musicians.” They made 1000 copies that sell for $20 each and you can check it out, along with the wines of course, on their website: https://vinesonthemarycrest.com/shop/

www.vinesonthemarycrest.com

Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com

Perlis Picks: Jaxon Keys Winery

December 1, 2018 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

Karen and I were planning to revisit Santa Rosa / Sonoma County just a little over a year removed from our last ill-fated visit.

While working on scheduling appointments, I started thinking that maybe last time turned out the way it did because we were somehow being punished for not visiting our good friend and extremely talented winemaker Antoine Favero. I jest, of course, but I wasn’t going to take any chances either. Besides, we hadn’t seen Antoine in a couple of years so meeting up with him seemed like a great idea regardless.

We’d visited with Antoine a couple of times at Mazzocco in the Dry Creek Valley where the focus is on Zinfandel – and incredible Zins they are. But knowing that Antoine makes the wine for some of the other wineries in the Wilson Artisan Wines family, we asked him where else we might meet. Antoine suggested either Jaxon Keys for Rhone varietals or Soda Rock for Bordeaux varietals.

As Rhone varietals are right up there with Zins as my favorite grapes, I naturally said: “Jaxon Keys, please.”

Jaxon Keys Winery is at the southern end of Mendocino County. Lest you think that is far, the drive took less than an hour from our home base for this trip in Santa Rosa. Driving north on Highway 101, we passed Healdsburg and the northern edge of Sonoma County and found ourselves in the foothills of Mendocino County, then passing a few other wineries before arriving at our destination.

We met with Antoine in the private tasting lounge in the winery itself, separate from the tasting room. The lounge also houses the distillery but more on this later.

As Antoine knew that we were interested in focusing on the Rhone varietals that he makes at Jaxon Keys he set up a great sampling of what he does there with those.

We started with the 2017 Viognier, which we felt was a delicious take on this varietal, free from the mistake [in my opinion] that winemakers often make with Viognier – residual sugar. None here and we got to experience a clean, dry wine with plenty of fruit.

Then we moved on to the red Rhones.

We started with the 2016 Grenache, a tasty lighter style of this grape and perfect way to segue to the…

2016 Syrah – Antoine said that it’s the best Syrah he’s every worked with and that sure showed in the glass. My note just says “wow”.

We finished with a very interesting wine: the 2016 GPS is a blend of Grenache, Primitivo and Syrah. I’ve never tasted this particular blend anywhere else and I doubt if you have either. It turns out they work really well together.

While we tasted, Karen and I had the opportunity to chat with Antoine about the winery. The Wilsons acquired the property in 2009. Before that it had a long history, most recently as Jepson Winery, which you may have heard of. The Wilsons renamed it Jaxon Keys Winery & Distillery, after Ken Wilson’s grandfathers. Total acreage is about 1200, with about 100 acres planted. Production is entirely Estate at about 2500 cases. Antoine said that like many small wineries that own vineyards, much of the grape crop is sold to other wineries. Antoine took over winemaking and vineyard management duties at Jaxon Keys fairly recently and has found an ongoing challenge as the wines become popular to balance the needs of other wineries that purchase the grapes with making sure that there is enough wine for retail customers and club members.

Since we were sitting next to the historic still, it seemed proper to finish our tasting with some brandy. Renowned [and now primarily retired] distiller Hubert Germain-Robin consults on this side of the business and the brandy is made in a historic Alambic Pot still from Cognac, France using primarily the French Columbard grapes grown on the property. We tasted through three levels of brandy [5-7 years old, 7-10 years old, and 15 years and older]. I enjoy brandy but admittedly have little expertise in it. But this stuff was smooth and tasty. They also make some very high-end bottlings as well.

Our visit with Antoine was coming to a close; it was harvest and he needed to get back to his real work. He introduced us to Jessie in the tasting room because I really wanted to taste the Jaxon Keys Zinfandels. Admittedly, we had come for the Rhones but I am the Zinfan after all. Besides, I already knew that Antoine’s Zins are legendary regardless of the label on the bottle.

Of course, I wasn’t disappointed. Especially delicious were the 2016 Mae’s Block Zinfandel and the 2016 Brandy Barrel Aged Zinfandel. We bought some of each as well as that Viognier we had tasted earlier. We wanted to buy the other wines that we had tasted with Antoine, but he had apparently shared with us what were pretty much the last bottles available of these wines. That’s what happens with great small-production wines. We can’t wait to try the next vintage.

A comment about pricing, which I rarely discuss. I believe a wine should stand on its own, regardless of what it costs. I don’t feel it is up to me to opine on the business model of a winery. That being said, I need to say that these wines are remarkably underpriced for wines of this quality. When I expressed that opinion to Jessie in the tasting room, she said “Welcome to Mendocino County.” Indeed.

Jaxon Keys Winery & Distillery
10400 South Hwy 101
Hopland, CA 95449

Michael Perlis has been pursuing his passion for wine for more than 25 years. He has had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show him the way, as well as a wonderful wife who encourages him and shares his interest. After a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as he possibly could, he had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Now, as Contributing Editor for Eve’s Wine 101, he does his best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers. Michael is also Vice President of Eve Bushman Consulting (fka Eve’s Wine 101 Consulting) http://evebushmanconsulting.com/ and President of MCP Financial. Michael can be contacted at michaelthezinfan@aol.com or michael@evebushmanconsulting.com.

Paso: The 8th Annual Garagiste Festival, Rare and Reserves and Grand Tasting

November 30, 2018 by evebushman 2 Comments

Over 60 Garagiste winemakers – aka garage winemakers, most of whom don’t have tasting rooms and don’t produce over a certain number of cases annually – would be pouring for the 8^th Annual Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles. We’d covered this event in Los Angeles and Paso Robles over the years and oftentimes these wineries would grow – they would have to leave the event to make room for new Garagistes. This turnover meant an influx of new discoveries every year, as well as seeing some winemakers that have remained small and we could then taste their new vintages.

The Garagiste events, co-created by our very own Doug Minnick of Hoi Polloi and the Double Trouble Wine Room on Main in Downtown Newhall, is also the non-profit brainchild of partner Stewart McLennan.

In this two-day Paso event Minnick and McLennan had separated the rare and reserve tasting from the main event by a day. I loved the idea as I usually experience palate fatigue after the first tasting anyway. Combining my notes with day two, the wines of special note have the winery names in bold, with the Rare and Reserves noted as RR in bold as well. And, as is my usual disclaimer, if I missed a winery or a wine it wasn’t due to any distaste but can only be blamed on palate fatigue and/or I had already tasted their lineup at Garagiste Santa Monica earlier this year:

Adron Wines*

Alta Colina

Armitage Wines*

Artisan Uprising – RR: 2015 Tempranillo and 2017 Sangiovese.

Ascension Cellars – RR: 2012 Trinity GSM and 2012 Soul Shaker Cabernet Syrah blend.

Bevela Wines

Bolshoi Family Wines*

Bon Niche Cellars – RR: They did a vertical of their Bordeaux Blends including a 2010, 2012, and 2015. I liked the balance of the 2012 the best.

Caldera Cuvee

Caliza Winery – We have tasted Carl Bower’s wines off and on over the years at this event, happy to have tried them today as enjoyed: 2015 Azimuth GSM, 2015 Syrah and 2014 “Cohort” blend of Petite Sirah, Mourvedre and Syrah. All wines are from estate vineyards.

Circle B Vineyards

Cloak & Dagger Wines

Copia Vineyards – RR: 2016 “The Story” blend of Grenache and Syrah.

Corner Cellars*

Cutruzzola Vineyards

Decroux Wines*

DENO Wines

DeWitt Vineyard*

Diablo Paso – RR: 2014 Tempranillo Gran Reserva. Learned that these were grapes sourced from Napa and had spent 42 months in oak. My second favorite of the rare and reserves.

Dusty Nabor Wines – RR: I’ve liked all of Dusty’s wines at Garagiste, this time it was a 2016 NSO, meaning for “No Special Occasion”, California Red Wine for $19 that was the winner!

Gary Kramer Guitar Cellars* – RR: A barrel sample of Malbec? I hate barrel samples as it’s all oak to me sometimes, this one was nice indeed.

Golden Triangle

Hoi Polloi Winery – I stopped at the table to say hello, but I have had their wines many times as they have a tasting room five minutes from my home in Santa Clarita.

Hoyt Family Vineyards – RR: 2009 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon was my favorite of the entire rare and reserve tasting.

Jardesca*

Kaleidos Winery – RR: 2015 Praying Mantis Syrah.

Kitson Wines*

Last Light Wine Co

Leverage Wines – RR: 2017 Chardonnay and 2016 Trajectory GSM blend.

Lost Blues

MagnaVita Cellars*

Marin’s Vineyard

Mastro Scheidt*

MCV Wines – RR: 2011 1105 Petite Sirah blend. Also enjoyed to of their 2015 Petite Sirah – one from the Rosewynn Vineyard and the other from the Gemeny Vineyard.

Merisi Wines* – RR: 2016 Los Carneros Grenache.

Montage Russe

On Your Left Wine Co. – RR: A fellow wine taster sent me here. 2015 Two Wheeler Grenache Mourvedre that hadn’t been released but I thought was ready and a 2014 Single Track Syrah.

Pagter Brothers Winery – Of course I stopped in to say hello, even though the share a tasting room with Hoi Polloi (see my notes above) and was rewarded today with a wine club only pour of their 2016 Petite Sirah. Well done!

Pelletiere Vineyards – RR: 2015 Reserve Sangiovese and 2016 Lagrein (Lagrein is the name of the grape.)

Powell Mountain Cellars – RR: 2010 and 2011 Pinnacle Bordeaux blends.

RF Wines – Enjoyed their 2015 Exceed Malbec, 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon and their 2015 Petite Sirah was my favorite at the grand tasting.

RN Estate Winery – 2015 Estate Cabernet Franc, 2014 Cuvee des Trois Cepages Bordeaux Blend and 2014 Malbec.

Saint K Wines

Seven Angels Cellars

Seven Oxen Estate Wines

Sea Shell Cellars

T. Berkley Wines* – 2016 Cabernet Franc, Napa.

Tlo Wines – 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon, Lucas and Lewellen.

TOP Winery

Torch Cellars

Transmission Wine Co.*

Turtle Rock Vineyard – I had enjoyed a wine luncheon highlighting Turtle Rock Vineyards so I was thrilled to try the new 2016 Willow’s Cuvee GSM with a touch of Tempranillo and the 2016 Maturin Rhone Blend from the James Berry Vineyard. (Winemaker Don Burns is the assistant winemaker at Saxum.)

TW Fermentations – RR: 2015 Cultivator blend and a newly released 2015 Merlot.

Ultima Tulie

Vandella Vineyards*

Vigo Cellars*

Vinemark Cellars

Vino Vargas

Volatus Wines – RR: 2008 Reserve Red – a Syrah and Petite Sirah blend.

Willow Creek Wine Group*

*First time pouring at the Paso Festival.

To see the photo grids from all of our Paso winery visits from this trip click this.

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 15k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com

Paso: Learning About and Tasting With Parrish Family Vineyards

November 23, 2018 by evebushman Leave a Comment

I could swear that I had been to Parrish Family Vineyards before for a dinner they hosted for the Cab Collective. However the property on Adelaida Road was new for me as it was for everyone else, only having been opened this past year. It nagged at me for about a nanosecond, then I was quickly caught up in everything this new discovery held for me. (One of which was seeing former SCVer Denise Criste living the dream, having moved to Paso and now working in the tasting room at Parrish!)

Took some photos of the calcareous stonework that contributed not only to a large wall but also to the terroir of the wines, and some of the bright red umbrellas – that could be seen from the road below – that sheltered many inviting groups of tables on the grounds overlooking vineyards.

The tasting room was welcoming. With many different cushiony seats to choose from, we learned that this would be a theme throughout. There were member’s only rooms, meeting rooms, dining rooms adorned with leather seating, balcony seating – the inside and outside seating options seemed endless. We learned that many people would move from one spot to another to enjoy their tasting, or to linger over a bottle for part of their day, some even circling back to Parrish for a second visit the same day as they are the only winery on Adelaida open until 6pm.

Membership options began with as little as a four bottle allotment and allowed for nearly monthly gatherings where you could reserve the exact spot you wanted to sit – I could definitely see a draw for a growing numbers of members.

We were shown a wall of photos and memorabilia that flanked both sides of the entrance to the tasting room that every guest will pass through. These items told a bit of a story of Earl Henderson, the grandfather of existing owner David Parrish, who had a love for golf (there is a small putting green for you to partake in the game if you so desire) and began cultivating grapes before prohibition.

David, before taking the mantle, was known for his work in trellising. At one point he had 24 patents for different trellis types for different fruits. He has seven active now. The winery made their first vintage in 2006. Coppola, L’Aventure, Clos Solene and others buy up their grapes. Learn more about Earl Henderson and David Parrish here.

Wines Tasting

While we toured and learned about Parrish we tasted through some of their wines. Bought a couple of bottles for home as well:

A crisp 2017 Sauvignon Blanc; 2016 Chardonnay with a lovely amount of oak; the nicely balanced 2014 Silken – named for how a member described as silky – Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon blend that my husband bought; an extremely approachable 2014 Petite Sirah that I had to buy for home as we don’t often find one we love; 2014 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from the Creston vineyard property; 2015 Petite Sirah I like almost as much as the 2014; 2015 Silken blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and a tiny bit of Syrah; 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2014 Zinfandel that was really mellow for a Zin but damn fine just the same.

Parrish Family Vineyards, 3590 Adelaida Road, Paso Robles, CA 93446, (805) 286-4028 www.parrishfamilyvineyard.com Open from 11 to 6pm daily – the only winery open until 6pm on Adelaida Road.

To see the photo grids from all of our Paso winery visits from this trip click this.

Paso Robles: Getting Comfortable at Grapestake Cottage and Vineyards

November 16, 2018 by evebushman Leave a Comment

Oh dear me, what kind of karma do I have? Apparently the best. I’m sitting at a dining table, in a one bedroom cottage, set apart from a large estate, perusing an antique piano turned into a display case, a couch and two armchairs – that all recline – a beautiful modern kitchen area with everything you could possibly need for a welcome stay – from coffee maker to teapot, corkscrew to sweet and salty snacks and a large fireplace, television, another seating area…and that’s just in the front room. (Ed’s taking a nap in the bedroom so we may get there later.)

I am just starting this article and it’s slow going as I find my eyes drifting to one of many windows where the sun has begun to set behind the patio, garden and vineyards. If this isn’t my heaven then I don’t know what is.

The sun has now set, but before it grows too dark I see little bitty lights in the tree on our patio. I’m itching to go out and sit at the table and open a bottle of wine. But we’re in Paso Robles. And since Grapestake Cottage is so inviting, I forget for a minute that I have winery appointments. I made a quick evaluation of our calendar and decide that on at least one of our nights, Sunday, we will be bringing in a pizza, opening one of the many wines we’ve purchased to enjoy on the patio, watch that sunset again, and then retreat inside when it gets cold to flip on the fireplace, take our shoes off, don one of the provided terry robes, put some popcorn in the microwave, put our feet up and get cozy.

We also made sure to set some time to get to know Nancy and Owen Belletto, our hosts, a wee bit better. “It all started with a tractor” was the joke Owen made when we first met, and that tractor – and everything that came after – was the turning point that soon meant building a cottage, an incredible garden and…vineyards.

The name Grapestake has a meaning as well. I learned that Owen used 40-year-old wooden grapestakes – now grapestakes are all made of metal – to repurpose them as fencing for the cottage just as he had seen in some homes in Carmel. After meeting Owen, and seeing the amazing property, I could easily visualize him as he “spent countless hours cutting, sanding and measuring” just for the beauty it would provide for guests…

As we were told to “please feel free to wander the vineyard and grounds” we did. But as I didn’t want to run into any gophers, I waited until our set interview time with Owen and Nancy to learn more about the Bellettos and their home. I learned that when they chose the property that the estate home was already built, which had formerly been a B and B and required no more work, a stipulation Nancy required before moving in.

That requirement was really more of a model, as within a short time the gravel parking area become the base of the cottage, the grounds now included olive trees, and the same designer that had built the home was called upon to build Grapestake Cottage – however in the original plans the cottage was only built to house Owen’s tractor. But Owen needed a bathroom near the tractor…but why just have a bathroom without a bedroom…and Grapestake Cottage began to really take shape, literally.

All in all there are 8 acres on the property under vine, 7.5 of those acres are Syrah – they are estate growers for Justin, and were named the grower of the year in 2016 – and the remaining .5 acres are for Grenache and is reserved for Owen’s winemaking alone. Owen has a background in agriculture – the pair met while in studies at UC Davis – where they were starving students for a short time, enjoying wine tasting in nearby Napa valley back in the days when it was free to taste.

Fast forward to present day in Paso. They have met welcoming and charming people in the Paso wine industry. Any local winemakers, they feel, are very free with answering any wine question put to them without a nuance of elitism.

“Paso Robles is where Napa was 30 years ago,” Owen began. “insofar as how people are treated.” And a good way to explain why so many wine people may prefer tasting and touring in Paso over Napa. It’s not just the difference in the cost of wines, but also in how Paso treats its guests.

As far as how they treat their own guests, and circling back to how we felt our accommodations were far and above the standard, Nancy explained, “I’ve traveled with Owen on many trips and have often been irritated by asking to pay for items like water bottles and snacks. So we put a lot of thought into what a guest would like that we would also appreciate.”

Come check then out for yourself: https://www.grapestakecottage.com/ https://www.instagram.com/grapestakecottage/

To see the photo grids from all of our Paso winery visits from this trip click this.

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 15k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com