Mike Sai brought a fairly large group of folks together via the eBob OL forum for a food and wine gathering at Cedarville Vineyard in the Sierra Foothills east of Sacramento. This was my first time in the area, and it is quite spectacular. We drove up Highway 49 thru small gold rush towns, past Calaveras where Mark Twain wrote about the jumping frogs, up into the Shenandoah Valley. Beautiful country, and lots and lots of wineries, most of which do not charge tasting fees.
The day before the event, we stopped at the following wineries:
Dobra Zemlja (http://www.dobraz.com): absolutely stunning setting next to a pond; beautifully landscaped grounds; worth a stop to have lunch if nothing else, but do try the wines. Tasting room is part of the `caves’ built into the hillside: the wines are made by a Croatian winemaker; they are rustic and bold, with amazingly high ABV levels that manage to not be hot at all. I really enjoyed the Barbera and the Syrah. In fact, one revelation for me on this trip was the crispness and relative leanness of Syrahs from the area. Not sure quite why.
Amador Foothill (http://blog.amadorfoothill.com ): Very interesting set of wines here, and with one exception (at $28), all the wines are under $20. In fact, QPR pricing was the order of the day at most of the wineries. These are everyday wines, but with character. One of the owners, Ben, was in the tasting room, and we had a nice chat about the vineyards and the wines and the development of the wine industry in the region. I liked their Rhone blend, the Rose and the Sauvignon Blanc and bought some of each.
Terra Rouge and Easton (http://www.terrerougewines.com/index.html ): One of the better known wineries in the region, and the line-up was very good, with the Terra Rouge wines covering the Rhone varietals and Easton the rest of the spectrum. With Bill Easton you never know what you are going to get in terms of vintage; there was a 1999 Zin that was outstanding (and at $16.50 by the case, a killer deal), a 2000 Merlot ($12.50 per by the case; bought this one) showing great character and a bit of fun rusticity; I liked the Mourvedre a lot, and all the wines are well made and pretty widely distributed. A really nice place to visit with a great tasting room staff.
Renwood (http://www.renwood.com/renwood/index.jsp ): doesn’t need much introduction to those who drink Zin. The Grandmere and Grandpere were both opulent and structured and well worth the prices asked. They also have a Red Label for their Viognier, which at half the price of their regular bottling, was a no-brainer for Viognier addicts like us. Very nice tasting room, nice grounds, and good tasting room staff. They charge $5 for the Reserve tasting (the regular tasting is free), but we were not charged and they did not hold us to the 4 wine limit. Anything we wanted to try they poured. Another really nice visit.
Vino Noceto (http://www.noceto.com ): is pretty well known for its Sangiovese. I’ve liked it in the past, but somehow, that day, it seemed ponderous and heavy compared to the Zins, Syrahs and even Mourvedres we tasted. Plus the tasting room kid was a bit of a robot and talked way more than he needed to. Oh well.
For lunch that day, we stopped at Villa Toscano (http://www.villatoscano.com/home.php ): It is a beautiful place alongside the main artery into wine country and has large grounds with a restaurant and lots of al fresco dining. It’s the sort of place that does lots of weddings and the like. We didn’t try any wine, though I would have if I could have elbowed my way thru the raucous and preppy crowds at the tasting bar. We did have lovely hot sandwiches and salad from the restaurant out on the patio, and I would stop there again for the lunch, the views and the serenity. Maybe the wines are ok, who knows?
But the real reason for the trip north (besides road testing our 3-month old for a trip to Italy in the summer), was to visit Cedarville Vineyard (http://www.cedarvillevineyard.com) in Fair Play (which is not even on my GPS). Mike Sai, his wife Lauren, Bob Summers, Augie and Raquel Hug, Steve Timko, me, my wife Lorena, Dave and Marcia and Lauren’s parents.. . .not sure if I’ve left anyone out… brought food, some wines and good spirits to a beautiful setting on what turned out to be a lovely, warm Spring day. Oh, also joining us was Hank Beckmeyer from La Clarine Farm (http://www.laclarinefarm.com ), a star player in the day’s activities with his local goat cheeses.
I would never, ever, ever drive this far for an OL, never, but since this was Cedarville, a winery from which I have been buying their Viognier, Grenache, Zin, Syrah and Cab for a number of years, we went. Jonathan Lachs and Susan Marks are the owners/operators/winemakers, and over the years they had become email buds. Both my wife and I have developed a real attachment to the winery that is hard to explain, but is just there. We were excited to meet them and visit the location of so many wines we had loved over many lunches and dinners.
Jonathan and Susan took us on a quick walking tour of their 20 acres site after we had popped some bubbly and eaten some fresh strawberries. It is hilly there, and as one ascends thru the vineyards to the top of highest hill, and we did so with champagne flutes in hand, one arrives at their home. It has a 360° view of the surrounding area that is stunning. We gawked and oohs and aaahed but eventually we made our way back to the winery (actually our wine glasses were empty.. and that is what compelled us off the hill).
The food line up was brought out.. Bob’s smoked ribs, long-aged and shorter-aged goat cheeses from Hank’s farm so we could do some comparison tasting (a huge wheel of one cheese was simply devoured!!), sandwiches, curried egg salad, and loads of other goodies.
Jonathan and Susan opened the following Cedarville wines:
2000 Viognier: this was all about minerals and character and structure; still very good acidity. I liked it a lot.
2004 Viognier: I only got a smidgin of this, as everyone seemed to favor it. It was more fruit driven than the 2000, and I liked it a little less.
2007 and 2008 Viogniers: I loved both of these (the 2008 isn’t released yet), but I think the 2008 is one of their best yet. Lovely florals and mouthfeel, and terrific fruit and acidity.
Also opened were the current releases of Cedarville’s Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and maybe Zin. By this time I was full of lots of wine (we also opened a 2007 Terra Novus Pinot, produced by Mike Sai and Paul Lin, very good; 2005 Alban Reva, unctuous and big; a 2008 Dobra Zemlja Viognier, somewhat sweeter than the Cedarville Viogniers, but still quite nice, and there is probably some other stuff I’m forgetting), so my memory is a wee bit hazy on the specifics of these wines.
All of the current release Cedarville wines were quite young for my palate, and I think they need a year or two in bottle to really show their elegance. They are good now, but they will be very very good down the road a bit.
All in all, a really wonderful trip, and a great day with old and new friends. The wines from the area are quite good, and if you are looking for some respite from the Napa/Sonoma crowds, I recommend a little exploration in this area. We’ll be back
