Sierra Foothills Harvest Reports- Calaveras, Placer, Amador

CALAVERAS COUNTY

Ironstone Winery, Murphys, has this update:



Steve Millier, Ironstone's winemaker

 Last week, Steve Millier, Ironstone's winemaker, was photographed checking the Chardonnay that will go into our Ironstone Reserve Chardonnay program.  

On Monday October 3rd, Ironstone brought in our Sierra Foothills Estate Grown Viognier.  The Viognier came in at 25 brix will go into our Reserve program.  The flavors were wonderful and we are very pleased with the grapes. 

Tuesday, Oct 4th, we picked our Sierra Foothills Estate Grown Chardonnay.  Going into press the Chardonnay was at 24.2 brix and was showing intense flavors.  This was a relief to get these grapes in before the midweek rain, which caused us a delay in harvest.  We had possibly an inch of rain, but the soils in Murphys tend to dry quickly.

We picked our Muscat Canelli on October 7 & 8.

PLACER COUNTY

Charlie Green of Green Family Winery, Auburn (Placer County), informed me that on September 20th, he picked 45 tons of Pinot at brix of 23.7 & TA of .67 average.

NOTE:  Green Family Winery is the oldest producing winery in Placer County, with vineyards averaging 18 years old. 

AMADOR COUNTY

Scott Harvey sent this note:

We finished the Bowman vineyard on September 28th.  We were expecting 40 tons and ended up with only 24 tons.  So, it seems that the Zinfandel in Amador county was also greatly affected, like the Napa Valley floor, by the poor set due to the cold spring.  Quality is way above average, great zinfandel flavors. 

I think this will be a vintage where the wines definitely talk to you.  Much like the great 1991 vintage in Amador County.

October 5, we harvested Zinfandel from both the Manby and Norton vineyards in the Shenandoah Valley of Amador county.

Fortezza Winery (Auburn/Placer County) - Harvest Report

Lisa Mann, owner of Fortezza Winery, Auburn (Placer County) sends this report.  Fortezza  is a small estate located in the beautiful rolling Sierra foothills of Auburn California, near California's Gold Country. 

“We are about 1,260 feet in elevation.  I have two vineyards.  We have 5 acres of wine grapes planted total at this time but have room to expand on our 18 acre estate. We planted our vineyards in 2006 with Sangiovese, Petit Verdot, Primitivo and Viognier wine grapes. 

We will be harvesting our Viognier (planted in 2006) on or around the 19th or 20th this month. 

I will harvest my Sangoivese next around the 26th or 27th (brix is about 22), then the Primitivo soon after. 

We will wait on the Petit Verdot (only 18 brix); it is hard to ripen, generally needing a long hot summer, so possibly we will harvest the last part of October. 

The past couple of years it has not been that hot for a long period of time.  We dropped some more fruit and did some shoot thinning.

Our first estate 2009 wines will be released in the next couple of months."

Sierra Vintners Rides Again...this time to Grass Valley

A Taste of the Gold –Premier Tasting Event in Grass Valley

Presented by Sierra Vintners & Grass Valley Downtown Association

Sierra Vintners and the Grass Valley Downtown Association will be presenting A taste of the Gold, a premier wine tasting event on Saturday, September 24, 2011 from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley, CA.     

This fabulously fun and tasty event, featuring some of the Northern Sierra Foothill’s finest restaurants and wineries, takes place on the Saturday afternoon of the Draft Horse Classic. Find your favorite wine, and with glass in hand, nibble your way through more restaurants than you could possibly visit in a long weekend.  With your first taste and your first sip, you’ll soon recognize why “A Taste of the Gold” has become such a popular event.

Early Bird tickets are $30 in advance, by going online to www.sierravintners.com.  Tickets can also be purchased for $40 on the day of the event at the Gazebo, just as you enter Gate 5 at the Fairgrounds.  Wine club members can contact their winery directly for special pricing.  For more event information or tickets by phone, call 530-272-8315. (You must be 21 years of age or older to attend this event.) 

Entertainment will be provided by Bob Mora & The Third Degree Band.  The event is sponsored by Interstate Benefits and Casualty Insurance Services (www.ibcinsuranceservices.com).   A Taste of the Gold takes place at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, adjacent to the Pavilion, near Gate 5, and is held in conjunction with the Draft Horse Classic! For Draft Horse Classic performance tickets, visit the Nevada County Fairgrounds website at www.NevadaCountyFair.com.

For more information about Sierra Vintners and their wineries, visit www.sierravintners.com, email Sierra Vintners at info@sierravintners.com or call 530-205-3016.

About Sierra Vintners

Sierra Vintners is a partnership of wineries located in Nevada County, California, collaborating to promote the emerging wine region located midway between Sacramento and Reno in the Sierra Foothills.

Sierra Vintners features fifteen wineries and additional tasting rooms, offering a diverse wine experience with handcrafted and award winning wines, rural vineyards and wineries, and downtown tasting rooms in the historic towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City, CA. For more information, visit www.sierravintners.com.



Sierra Vintners Pull it All Together at Nevada City Tasting Event

As a big booster of wines from the Sierra and its Foothills. I was delighted to go to the recent Sierra Vintners event held in Nevada City. Almost twenty wineries from Nevada and Placer County participated. Tasting tables were set up in a number of retail shops, hotels and restaurants – all within a short walk of one another. Brilliant. I suggest you get on the mailing list for an alert for future events: go to www.sierravintners.com




Marilyn Szabo pours Primitivo


First stop was the tasting of Szabo wines. The 2008 Syrah is produced from estate grown grapes from their 40-acre vineyard at 2100 feet elevation that sits almost exactly halfway between Grass Valley and Nevada City, with views that include the Pacific Coastal Range and the Sutter and Sierra Buttes. The wine has taste and aroma of raspberry, vanilla and black tea. The tannins to my taste were relatively high, which is not unusual for Syrah. There’s a bit of smokiness or teriyaki on the back palate too. $23/bottle, 14.6 percent alcohol.

Frankly, I thought that the Szabo Primitivo was one of the best Foothill wines I’ve tasted in a long time. Primitivo and Zinfandel are closely related; in fact the two varieties have identical isozyme fingerprints. This 2008 Primitivo is redolent of plum, chili and allspice. $19/ bottle, 14.3 percent alcohol. Winery owners Marilyn and Sandor Szabo have done a great job; their first vintage was just in 2006. http://www.szabovineyards.com/

There’s some thought that Primitivo is a Croatian grape relative, but there’s not enough room in this column to go into that. However, this leads me to talk a bit about the intriguing wines of Rob and Marilyn Chrisman, owners of Avanguardia, on Jones Bar Road in Nevada City. Avanguardia specializes in hand-crafted artisan blends. Over 20 Italian, Russian, and French grapes and University of California varietal crosses are estate grown, many of which rootstocks were imported especially for them. They poured their Cristallo, a white wine blend where the dominant grape is the Georgian Rkatsiteli, a grape of high quality that is widely planted in eastern Europe but wines made from Rkatsiteli are seldom exported. At Avanguardia, it’s combined ( at about 70-90%) with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Melon de Bourgogne. Melon is the sole variety in the Loire wine known as Muscadet, sometimes referred to as the quintessential “oyster wine”. This is a delicious wine, dry, crisp, taut, and relatively full-bodied; and the fruit flavors are of apples and pears. $14/bottle. 12.5 percent alcohol. http://www.avanguardiawines.com/

If you want an interesting discussion about the history of wine along with some lovely wines to taste, then you will want to go visit Sierra Knolls Vineyards just south of Grass Valley near Lake of the Pines. and chat with John Chase, one of the owners. John is an interesting guy, also keen on alternative energy topics, and Sierra Knolls was one of the first 100% solar powered wineries in the Foothills. They are guided in their winemaking by Mike Foster from Nevada City Winery, and feature handcrafted small lot wines. Their 2006 Sangiovese is a terrific Italian varietal, with a nice spiciness. At $16 a bottle, 13.5 percent alcohol, you might want to stock up. http://www.sierraknollswinery.com/



Bent Metal's Scott Brown
pours his great Viognier



David Winn of Coufos Cellars
pours Buffo Blanc, Rhone blend

Other notable wines I tasted:

• Naggiar Vineyards 2009 Mistero, a blend of 60% zinfandel, 30% sangiovese, 10% syrah, nicely fruit-forward. $22/bottle, 14.5 percent alcohol. http://www.naggiarvineyards.com/

• Coufos Cellars Buffo Blanc 2008, a white Rhone varietal blend of 40% Marsanne, 40% Roussanne and 20% Viognier. Tropical fruits, spice at the end. $17/bottle, 14.5 percent alcohol. http://www.coufoscellars.com/

• Bent Metal Winery’s 2009 Viognier, fruit forward with a great mouthfeel and smooth finish. $21/bottle, 15.2 percent alcohol. http://www.bentmetalwinery.com/

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

© 2011 Barbara Keck

For more information on dining and the wide range of activities around Lake Tahoe, see the online version of The Tahoe Weekly. This article appeared in my column "Wine Adventures" in August 2011.

Book in Process: "Mountain High Wine: The Sierra and Its Foothills".

Sierra Foothill Wines: a Great Feature at Charity Event in Reno



Photo Courtesy of Atlantic Casino

 There are more than 7600 bonded wineries in the USA, and more than 3300 in California alone. So it is no surprise that I run into many wines from wineries that are new to me. I have to give credit to the organizers of the recent Toast and Taste of Summer event held at the Atlantis Casino Report Spa in Reno for finding 58 very compelling wineries to include in this interesting tasting event.

The function was a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and featured gourmet food pairings from 17 restaurants including Lake Tahoe’s Sunnyside Resort, Wild River Grille, and Wolfdale’s, and also the new Campo soon to open in downtown Reno under the guidance of Mark Estee, executive chef at Moody’s in Truckee.

Among the wines I tasted was the Mt. Vernon Vineyard, Auburn (Placer County, Sierra Foothills,  Cuvee Blanc, a 50/50 blend of Viognier and Roussane. This wine, just released, was cold fermented with its own indigenous wild yeast for 32 days. This is a field blend created by winemaker Ryan Taylor. Aroma of honeysuckle, a crispness and a creamy finish characterized this wine. Only 240 cases made. 13.9% alcohol, $25/bottle. www.mtvernonwinery.com

Frogs Tooth Vineyards, Murphys (Calaveras County, Sierra Foothills), poured their flagship wine, the 2009 Pinot Grigio. It’s a perfect summer wine: it is delicate and fragrant, a bit floral, a flavor of lemon, and is a nice rich, round full-bodied white wine. 14.5% alcohol. $16/bottle. http://www.frogstooth.com/


The Atlantis Casino Resort Spa is located at 3800 S. Virginia St. Reno, NV 89502. It features the Atlantis Steakhouse, an upscale dining restaurant with a wonderful wine list. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 5PM to 10PM. Reservations call 775.824.4430 http://www.atlantiscasino.com/

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International is dedicated to finding a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications. For more information, go to http://www.jdrf.org/

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

© 2011 Barbara Keck

For more information on dining and the wide range of activities around Lake Tahoe, see the online version of The Tahoe Weekly. This article appeared in my column "Wine Adventures" in July 2011.

Book in Process: "Mountain High Wine: The Sierra and Its Foothills".

FLAGSHIP WINE: Lone Buffalo's "Where the Buffalo Roam"

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

"Where the Buffalo Roam” is our signature wine because the Rhone varietals from which it is blended thrive in our Mediterranean climate and our well drained, decomposed granite soil  We are all about making wines that showcase grapes that excel in Placer County."

Phil Maddux, Owner and Winemaker

LONE BUFFALO VINEYARDS

Auburn, California   (Placer County)

WINEMAKER NOTES:

This is a Rhone-style blend that was produced from Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache grown in Placer County.  We harvested the grapes at optimum ripeness  and vinified as simply as possible. We cold-soak for 24 -48 hours before fermentation to ensure maximum extraction of fruit flavors, and allow for long skin contact during fermentation.  We barrel aged the wine for a minimum of one year, using both French and American Oak.  The wine is minimally racked(2-3 times) not filtered. The result is a wine that is concentrated but shows lively fruit, silky tannins, depth with a hint of spice, elegant and easy to drink.     WHY A BLEND?    Blending different varieties offers the ability to create a wine with more balance, the flexibility to compensate for differences in individual varietals and fruit sources from vintage to vintage, and to create a wine that is better than its individual parts.  It was a wonderful experience to select and blend the grapes and wines which make up this blend.    This is a very smooth red wine not high in tannins; it goes well with most meats from pizza and burgers to Filet Mignon.   Extremely food friendly!

Alcohol 14/6%           350 cases produced

Suggested retail: $22/bottle

Buy it at:  http://www.lonebuffalovineyards.com/wines.html

Lone Buffalo Vineyard wines are also available at the winery and fine wine shops and restaurants in Sacramento, Roseville, Rocklin, Granite Bay, Loomis, Newcastle, Auburn, Truckee, Squaw Valley, Tahoe City and Northstar.  Click here for a list.

Where The Buffalo Roam:  Awards, Reviews

"...rich and concentrated, yet agile. Where the Buffalo Roam is all that, plus it's bright and juicy, with just a touch of peppery spice. Its build is sinewy, its texture supple, its tannins softer than buffalo hide. Mostly syrah, with backing from mourvedre, grenache and cinsault, the wine reinforces my belief that when varietals traditionally cultivated in France's Rhone Valley are blended they generally yield more expressive results than if they are released as individual varietals, whether in France or California." 
    -Mike Dunne's Wine of the Week/Sacramento Bee/ October 20, 2010
AWARDS -2009 Vintage

• Silver Medal - 2011 West Coast Wine Competition

AWARDS - 2008 Vintage

• Best of Class - Sierra Foothills Appellation, 2010 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition
• GOLD Medal, Best of Class- 2010 West Coast Wine Competition
• Silver Medal - 2010 Grand Harvest Awards, Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine

AWARDS - 2007 Vintage

•  Gold - 2010 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition 

VineTalk TV Show: Why not Sierra Foothill Wines?



Ray Isle on the set in NYC
 Dec 2010 Vine Talk tapings

 Pasted below is a press release on the success that Paso Robles Wine Country's marketing efforts have garnered.  The latest is scoring an episode of Vine Talk, a new TV show on PBS.  I actually know the producer of the show and was in the invitation-only audience of the first two tapings, back in early December 2010.  I've been talking to him about featuring Sierra Foothill wines, but no joy so far.  Why?  Because this Sierra Foothill wine region which is so beloved of me is just too darn disorganized for a unified push to make the national-recognition thing happen.

Amador, El Dorado, Calaveras, Placer, Fair Play, Nevada County... all the winery associations there do great jobs for their counties and AVAs.  But to achieve true marketing success, there needs to be one umbrella organization.  With a budget. With goals and objectives and accountability. With at least a part-time executive director.  You know... an effort that is run like a business. 

Mike & Jeff from Wine Enthusiast;
fellow audience members Vine Talk

Let me get down off my MBA-highhorse for a moment and say that I know it is hard to organize an effort like this.  A bit like herding cats.  Winemaking in the mountains and Foothills has economic and other challenges.  The last thing any winemaker wants is another set of dues to pay, meetings to attend, energy-consuming events to pour at.

The reality, however, is that a rising tide floats all ships.  (Sorry for all the aphorisms).  That's one of the reasons I promote (re-promote?) the outreach of the Sierra Foothills associations. (SEE THE RESOURCE LIST ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THIS BLOG !) I blog their press releases to reach more eyes, Tweet and RT, Facebook and Link-In, because I believe.  I believe in this region, I support the winemakers and winery owners, and I'm here to beat the drum.

Surely there is a way we can all pull together on this? 

And yes ... Stanley Tucci is as good looking, compelling and sexy in person as he is on stage and TV.  I almost got to kiss his ring.

Relaxing at Boulod Restaurant w/
Bruce Marcus, Exec Producer of
Vine Talk, after tapings Lincoln Center

Elena Crespo, Chief Marketing
Officer, on the Vine Talk set

~~~~~~~~~ (below, courtesy of PR Newswire) ~~~~~~~~~

 "Paso Robles Wine Country to Be Featured on New Television Show – VINE TALK"

A-List Host Stanley Tucci and Panel of Celebrities Blind Taste Paso Robles Zinfandel



PASO ROBLES, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Paso Robles Wine Country continues a pattern of positive recognition in mainstream media as a featured wine region in the new television series, VINE TALK. Paso Robles Zinfandel wines will be showcased in the sixth episode of VINE TALK where celebrity A-Lister and long-standing foodie, Stanley Tucci, guides a panel of celebrity oenophiles through an on camera tasting. This new PBS show strives to break the mold of stuffy wine content programming by creating a fun and welcoming environment for viewers where even the studio audience is a part of the show. Paso Robles has been chosen as the region to highlight Zinfandel with six Paso Robles wine brands to be sampled, discussed, judged and unveiled including – Carina Cellars, J Dusi Wines, Peachy Canyon Winery, Steinbeck Vineyards & Winery, Turley Wine Cellars, and Victor Hugo Winery.



“VINE TALK stands to enthrall new wine consumers into discovering Paso Robles and our wines. The timing could not be better as we prepare to celebrate the biggest festival of the year in Paso Robles Wine Country.”



Each week a different wine region from around the world serves as the inspiration for a lively and engaging conversation which highlights the varietals or wine characteristic of that region. The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance assisted producers from VINE TALK to compile a sampling of standout Zinfandel wines to be considered for the inaugural season. Mr. Ray Isle, executive wine editor of FOOD & WINE magazine provides his expertise on the show by answering questions about the wines and providing background on regions. Episode six features celebrity chef, Tim Love; former MLB All-Star pitcher, Ron Darling; and internationally acclaimed violinist, Philippe Quint, as they sniff, swirl, and sip while discussing their current projects and of course Paso Robles Zinfandel wine.



“It’s exciting for Paso Robles wines to be highlighted in this show with such incredible personalities,” said Christopher Taranto, marketing director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance. “VINE TALK stands to enthrall new wine consumers into discovering Paso Robles and our wines. The timing could not be better as we prepare to celebrate the biggest festival of the year in Paso Robles Wine Country.”   (etc etc)

Corkage Fees and Deep Deep Snow: The Sufferings of Mountain Restaurateurs

"Too much snow," declared my friend H, who owns a restaurant at Tahoe that has a wonderful wine list. "That, and so many people bring their own wine now."

I'm fortunate to have my finger on the pulse of on-premise wine sales in this high-income resort area of California, by virtue of my weekly wine column in The Tahoe Weekly.  A glass of wine, a loaf of bread, and a look at the wine list late at night when most customers have gone home: that's the dynamic that lets those risk-takers in the restaurant industry let their hair down a bit and tell you what's really going on.  I don't care what bean-counting firms follow wine offtake in the bar and restaurant business, their numbers can't give you the accurate up-to-date reading that such chats allow.

So the restaurants and ski lodges are packed on snowy weekends this winter.  Except if there is too much snow.  Snow like the snow last weekend, and black ice, which caused that truck to jack-knife on Route 80 and crush a car and its occupants.  That will keep the skiers away!   And it did.

Regardless of snow ice traffic and so on, H's wine list is a wonder to behold.  I've enjoyed food & wine pairings at his restaurant that are astounding. But he says he simply is not buying any wine.  His cellar is full of good wines ... but so many customers bring their own these days.  What's a restaurateur to do?

I understand that the economics of the business are tough.  But my recommendation (which I keep to myself late at night) is this:  Don't mark up your wines so much.   Consumers/diners are not stupid.  And now, with a two-second touch of their smartphones, they can find out what a wine sells for at retail and do the math.  Corkage fees help the bottom line a bit... but that few extra dollars and moving your inventory and thus eliminating your carrying-cost ... simple B-School principles say, REDUCE YOUR PRICES.

MOVE 'EM OUT, COWBOY.

225 Sierra & Its Foothills Wineries: Growing in Numbers and Thriving via Quality

In the summer of 2010, I spent months on the mountain roads of the Sierra and its Foothills, visiting 40-50 of the 225 wineries there.  People are always astounded at those numbers -- even those in the wine business who ought to understand the economics and allure of vinifera-friendly land that doesn't cost a fortune (um, Napa and Sonoma come to mind...). 

In the process, I met wonderful people who are truly dedicated to grapegrowing at altitude, and who are producing Mountain wines that are incredible: intense, unique, sometimes even experimental in terms of blends and varietals.  It's certainly not about the numbers here in the Sierra, but in case you are interested, let me answer, to the best of my ability, the most frequently asked question:

So what's the current count?

In alphabetical order by county:
CALIFORNIA
48    Amador
39    Calaveras
74    El Dorado ..   oops, 75
6      Mariposa
20    Nevada
23    Placer
1      Sutter
5      Tuolumne
6      Yuba
NEVADA
3 - Washoe County

So the number is currently 226... and additions are being made all the time.  Let me know of the newcomers, please!

For example, just yesterday, I was talking to Doug Noble, Food and Wine Writer for the Mountain Democrat Newspaper, which circulates widely in El Dorado County.  He was raving about a dinner he'd had recently that featured wines from Nello Olivo.  Don't know how I missed that one, but that raised the El Dorado County winery number to 75.   The new Nello Olivo Wine Tasting Room opened fairly recently.   It is in the historic cellar of the Sequoia Restaurant (the restored Bee-Bennett Victorian mansion) in downtown Placerville.  The Winery is located in Cameron Park. They produce Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon, Claret, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Primitivo, Sangiovese, Toscanello (a blend that is primarily Sangiovese), and a Super Tuscan.

More about the winery: (a few remarks cribbed from their website,  www.nelloolivo.com/ ) 

The Olivos have chosen to grow old-world style grapes—particularly those common to regions of Italy, Nello's ancestral home—which flourish in the California Sierra Foothills terroir and climate.

"A lifelong dream of mine," says Nello, "has been to grow my own grapes and produce my own wine. That's exactly what my grandfather did who came from the old country. It's a passion in me. It's probably in my blood. When I'm doing that, I feel like a happy little kid!"

Rancho Olivo Vineyards is a true boutique winery, producing less than 100 cases of each varietal annually. This makes Nello Olivo wines true sought-after treasures by those who have discovered its qualities.

.