California Wine Hike with the California Wine Hiker

I haven't been much of a wine blogger lately. Just been short a couple buckets of inspiration. Happily, there are always more inspiring wines out there which gives a wine blog a pretty good shot at longevity, dry spells notwithstanding. We've discovered a lot of new and wonderful wines since starting this blog twenty plus months ago. However, the biggest unforeseen benefit of wine blogging has been getting to know other wine bloggers. It all started with twitter, and then the Wine Bloggers' Conference in Sonoma in October 2008. It's been a fun and rewarding couple of years to say the least.

Russ Beebe, the "winehiker" has been one of my all time favorite wine blogging and twitter personalities since the beginning. We met only briefly at the WBC so, of course I was very excited when he suggested we join him on a wine hike while visiting the Bay Area. Russ has been hiking local trails for years and years and is really knowledgeable about local plant and wildlife species. He's been doing the wine hikes for about four years now and says his concept of wine hiking is not to bring a bottle on the trail but to hike a trail that ends at a winery. Picchetti Ranch and Winery fits the bill perfectly.

There aren't many properties like Picchetti Ranch which offer real open space hiking trails within close proximatey to a tasting room. Russ is hoping to see that change. He says there is an untapped market for wineries willing to cut some real trails and offer outdoor enthusiasts more than just the typical vineyard walk. Picchetti Ranch has grounds with wonderful rustic charm and a perfect post-hike picnic area adjacent to the tasting room. Russ likes to take groups there because the two mile trail that starts on the property offers plenty of year-round interest in terms of flora and fauna. He pointed out several wild flower and tree species including the wonderfully aromatic mugwort and bay tree leaves.

The wines of Picchetti overall are on the rustic side (in keeping with the surroundings), and fruit features prominently. Some had a little too much fruit concentration on the nose for my taste, and leaned toward prune and other port-like aromas. We quite enjoyed the 2006 Merlot which will hopefully benefit from aging to unify the components. We bought a bottle to lay down. Right now its displaying a lot of cherry and a very rich finish which reminded me of white truffle oil soaking into the tongue.

After a pleasant tasting with Smiler at Picchetti, Russ led us down the road to the Cinnabar Tasting Room in downtown Saratoga. These wines were more refined in contrast to Picchetti but still exhibited some of the same flavors of black fruit and licorice which seem to characterize Santa Cruz Mountain wines. Cinnabar just released an interesting Petite Sirah from a new vineyard that shows some promise for future vintages. My favorite was the Cabernet Franc which was just good. I can't really say more than that since I tend to lose track of pulling out individual flavors when a wine is well integrated and not overpowering in any aspect as was this Cab Franc. I think it would definitely show favorably against some of the Long Island Cab Francs we recently sampled.

If it had been any day but a Monday, our adventure wouldn't have stopped there. But, alas, Saratoga businesses seem to have agreed to take Monday off so we didn't get to finish off at the wine bar as hoped. We bid Russ the wine hiker adieu until our dinner later in the week, and thanked him for a most excellent tour.

Just a little plug here: Russ the California Wine Hiker also organizes and leads corporate group hikes--That would be my kind of team building event! Support your local wine blogger and seek him out!

p.s. Sorry the picture is fuzzy--A nice lady who'd just finished her tasting took it! That's Russ on the left.

Bargetto

Over the holidays we stopped at the Bargetto Winery Tasting Room in Soquel, California while visiting the area. I grew up in Santa Cruz but had never been to Bargetto. Even though it's just off Soquel Drive, I never knew it was there. In fact, Bargetto has been making wine in the Santa Cruz mountains since 1933.

When we walked into the unassuming building, we were immediately greeted by a warm and friendly atmosphere. We made our way down to the antique tasting bar overlooking Soquel Creek where we felt pleasantly ensconced in a mellow wood-paneled chamber accented by stained glass and a cozy fire.

We tasted several enjoyable wines. One highlight of the tasting was the Petite Verdot which Bargetto is doing a nice job with. Their 2006 Petite Verdot has notes of cola, vanilla, bramble, blackberry and cherry. It is notably unmanipulated and would make an excellent food wine. It's drinking nicely right now and also seems quite age-worthy.

Perhaps it was the time of year, but I really enjoyed the Chaucer Honey Mead. They served it mulled from a thermos, and the warm spicy concoction tasted a lot like mulled apple cider except with more honey and less apple. It was really tasty and perfect for sipping (or rather, gulping down) next to a toasty fire. I'm not typically a big dessert wine fan so, this wine struck me because I was surprised at how much I liked it. It was definitely not unsweet, but it was not cloying, and it had a wonderful smooth viscosity. I think this would be a fun wine to have around the holidays, or at the ski lodge, or anyplace where fuzzy wool sweaters are in order.

What we've been up to

You may have noticed another long hiatus this past week on Smells Like Grape. Rest assured, we were tasting lots of wine (we just weren't blogging about it). We were deep in wildest California with no access to wifi or running water. We did manage to cobble together a short vlog with clips of our trip captured on the flipcam Santa left for us. (Okay, there was running water too--but the internet connection was in short supply.) Enjoy.

Of Cigars and Women

We find ourselves out in San Jose, California on a long awaited vacation. Our first stop is with Taster B's parents. It was suggested that we take a trip over the Santa Cruz Mountains and visit Bonny Doon Vinyard. It was there my life was changed forever.

The tasting room at Bonny Doon Vinyard is a large scale, yet highly personal experience. There were approximately five to eight tasting stations staffed by college students. The place with busy with about thirty or so patrons. Our server was Cameron, a philosophy major from Santa Cruz. (Go Banana Slugs!) "I find that wine and philosophy go well together," exclaimed Cameron. That gentle statement was like saying "That atom bomb is real dynamite."

The tasting fees were $5.00. The flight of five wines started with an impetuous white, 2006 I, Aurora. A blend of Viognier, Loureiro and treixadura, wild ferment. Tastes of Citrus, mint and melon. Next came the 2005 Pinot Noir "Transfusion". Another great wine with cedar tannins, black berry, black cherry, smoky, suede to leather texture with a spicy finish. Just yum!

Then Cameron rocked my universe. Bonny Doon has imported Monferrato, Denominazione De Origine Controllata ROSSO. This wine is from the Monferrato hills in the Piemonte region. The tasting sheet describes, " We are exited to release another highly aromatic blend from our good friend Luca Ferraris in the Piemonte region of Italy. The blend, rather untraditional, is primarily Ruche' (70%), accentuated with 20% Barbera with a touch of Syrah."

Cameron poured our tastings, I pulled the glass up to look at the deep purple color. I did the quick double swirl, closed my eyes and stuck my nose into the bowl of the glass. Instantly I saw a beautiful young girl with chestnut brown hair walk into my bookstore. Here eyes were blue. She is the type of girl that you would like to take for a long summer's evening walk along Boulder Creek and spread a blanket in the evening's meadow to look up at the stars. The mountain air filled with the fragrance of vanilla from the ponderosa pines and scents wild flowers waft in the summer breeze blowing up the canyon. At that point, you would know that life would be changed forever.

I opened my eyes and came back into present time. I looked at Cameron, looked at Taster B and said "Oh my God!"


Piemontese Blend
Roso
Monferrato Di Origine Controllata (1)
Producer: Luca Ferraris

Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 14.0%
Price: $18.00

Blend:
Ruch'e 70%
Barbera 20%
Syrah 10%

Color: Purple
Intensity: Dark
Aromas: Rose, violet, licorice
Flavors: Allspice, clove , black cherry, rose
Body: Medium to full
Finish: Long and spicy
Tannin: Starts out silky and works toward leather

Summary:
I never knew wine could be like this. There are a few moments in life that change one's perceptions. This was one of them. In our Wine Spectator tasting course, they talked about floral aromas. I just thought I wasn't able to perceive them. This wine demonstrates that not only is it possible, but they can jump right out of the glass. This wine smells like roses. You must experience this for yourself. This is a wine that is truly capable to evoke strong emotions. A real joy to hold in you hand.

And cigars? The flight continued with the 2003 Le Cigare Volant. Bonny Doon has a long tradition of blending Le Cigare Vilont. A damn good wine with great backbone to age for years. Taster B's father fist tasted this wine back when Randall Grahm would pour in the tasting room himself. It is a blend of Mourv`edre, syrah, Grenache and cinsault.

Finally a desert wine Recioto of Barbera. A very delicious way to end the flight. We enjoyed the tasting room. The staff was pleasant and helpful. Bring a white napkin because we were having trouble judging colors against the dark wooden surfaces.

(1) Post script, 12 Jan 08
Since we have posted this, we have been wrapping our wits around Italian Labels. Monferrato D.O.C. is a relatively new C.O.C introduced in 1995 for red, white and rose’ Dolcetto, Casalese and Freisa from a wide area overlapping the Asti region. Rosso simply means red. Use the label "Italian Labels" to see me muddle through more Italienglish wine labels.