Diver...
Great idea for a thread! Thanks for the invite.
As for wine tours, well I have not gone through one lately, but here are a few (from what I remember)
The best experiences are those that can be arranged privately, you get far better attention, far better wine tasting, and if the chemistry is right, you get to know the owners, and of course benefit from their hospitality.
From what I can remember, the best wineries are (in terms of wine quality, the property is a secondary consideration). Some tours were private (the best), and others were public tours.
Heitz.... (St. Helena, CA) excellent Cabernets, great winery, I got lucky and the owner allowed me to taste their choice (and older... late 70's Cabernets, they are legendary, powerful and will last many years, as good as the best Bordeaux.
Grgich Hills.... (Rutherford, CA) if I remember right, the owners were of Slavic descent, they had a very powerful and tasty Zinfandel (Alexander Valley), they explained to me their entire process wonderful tour.
L'Ecole (Yakima Valley in WA State), a wonderful full-bodied Chardonnay, Washington State Chardonnay are as good, (and in some instances better than Napa/Alexander Valley in California.
Blackwood Canyon..... This was a unique experience, I met the owner Mike, (I have forgotten his last name), and his wine master, a couple of characters, it was the end of a tour in Yakima Valley, (and the place looked like the end of the world too... as they were closing they let me in their warehouse, that really looked more like an abandoned airfield hangar, inside there were barrels of wine all over the place.
Mike explained to me that the winery had burned down and these barrels were what they were able to salvage, so we proceeded to the tasting.....
I tried their Chardonnay an excellent full bodied and buttery wine, as good as a Mersault or Chasagne Montrachet (I am not making this up, his wines were the best.)
His Cabernet was one of the better ones from Washington State (I am not too fond of WA state Cabernets). He also had a "late harvest Riesling in 1/2 bottles that were very good. Merlot was O.K. a little on the heavy side, lots of sediment.
Then he opened a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc...... This, along with his Chardonnay, was his best wine.
A Sauvignon Blanc is meant to be a rather light wine easy to drink. His Sauvignon was a superb wine with incredible and very intricate flavors, one could almost say that it was a "Wine made out of Herbs".
I have never tasted a wine like that in my life, his wine master explained to me that the trick was in planting different herbs nearby the vines, and so when time for pollination came, the wine would acquire some of the scents of the herbs.....
Now, I do not know if this guy was making this up, (as I am not an expert on these matters), but true or not, believe me this wine was outstanding, I bought three cases of the elixir, and I am happy and sad to report that the entire lot has been consumed..... (this was a 1986 & 87 vintage, from what I remember the 86 was better than the 87 (or visceversa). Yes, the people who I shared the wine with later, agreed with me, so one could not say that I was "drunk" at the time of the tasting and my taste buds (and imagination), were "intoxicated".
I have often wondered, if what they did to this wine (rather then the planting of herbs alongside the vineyards), was to add herbs while the wine aged..... (I know that in some instances adding oak chips can add the flavor of a wine aged in French oak barrels). I do not know, for sure about the herbs, mere guess.
Mike also explained to me that he had learned winemaking in the old and traditional French way, without going into detail, as it is rather complicated and I do not remember all the details, he used French Oak barrels in his wine making allowing sediment (lees) to collect, this adds flavor to the wine. By the time you "barrel the wine" all the fermentation should be finished, and this is merely a time for "aging". French Oak barrels must be used, as the Oak has been "leached" and prepared before making the Barrels, they are very expensive. Not using these prepared barrels would live you with a liquid tasting like a sawmill.
As time went on, the subsequent years of the Blackwood Canyon Chardonnay were not as good as that memorable evening, which ended at about 11:30 PM, (with a long drive back to the hotel in Seattle, where I was staying). Since then, I have not been able to find the Sauvignon Blanc, nor his Chardonnay.
Perhaps, after all, that entire experience took place in the Twightlight Zone.....
Beringer, beautiful grounds, their best wine (at the time), was Cabernet Sauvignon.
Billeau Vineyards, the property is beautiful, same with Far Niente Vineyards, Freemark Abbey, and Stonegate Winery their wines are mainly Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot (particularly from Stonegate).
Clos Duval Cabernet.
Kenwood Their best are Chardonnay
Cakebread Cellars in Calistoga, Chardonnay and Cabernet.
Cuvaison Rutherford, Zinfandel
And others....... By the way.... do not ever try any "Rose wines" (or "pink wines"), as in Pink Zinfandel, even the famous "Mateus" from Portugal. Pink wines are not wines...... they are ... well hybrids like Mules, they are not horses, and they are not donkeys..... anyway, that is my opinion only.....
One time in Canada (yes, the Great White North can produce wine), near Niagara-on-the-lake I visited a winery by the name of Newark Wines.
I met the owner Joseph Pohorly, I tried a Gewrztraminer (usually a wine on the light and sweeter side (from Alsace in France), his was a dry white wine.
The experience was a pleasant one, until for some reason the conversation turned to politics...... I made a remark about the French Canadian separatists, (along the lines of "I believe as neighbors everyone should get along").... the man went berserk and the visit was curtailed. I did get a few of the bottles, and after that maybe because of the experience, the wines tasted ..... well like politics.
Other wineries I would like to visit, (but have not), are located in
Chile and Argentina both countries produce excellent wines. Cabernet Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, and others.
The interest thing about these wines, is that the vines were brought there prior to the European disaster of the late 1800's (a little pest by the name of Phylloxera attacked and destroyed all of the noble "vitis-vinifera" vines in Europe, the reason we have wines today, is because to avoid the disease, they European vines had to be grafted to American roots (which are immune to the attacks of the little pest). The vines of Chile and Argentina come from the original European stock, and were not affected by the pest.
I am certain that those wineries would also be very interesting.
In Chile, the Maipo Valley near Santiago (the capital), is where the better wines are produced. (of European vines origin).
A grape known as "Pais" (country, as in "nation") is the one that produces the "vino ordinario" (or everyday wine) in Chile. This grape was brought by Los misionarios, (just about the one good thing these folks contributed to society..... ok, ok, we won't go there....forget I said that). The grape is said to come from Spain.
However, the tendency today is to concentrate on the European style wine, Chile is the sixth largest producer of wine (after Italy, Spain, France, Russia (formerly USSR), and Argentina.
Labeling in Chile is reliable as regulation is strict, producers can not exceed a quota, if they do, they must export it or convert it to industrial use alcohol..... this is to fight alcoholism.
An interesting statistic is that more people are employed by the wine industry than the copper industry in Chile.
Argentina is the fifth largest producer of wine, and with a population of 33 million people, on average the Argentineans consume most of it, (about 70 litres per capita per year), their wine is more on the Italian and Spanish style, although lately the French influence is increasing, concentrating in quality, rather than quantity. In the NW part of the country in the Mendoza and San Juan regions is where most of the wine is produced.
Labeling here is loose and unreliable, best is to stick to known producers, but there are good wines.
I have also heard that touring the "Loire Valley" in France visiting old (and Magnificent Castles) is supposed to be a lot of fun, I believe there are a few wineries, although the wines of the Loire valley are not the best examples of French wines.
A very good friend of mine (an Architect), did go through these castles, showed me some pictures where he had been and the castles were magnificent. I did a little Castle hunting in the Scottish countryside, (some of the owners have opened their castles to the public, and some are used as bed and breakfast inns. This is fun and again if one gets lucky the hospitality from the owners is a definitive bonus.
Well.... this got a bit long.
Z. |
