Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
ZAP 2008
The ZAP Festival (hosted by the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) is wonderfully overwhelming. Over 250 wineries pouring two or more different Zinfandels each — it’s heaven on earth for Zin lovers.
The 2008 festival was another great experience. The show is very well managed, so all you really need to do is relax and sample.
You can taste the older, established wineries, like Ravenswood, Ridge, Rosenblum, as well as try wineries that are just producing their first vintages. And that’s what we focused much of our attention on — those brand new wineries that are producing some exciting new Zins.
There were plenty to choose from this year, but these four stood out in our minds:
V-Twin Vineyards
(www.vtwinwines.com) 2005 Poker Run, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley Old Vine ($24) and 2005 V-Twin, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley/Dry Creek ($24).
V-Twin was our favorite of the new wineries — a stand-out in a field of outstanding new wines. Both wines had excellent balance and complexity with very nice licorice and tobacco flavors. “Phenomenally good for first year” was what we noted at the time.
J Dusi Wines
(www.jdusiwines.com) 2006 Dante Dusi Vineyard, Paso Robles ($32) and 2004 Haute Haute Haute Zin Port, Dusi Vineyard, Paso Robles ($32).
Our second favorite newbie at the show. The Dusi family has been in Paso Robles since the 1930s and now Janell Dusi is producing some excellent Zins. Their first vintage is delicious and the Zin Port is amazing.
Matrix Winery
2005 Zinfandel and 2006 Barrel Sample (N/A). Both were very nice, with good structure, nice tannins and good fruit without being overly fruity.
Vino D’Angelo
(www.vinodangelo.com) 2006 Rescue Red, Shake Ridge Ranch, Amador County, $20.
Dan D’Angelo is a 20-year veteran firefighter in Napa Valley and a portion of all proceeds from Rescue Red goes to firefighter-related non-profit organizations. The wine has nice spice, pepper and smoke along with the nicely balanced fruit.
There were many other exceptional wines we tried — too many, obviously, to try and capture here. To truly understand this great event, mark your calendars to attend the next ZAP festival (usually the last Saturday of January).
Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod
It wasn’t that long ago that there was finally a winery in every state in the union, but it’s still surprising when you run across a winery in an area you don’t associate with wine.
That’s how we felt when we discovered Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod during a recent trip there. The first surprise was they were open for tasting during mid-week after Labor Day. The next was the variety and quality of its wines, which was pretty good across the board.
Truro is located just south of Provincetown, which is the island’s northeastern-most tip. The winery is located right off Highway 6 with signs clearly marking the turn-off.
The winery’s ownership changed in March 2007, but they retained their winemaker. The new owner lead our tasting, which they did in a session as opposed to the more casual tasting rooms you normally find (that may change when the weather turns cold since the tasting was conducted outdoors).
The winery produces a wide variety of wines with grapes mostly purchased from growers in California and the Finger Lakes region of New York, although they do grow their own as well. The whites include a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Vignoles, which is a hybrid grape with flavors resembling a Viognier.
They produce a nice rosé called Cape Blush made from Cabernet Franc, which they grow on the estate.
Cab Franc accounts for 60% of the grapes they grow, which makes it no surprise that the wine we thought was the best was their 2005 Cabernet Franc. Nice and complex with earthy black cherry flavors, it shows nice craftsmanship and is great to drink alone or with food.
Other reds include the blends “Maritime Red” and “Triumph,” which is the winery’s flagship. They also produce two sweet wines: Cranberry Light and Diamond Light, which were fun to try.
The winery is small with limited distribution, but they do ship to several states now and you can order the wines online.
Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod
11 Shore Road
North Truro, MA 02652
(508) 487-6200
Idaho
The wine country of Idaho is outside of Boise nestled along the banks of the Snake River. The area is rustic and not always well marked, but the wineries are fairly close together, accessible and often surprising.
Our favorite on this trip was Koenig Distillery and Winery (20928 Grape Lane, Caldwell, ID 83607; 208.455.8386; www.koenigwinery.com). As the name suggests they produce wine and distill liquor (more on that later).
Koenig is run by two brothers: Andy and Greg Koenig. One focuses on producing wine, the other on the distillery.
The cozy tasting room sits up one floor in the building overlooking the distillery, which is a remarkable scene of large cooper pots, pipes and gauges.
Their wines are regarded by the locals as the best Idaho has to offer. Our favorite was the 2001 Idaho Cuvee Alden Private Reserve Red Table Wine ($40, direct from the winery). It is named in honor of the birth of their son, Alden Hayward Koenig. Rich and complex, it’s a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (55%), Merlot (40%), and Cabernet Franc (5%) that has been aged in new French oak barrels for two years.
The surprise was the newest addition to the distilled line, which up until September 2006 had been comprised solely of fruit brandies. Koenig is now producing a potato Vodka. It’s argued that potatoes make the best Vodka available and after tasting Koenig’s, we’d agree. This is delicious sipping Vodka with a very smooth finish and a light sense of vanilla. Due to Idaho liquor laws, you cannot sample any distilled products in the tasting room, but the Vodka is well worth purchasing to enjoy later.
Dining in Boise
While in Idaho, it’s a good idea to sample some of the exciting new cuisine Boise has to offer. It seems new restaurants are opening almost daily there and the nightlife, which has always been busy downtown, is casually sophisticated.
A couple worth mentioning:
Gino’s Grill (150 North 8th Street) offers exceptional service, excellent food and a great wine list. We had a 2000 Pasqua Amarone della Valpolicella Sagramoso with our meal that was one of the most delicious wines we’ve ever had ($29 retail price).
8th Street Wine Company (405 South 8th Street in the new Bodo District; www.8streetwine.com) is a combination of great wine shop and casual restaurant, featuring anything from burgers to North African food.
ZAP 2006
The 2006 ZAP Festival
January 25 – 28, San Francisco
More than 8,000 Zinfandel lovers. Two-hundred-seventy-two wineries pouring two wines (or more) each. More than 1,500 pounds of international cheeses and 8,600 baguettes. Those are the raw numbers of the 15th anniversary Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) tasting held January 28th at Fort Mason in San Francisco. The tasting is the final event of a four-day annual celebration of what is considered to be “America’s wine:” big, bold, delicious Zinfandel.
Despite what may seem like crushing numbers, this is one of the best organized events you will ever attend. Despite being surrounded by thousands of people, you don’t feel crushed by a crowd. And it’s a unique opportunity to taste an overwhelming number of exceptional wines — many you may not get to experience outside of their tasting rooms.
This year our focus (and with 272 wineries, you need focus) was to sample wines from smaller wineries. What follows are some of the highlights from our afternoon of tasting. There was not one bad wine in the dozens we tasted, but these stood out a little more than the others.
Montevina
Montevina is one of our favorites wineries. They produce consistently great wines at a great price. The Zinfandel Port ($18 on their Web site) is delicious. Rich, smooth and luscious. They also have a new wine called Wild Thing, a blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, and Barbera. Great stuff.
Mutt Lynch Winery
They make great wine and they love dogs. What’s not to like? “Portrait of a Mutt” Zinfandel is rich, fruit forward and yummy.
Rancho Arroyo
Rancho Arroyo is a small winery from the Central Coast region of California producing some beautiful Zins. One they were pouring was a wine they had donated to the ZAP auction made in conjunction with Saucelito Canyon (see below). It was phenomenal. Rich, good flavors, earth.
Saucelito Canyon – our best in show
In a show filled with exceptional wines, it’s almost ridiculous to declare one as best in show. So let’s just say of the dozens of wines we tasted, this is the one that stood above the rest. The Saucelito Canyon 2004 Dos Ranchos is phenomenal. It will be released in the next few weeks on a very limited basis. The other Zins they were pouring were excellent too, but Dos Ranchos was a real stand out.
Mendocino Wineries
There were several wineries form Mendocino this year. Our favorite was Barra of Mendocino — this was their first year there. The wine was good, but it was the Barras themselves. Charlie Barra has been farming grapes in Mendocino for 50 years and is a lovely person to talk with.
Gnarly Head – best in show giveaway
Let’s start with the wine — which was excellent (read our review from October). Certainly in our top five for the show. They are also very good marketers. They gave away black Gnarly Head caps, which you saw everywhere at Fort Mason.
The Other Guys
The Other Guys were pouring PlungerHead Dry Creek Valley Zin, which was very nice. The interesting part was the closure: they’re using Zorks. A Zork is a “revolutionary wine closure that seals like a screw cap and pops like a cork.” They are produced by an Australian company and are being used on a limited number of wines, including some from Don Sebastiani & Sons.
Clay Station – Best Value
And finally, from our very unscientific sample of the show, our best value: Clay Station 2004 Old Vine Lodi. $12.99 retail price. Rich, fruity, delicious. Clay Station is part of the Delicato Family Vineyards (which also owns Gnarly Head) and they are rolling out broader distribution for Clay Station — so hopefully you’ll find it on your shelves soon.
The difficult part about reviewing a ZAP tasting is all the exceptional wineries we can’t write about — there are just too many. Our advice: try it yourself next year (January 27, 2007). For more information, visit www.zinfandel.org.
Portello Wine Cafe, Bend OR
It’s a bit off the beaten path (although with Bend’s growth, it won’t be for long). Excellent selection of wines by the glass (good selection of beer as well). All wines by the glass are $5 each every day until 3:00pm and all day on Mondays until 7:00pm.
The food is perfect. We had the bruschetta, which is served with your choice of four toppings. The walnut with gorgonzola and honey drizzle was breathtaking. Great atmosphere, too.
Portello Wine Cafe
2754 NW Crossing Drive
Bend, OR 97701
541.385.1777
Sonoma – Russian River Valley
As we were talking about our plans that morning at breakfast, Jim, one of the owners of The Trojan Horse B&B in Sonoma, suggested we go to Westside Road in Healdburg and sample the wineries there. He said it was a different feel from much of Sonoma. Great suggestion. Westside Road has lots of smaller wineries and it is a very rural feel.
Mill Creek Vineyards & Winery
First stop was our favorite by far that day. Mill Creek Winery is a husband/wife operation. Barbara Ciatti was helping us in the tasting room that day as her husband was running errands. Their cat, Chardonnay, greeted us when we pulled up and stayed with us for most of our time there. She reminded us, in color at least, to our cat Simon. Very friendly, sweet cat.
The tasting room was informal, friendly, and very informative. They are known for their Merlots, which are excellent. They have 40 acres on site there plus another 15 in the Alexander Valley. They produce 15,000 cases a year – a very small winery.
All their wines were great. The Sauvignon Blanc was excellent. We tried the Gewürztraminer (which we bought). Spicy, dry, wonderful flavors. Zinfandel – lots of tannins, delicious. Merlot was excellent as well.
They have a wine club that ships 4 times a year (which was typical of most the wineries we visited).
Armida Winery
A more typical, large tasting room, it sits up on a hill with a stunning view of the vineyards. It has a few some picnic benches from which you can enjoy the view.
They have a cute old dog who acts as greeter and is their official mascot. In fact, the bottle of wine we bought has his paw print on it (which is why we bought it).
The woman in the tasting room was new (two weeks into her job) and very nice, but not very knowledgeable yet.
We tried the Chardonnay (ok), Pinot Noir (not very good at all), Zinfandel (ok) and Merlot (ok). We bought a signature Merlot.
Belvedere Winery
Very pretty setting. This was one placed we stopped a lingered over some wine, cheese and crackers.
This was a great stop. The woman working the tasting room was very nice, informative and casual. They had the usual wines – Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Merlot and Cab – but also had a reserve Syrah that we couldn’t taste. We bought blind because of her description.
We bought a couple glasses of Zinfandel and sat on the patio drinking that and eating our cheese and crackers. She gave us a sharp knife and a couple glasses to use for our picnic, which was also very nice.
An overall very good experience and some nice wines.
Hop Kiln Winery
This was one of the most unique settings of any of our stops. The winery is literally built in an historic hop kiln. It’s on the California and U.S. historical registry, so they can only improve it so much. Both David Soul and Jimmy Stewart filmed movies here. In fact, David Soul had his engagement party there (although they never actually married).
This is a very small winery. The room was huge, dark, but friendly. Wines were pretty good there as well. We bought a blush wine as a White Zin substitute for my sister, Linda. They have a pond out back with a little duck house to protect them while they sleep (apparently, they get eaten quite often by various critters).
This was a wonderfully unique stop and a very pretty setting.
Davis Bynum
Another very small winery.
Great Meritage wine – we bought one. Fun tasting room – the woman there was great!
We tried Chardonnay, Zinfandel (which was very good) and the Meritage, which was excellent. We will definitely go back to this one.
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Winery visits in New Mexico? What do they make — maybe a cactus wine or something?
We can’t blame you for being somewhat skeptical. When you think wineries, your mind doesn’t leap to Santa Fe, New Mexico first.
Maybe it should. The wineries we visited were all making very respectable wines and, in some cases, very adventurous wines as well.
They’re the first to tell you that New Mexico is the oldest wine grape growing region in the United States. Most grapes are being cultivated in the southern part of the state (around Deming and Las Cruces). The wineries around Santa Fe buy much of the grapes from there, but some are also growing their own along the Rio Grande.
These are all small wineries, most of them either right on Highway 84/285 or 68 north of Santa Fe on your way to Taos. And most of their sales are at the winery itself.
Santa Fe Vineyards
(20 miles north of Santa Fe on Highway 84/285 – can’t miss it)
This was our first visit of the trip and it certainly set the stage for the rest of the trip.
The wines at Santa Fe were all good. Our favorite was the Tinto Del Sol, a red table wine with nice balance, fruit, and a little bit of spice.
Black Mesa Winery
(Right on Highway 68)
Black Mesa was our favorite of the bunch. It has a bright, open tasting room. There are 20 wines you can taste (as few or as many as you like). And the winemaker might just come in and spend as much time as you’d like talking about his wines (he did with us, but finally excused himself to work on taxes — it was April 14th when we visited).
They grow 30% of their own grapes along the Rio Grande and they plan to increase that to 50% soon. Their wines range from Chardonnay, Fume Blanc, and a beautiful Gewurtraminer to a nice Sangiovese, a Merlot and some great blends (“Antelope,” a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend, and “Coyote,” a Cab/Syrah blend being our favorites).
We bought a bottle of the Cabernet Franc, which was a beautiful wine. Cabernet Franc is generally used as a blending grape, but some wineries are making stand-alones that are excellent. This one was smooth, rich, well balanced, and faithful to the Cabernet Franc grape.
La Chiripada Winery
(on Highway 75, just off Highway 68)
This is the winery that’s furthest off the beaten path, but still easy to get to (they also have a tasting room in Taos). La Chiripada is the only winery we visited that had vines outside the tasting room.
They make over a dozen different wines and all that we tasted were good. The one we just loved was an apple wine. Yes, apples. It’s called “Embudo Blanco” and it’s made from all organically grown apples from New Mexico (it’s their only non-grape wine). It’s light, crisp, and refreshing with just the slightest hint of apple in the taste. A fun, delicious wine!
They also produce Port. We tried both they had available and really liked the ’97 New Mexico Port. It’s deep, rich, and very smooth.
Tomisita’s
500 South Gaudalupe, near the Plaza
505.983.5721
There is no shortage of great food in Santa Fe. As you would expect, it’s a food paradise for anyone who likes Mexican food. One of our favorites was Tomisita’s. The food is incredible, their sopapillas (like a homemade tortilla that’s puffed up) are incredible — both stuffed and on their own — and they make the best Sangria we’ve ever had.
San Estevan Cafe
428 Agua Fria, near the Plaza
505.995.1996
This is the perfect restaurant for wine lovers. The food is delicious with a great variety on the menu, the wine list is long and very reasonably priced, and they serve their wine in Reidel crystal glasses. Now that’s class! They have a cute patio in the front that’s makes for a very romantic setting in the evening. The service was excellent and very friendly.
Orfilia Vineyards, San Diego
When you think of visiting San Diego, going to a winery is probably not even on your list. But nestled away in San Diego’s North County is a small winery that is not only making some excellent wines, but has one of the most enjoyable tasting rooms we’ve encountered.
Orfila Vineyards and Winery is located in the San Pasqual Valley where the first vineyards in California were planted over 200 year. Warren’s first visit to Orfila was at a corporate event he attend shortly after taking a job nearby (they had 42 corporate events and 35 weddings last year at the winery). While we lived there, we spent many a wonderful Saturday afternoon sitting on their veranda enjoying a glass of one of their wines.
Back in those days, Orfila (then known as the Thomas Jaeger Winery) produced the standard California wine fare and they were good, respectable wines. When we visited them recently for the first time in several years, we were very pleasantly surprised by how their line has grown and how exceptional they are as well.
Orfila’s tasting room/gift shop is wonderfully informal, as you might expect in San Diego, and the staff is very friendly and informative. It’s a large open room with rows of oak barrels in the back and gift and food items around the sides. You can taste one wine for free or for $3.00 you can taste five more wines and you get to keep the glass.
We were very excited to try some of the new wines, but started with the ‘96 Coastal Chardonnay, which was smooth with some nice citrus touches. After moving through the whites, including a nice Gewurtraminer, we had one of our old favorites, the Sangiovese, then moved to the Merlots. There were three Merlots to sample, including a ‘96 Reserve.
As we were tasting them and talking to one of the staff about the differences, he reached under the counter and brought out a sample of the ‘98 Merlot taken straight from the barrel. This is why you visit wineries!
The sample was much less refined and certainly “younger” tasting to us than the finished Merlots, but it was fun to taste a great wine in the making and start to understand the potential it has even before it’s ready to bottle. To us, the joy of visiting wineries are those moments when you are given something special to try. This was the first time we’ve had this exact experience at Orfila, but their staff has always been very generous with their time and knowledge. While we were there, even winemaker and general manager Leon Santoro was talking with visitors in the tasting room.
One wine we didn’t get to sample was their Syrah, which they’ve been producing for three years. The Syrah, like their Pinot Noir, is made in very limited quantities which sell out very quickly. The Syrah is made exclusively from grapes grown in their vineyards and they’ll be adding more vines over the next few years to try and meet demand.
When we mentioned we had just seen the Syrah at the Beverages & More store in Encinitas, he was surprised, since he was sure the entire supply was gone. But we went back later that day and found three bottles for sale for $17.99. We quickly bought one to take to dinner that night with friends.
Chuck and Sheila are two of San Diego’s great activists as well as the most interesting people you can spend an evening with. The goal of this evening was to test out Chuck’s new smoker with some of his famous ribs. These aren’t just ribs, they are pure heaven — and a perfect meal for a big, bold Syrah.
Syrah is considered by many as the “next big thing” in red wines. Australia is famous for their huge, powerful Shiraz (as they are known there), but the grapes grow well in the U.S. as well. You can spend a lot on a Syrah, but there are some great ones out there for under $20 as well.
Orfila’s Syrah was the perfect companion to our big, rich meal. It’s not as in-your-face as the Australian Shiraz we’ve had, but still has that big Syrah character. It’s much rounder and smoother with hints of plums and cherries as well as some nice oak from aging 19 months in the barrel.
It’s unlikely you’ll find Orfilia wine in your local store, unless you live in San Diego, but you can order wine by phone (if you live in a state that allows wine shipments) or join their wine club. Better yet, take a relaxing break from your next trip to San Diego, sit on the veranda under the vines on a warm afternoon and enjoy a really great glass of wine.
How To Get There
From the airport, take 163 north, which turns into I-15. Exit at Via Rancho Parkway, go east around the North County Fair shopping mall, turn right on San Pasqual Road and drive one mile. Orfila Vineyards is right on the way to the Wild Animal Park if you want to make a family day of it.
Winery Information
Orfila Vineyards
13455 San Pasqual Road
Excondido, CA 92025
(800) 868-WINE
Bin 36, Chicago
339 North Dearborn
Chicago, IL
(312) 755-WINE
We were recently in Chicago and had read about Bin 36 in Wine Spectator Magazine. We weren’t planning on making it our first stop, but it turned out that way.
I guess we liked it; we visited four times in three days.
Bin 36 serves 50 wines by the glass with a superb food menu in their large restaurant, and has a great wine shop with books and accessories.
You can order wine four ways: by the bottle, by the full glass, by the 2.5 ounce glass, or in pre-selected flights of four wines. The flights we tried averaged about $15 and they are generous pours. We really enjoyed the flights because the Bin 36 staff has put some great thought into picking the right combination of wines.
They’ve also put great thought into the details. Every wine has a full description. In the gift shop, those descriptions are on hang tags that you can take with you, so you have them home as you taste your wine. The staff is helpful, not stuffy or pretentious.
And best of all – it’s reasonably priced.
Next time you go to Chicago, you have to make time to to visit Bin 36. It’s one of the best wine bars in the country.
A Select Tour of Napa
On our tour on Sonoma, there were a few wineries we felt we had to visit in Napa. We made a couple winery stops and had lunch in Yountville, which we loved from our last trip there. What was going to be three stops turned into almost a full day’s worth of visits – and great ones at that.
Napa vs. Sonoma
Our overall impression of Napa versus Sonoma is consistent with what we’ve read. Napa has much bigger wineries and you tend to taste the same thing at every stop. Sonoma is more rural, much more spread out, and more personal. You end up talking more often with the people who actually make the wine and you get to try some unique wines.
You can hit more wineries in a shorted period of time in Napa because they tend to be lined up. You’ll also have horrendous traffic if you hit there on a weekend. Highway 29 can turn into a parking lot.
Having said that, our experiences this trip in Napa were consistently excellent. The secret is being very selective in your wineries in either place to get the experience you want. We wanted smaller, more intimate and more creative. Our stops mostly reflected those choices.
Clos du Val
We decided to stop at Clos du Val one the way to revisiting Steltzner and it was great.
The tasting room was a good size and very friendly. Their Chardonnay and Zinfandel was excellent.
We bought a bottle of the Zinfandel and went to the car to leave. As we sat in the car discussing our purchase, we decided we just had to have the Chardonnay too. Of everything we had tasted so far on the trip, this was the one Chardonnay that really stood out from the rest. So we went back in and picked up a bottle of that as well.
Steltzner Vineyards
Our favorite stop last year was Steltzner. Tiffany (their Marketing Manager) was great and the wines were excellent. We had to go back this year and visit them again. And it was as nice as the last time. Tiffany wasn’t working the tasting room this time, but the woman there was just as nice. Steltzner tastings are “by appointment only” but we made an instant appointment and started tasting.
As last year, the wines were excellent and the tasting room was fun and informal. They are going to expand their tasting room next year, so it’ll be fun to see it again. We bought a bottle of the Claret and didn’t get charged for the tasting.
We always recommend Steltzner to anyone visiting Napa.
Pine Ridge Winery
This was a totally unplanned stop. As we were driving by, we looked over to the vineyard and saw a Chihuly glass sculpture! We had to go back and check it out — any winery showing that much class in its fields had to have something special. And boy did it!
First comment: WOW! The Chenin Blanc was exceptional. What a great wine. But the Cabernet – WOW! WOW! Incredible. The most distinct Cab we’ve ever had (until later in the trip). What a great, great wine. This was one of our best stops the entire trip and we’ll go back there the next time we visit Napa.
Niebaum-Coppola
This was the absolute must-see stop of the Napa part of the trip. We love their ‘98 Claret. We recently had the Rosso and loved it as well (a great everyday red). We had also read about the Rubicon, their top of the line red wine that they only make on years worthy of it. We had never had the Rubicon, but were hoping to taste one at the winery.
Niebaum-Coppola is the old Inglenook estate founded by Captain Niebaum. Francis Ford Coppola purchased the estate over a period of a few years. After he acquired the entire estate, he got very serious about making fine wines and also to preserve its heritage and the Niebaum name.
The winery is gorgeous. The house is big and has been well preserved. The only new addition: the $1 million staircase Copppola recently had built in the house. Everything is lush. Before we went into the tasting room, which was very crowded even for a mid-weekday, we walked through the downstairs. There are a series of small meeting rooms, more like cellar rooms, specializing in a certain period of wines all the way back to the 1800’s. They would be great to have a corporate meeting in.
We went back to the tasting room. There was a $5.00 per person fee (which we never were charged) and you got to taste four wines, but not the Rubicon. We had the Chardonnay (good), Rosso (excellent), Claret (excellent) and Merlot (good).
Then we brought up Rubicon. The gentleman helping us with our tasting went to great lengths to describe the wine and his tastings of it. We ended up buying a bottle — and have put it away for a very special occasion.
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