We all have those friends. The ones who go off on a wine trip to some obscure winery in California and return with tales of glory: huddling in a drafty barrel room while a grape-stained vintner dips a siphon into a puncheon, doling out a few precious drips of next year’s release that nobody else has tasted yet. Or the spontaneous vineyard tour where perfectly ripened Syrah grapes are sampled right off the vine. Or how an unlikely kindred spirit in a tasting room begets the appearance of a rare bottle from the library to be enjoyed with new friends…on the house of course.

Want to be those friends? Want a meaningful wine experience where you can really get a sense of place and time? There is a map for this.

FIND THE WINE REGION LESS TRAVELED.

Everyone knows there are world class wines are produced in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, but competing with wine-fan filled limos for a tiny piece of real estate at the tasting bar, and spending $100 per flight for the privilege, might not be the intimate experience you are seeking.  Instead of Napa Valley (or even Sonoma County), check out the Rhone style varietals on the west side of Paso Robles and then head over to Tin City in Templeton or the Wine Ghetto in Lompoc.  In these less obvious locales, you will find mad scientists in warehouses and garages making everything from Pinot Gris to Petite Sirah.  Like Pinot Noir? Spend a few days in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley. Zinfandel your thing? Head to the Sierra Foothills.  What all of these regions have in common is a smaller, quieter, more personal experience waiting for you to enjoy. You will not be given the hard sell on a wine club. In fact, many of the producers you find will have such limited inventory that you will have to ask them nicely to get on the list.

FIND YOUR WINE STORY.

Whether it is the story of the land, the people, or the way the wine is produced, a great winery experience means a great story. Sure the story is meaningless if you don’t like what is in the glass. But there is plenty of great wine out there with great stories. Find the story that reaches you. You will know it when you find it.  If you have time, the best thing you can do is head up to a region and just spend a few days exploring. Once you find one winery you connect with, ask the operators at the winery for other producers worth checking out. My favorite wineries are ones that I learned about from the winemakers themselves.

Go beyond the big wine websites for information. Each of the regions I mentioned has hub websites that describe the history of the region and include discussions of different wineries. There are also bloggers out there who dedicate themselves to writing about California sub-regions. Go down the search engine rabbit hole. Utilize social media. Go to your favorite local wine store and ask them to help steer you in a direction.

NOW SEND THE WINERY AN EMAIL OR GIVE THEM A CALL.

If they have tasting room hours, you can just show up. But depending on the time of year, a lot of the small producers sell out of wine.  Get in touch. Explain how you have learned about them, how you are just in town for a short time and would like to stop by. Give a little backstory as to how you found them, what you found interesting.  Keep in mind that post-harvest in mid to late fall is often a good time to go. This is when wineries are involved in the making of wine: punchdowns, pour overs, lees stirring and all that other fun wine nerd stuff.

YOU ARE GOING THERE TO LEARN. YOU DON’T NEED TO BE AN EXPERT.

The small winery experience is one of the best ways to learn about wine. There is no need to feel intimidated or insufficiently informed – that is what these experiences are for. When you find the right place they will be happy to talk you through it.  Relax, enjoy, be curious and ask questions. Nobody knows “everything” about wine, it is an endless learning process. That is the fun part.

Wine is like anything else in life, the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Spend your time, do some research, explore a small wine region, and at some point you will leave with the same great experiences your show-off wine friends always go on about.

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Sage advice when traveling to certain parts of Mexico and then there are always the Margaritas. They are smooth and they say that if you drink enough of them you will see diamonds on the rim of the glass. Of course, this is just before you keel face first into your chili verde.

If you find yourself at the mercy of a Mexican wine list, there are two names worth remembering;

Santo Tomas

Located 45 minutes south of Ensenada, this historic and beautiful like winery like most Mexican wineries has roots back to Franciscans and the late 1700’s. As a frequent traveler to Baja, I have consumed more of this product then I care to admit and have seen it go from barely palatable to very presentable in the past 20 yrs. Not hard to figure when you learn that their winemaker for much of this period was none other than Dimitri Tshelistcheff, son of the famed Napa Valley winemaker of the 60’s and 70’s. Legend has it that the elder Andre Tshelistcheff a Russian émigré to United States first introduced the grape clones that would grow well in the sultry Mexican climate in the 60’s and even helped the Mexicans refine their production of Tequila, a product for which he also had a strong affection.

Monte Xanic

Pronounced “Monte Zaneesh”, is located in Baja Guadalupe Valley. This is quaint little winery which uses very modern Bordeaux inspired techniques was founded in 1834 by the Dominican fathers at the Mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Now it is jointly owned by the Chalone Wine Group of Napa and Baron Erick Rothschild of Bordeaux. What would inspire Rothschild to get involved in a backward little winery in a region where the temperature ranges from hot to hellish? Well, I’m sure it not the money. Making quality wines in the area which many would fine hostile to the wine making effort, poor quality grapes and low yields, is the same as a bicycle racer loading his bike down with bricks. If you can make wine here, you can make wine anywhere and learn a lot while doing it.

You will find these wines very pleasant drinking, well structured, especially the reds and reasonably priced. And, you will be able to get up the next morning.

 

 

As we all know, wines can be a hit or a miss. An expensive bottle of wine or a winery with a good advertising firm don’t mean much if the wine tastes bland on your palate. An excellent wine will stop you in your tracks on the first taste; you take note of the label and year, and began researching the winery and it’s products online, and asking for them in stores.

Some wines are so good you can almost fall off your chair when you see the retail price. Not because they are expensive, but because they are affordable for an afficionado on the tightest of budgets.

This is how I feel about Roots 1, Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. It is an excellent, rich, and elegant polished full-bodied wine; complex, concentrated and balanced. The flavors are mature and savory. Despite the retail price of $12 wines many selling for $50 a bottle pale in comparison. I am convinced Felipe Tosso, the winemaker of the Roots 1, truly has an award winning wine. I feel it is one of the best wines from Colchagua Valley in Chile. I wouldn’t hesitate giving it as a gift, serving it to guests, or buying a case or two to keep in reserve.

Roots 1, Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 pairs well with full-flavored cheeses, pasta with red sauce, steak, ribs, chicken and chocolate.