Sunday, November 29, 2009

What a Winey Weekend

Thanksgiving was Thursday. I waffled until Wednesday, a bit ticked off that everybody seemed to have something to do other than come to my house for a meal on the holiday, but finally decided to bite the bullet and cook a nice traditional meal for myself and Larry (okay, the pug ate a lot, too) on Thursday.

I had to pick up some wine clubs at Imagery, as well as some bottles for x-mas ( i decided last year that all everybody is getting from me from now on is wine. Easy). So Friday morning we drove up to Imagery with the pug in tow. We arrived in the morning, and it was already crazy busy with lots of cars in the usually deserted parking lot even a couple of ominous limos... there were people visible on the patio which was odd as well. We arrived to find it bustling like crazy with the heart of Sonoma Valley event weekend where some 35 wineries are hosting open houses Saturday and Sunday. It was already very busy. I went in in search of a few cases I ordered in the Employee Wine Sale, and packed those into the car along with half a case of my wine cubs and several additional bottles for gifting. My grandmother loves chardonnay, and this year she's getting a bottle of the Imagery White Burgandy which is the Imagery answer to a tired chard: it's a white Burgandy style blend of Chard, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meurnier. It's a really lovely wine and is definitely not your mother's chardonnay. The blanc adds some acidity and the meurnier adds floral sweetness and a very aromatic nose. I got a bottle of the Mourvedre which is big, bold, fruit forward and luscious for folks who perhaps don't care for anything earthy. And really, this is so successful that I'm not sure it would be possible not to absolutely love this wine. I grabbed a couple of those for folks I am not sure if I need gifts for, just in case, and bustled around in the packed tasting room and patio.

We met a very friendly woman on tour with her family and an 11 year old very, very sweet pug named Isabelle, and she offered to take Charm out to the lawn and keep him company for us while we took care of our business. How sweet! We got the wine packed into the car, tasted the 06 Wine Club exclusive Barbera (everything you love about Barbera- it's wonderful), the Pallas Cabernet and the Pallas Estate (my favorite, with the malbec rounding out the cabernet and adding a softness to the palate and a roundness to the nose that lingers on the finish in a most pleasing fashion) as well as this new release that wasn't there when I worked back in October- the Tuscan Blend- (fabulous- I need to get back to taste more of this for sure- mostly Sangiovese) before we took off for some lunch and then home.

Saturday I convinced my long suffering boyfriend to head back down to Paso Robles to pick up my other wine club case at Midnight. Back in May when I signed up for Midnight's club, I had the brilliant, nicely buzzing, serotonin-induced sense of well being to decline shipping, opting to pick up since who wouldn't want to take an occasional 6 hour road trip down to Paso for wine?

We did. We went back to familiar Anderson Road off 46West, pug in tow. First stop was Midnight where we weren't the only folks in the usually quiet tasting room, and got a nice tasting while they assembled my wine club case. We went down the tasting menu while we were there, why not? The 2008 Aurora is Midnight's white blend: 54% Viognier, 21% Marsanne, 17% Rousanne and 8% Grenache Blanc. Alcohol 14.6%. The nose is full of ripe fruit, acidy and floral backnotes and the palate is delightful: vanilla, a little spice, some jasmine, pineapple and just a faint hint of earth.
The other winners on the current menu were the 2005 Reserve Zinfandel (15.2% etoh), hugely fruity and much bigger than the estate Zin of the same vintage. It's 2005, but it's got some time to go in the bottle over the next 5 years to mellow out a bit and round.
The other winner was the 2004 Mare Nectaris, a Bordeaux-style blend with all the usual "Big 5s" in a Bordeaux, it's got a lot going on. It's still young, and a little bit bitey even for an 04 and is probably going to need to sit at least 5 years before it really starts to soften and open up. Decant is now, for sure, or aerate, but this one is a library keeper.

We turned left on Anderson Road, intent on trying another winery back there on the same road, which was closed and sold out. Behind that was the best find in all of Paso so far: Caliza Winery. It was their one-year anniversary, a very young winery in a little cute Tuscan-style store front that's pretty small but nicely styled. They make only 1,000 cases a year, and this is only the second year the store has been open and their wines poured. We met a couple of pug lovers in there, and the pug was on his best behavior for sure. They only had 4 things on the menu, but what a delightful surprise- all 4 of them. 2008 Kissin' Cousins is a white blend of 48% viognier, 30% grenache blanc and 23% rousanne that was crisp, had a lot of pear and nectarine on the nose and the palate, and had a pretty and soft finish. We loved it. Really pretty, elegant white.

The 2006 Azimuth wins the Shelby award for best red of Paso, hands-down. It's a blend of 51% Syrah, 19% grenache, 14% mourvedre, 8% tannant and 8% alicante bouschet. It's incredible and blew me away. The nose just had so much going on where nothing smacked you in the head and all of it just needed to be opened, decanted, sipped and lingered over. Vanilla, cloves, dark berries, coffee and a little chocolate is what I got. The palate is also that complex: lots going on. Like things that are masterfully crafted, I couldn't pick out any specific varietal by itself, but the symphony in there was pretty impressive. Again, lots going on. Big, but so blended and soft already that it's impressive. The finish just lingers and lingers. This wine is amazing now, will last another 10 on a shelf, and is a wine to be reckoned with.

The 2006 Companion is a cab blend, and the 06 syrah is similarly wonderful and has a very grassy, unusal nose for a syrah. We loved them all. I loved them all, but I especially loved that Azimuth. I couldn't believe this tiny little gem of a place was real. If you like big wines and great surprises, run, don't walk to Caliza.
The best part of the tasting was in the middle of it, we met the owner, Carl Bowker. He came out to say hello, an unassuming man with sandy brown-blonde hair and a ready smile in a plain white tee shirt and jeans. He walked us through the companion and the syrah, and invited us back to the azimuth and the companion again. You have to love walking into a tiny store front to meet the winemaker himself, it's like when Joey comes in on a Saturday and pours for a few minutes. It's really great. He walked us through his process, where his grapes come from, and the aim of being 100% estate soon. What a wonderful experience.

We should have just quit when we were ahead. We went to the Disney replica of Cinderella's castle also on Anderson Road across from Dark Star known as Eagle Castle Winery. Crossing the moat, we fought past a couple of large tour groups with a guide, snapping pictures on the way. The medieval castle is over the top. Truthfully, I'd live there. It's pretty wild, if a little too perfect. They have a divine smelling dining room as you enter the heavy carved faux wood doors on the right which will pair with wines well, and on the left is the tasting room. I was totally shocked as the smell of firewood, smoke and a little incense met my nose as soon as we walked into the massive tasting room... there is an actual wood-burning fire burning full blast in the corner of the tasting room!! They had to be kidding me- why pollute the wine? You need to avoid smells with wine that can flavor and mask- unless of course your wines are so forgettable that masking isn't a bad idea. I believe this was the case here. We got a pour with meagre to no customer service- an employee who was far too busy with the folks next to us chatting not about the wine but about travel and nonsense. We tried the whole menu and all of it was completely forgettable. And Honestly, all I kept smelling was smoke, and it permeated the taste of all the wines such that we ended up just taking off. I was really shocked that they would be burning real wood in the fireplace in a tasting room. Crazy.

Last stop on the winey road was a place a friend has recommended to me in the past: Eberle Winery. It's through the little (and charming) town of Paso Robles, and up onto 46 East, where there are several of the big-producer, non family owned wineries in the area, so not the same ambiance as the little winding roads on 46W, but who cares if the wines are good?

The Eberle tasting room is bustling and huge. We walked in and it was about 4pm. I put my card down on the tasting bar for a very busy younger guy who said "okay, complimentary tastings are 5 off this menu..." and walked away. They have a lot on the menu. I was smiling a bit- being "in the industry" my card from Imagery gets me comp tastings and usually the whole menu is open. A new woman came over as the younger guy was rather busy, and got us started. There were a couple of whites and we were just starting on the lighter bodied reds when the tasting room manager came over and introduced herself, asked what winery I was from in Sonoma and had we been to Eberle before. I have her my low-down on Imagery, and said that a friend recommended we try Eberle while we were down there, so this was our first time there. A minute later, a woman came up behind us and said "Grab your glasses, the last tour is starting if you'd like to join us in the caves."
Yes, we'd love to join you in the caves!! I want to live in the caves!
A fun tour. They have a lot of caves in a labyrinthine pattern down there, and a big central space with tables set up for parties and dinners which I understand are a real experience. There is also a small and elegant private tasting room down there where one of the staff can pour personally for your party of 2-8 people. That would be very cool to experience. Midway through the caves, Charmey tired but at my heels like a loyal dog, we stopped and got a wine refill- Larry and I got the Cab/Syrah blend which was the best thing on the Erberle menu for sure.

Back in the tasting room, I was delighted that they took such good care of us at Eberle. The wines are light to medium bodied staples that are reasonably priced and good for everyday table drinking. Their biggest red was no longer available, so I was most disappointed to miss their best-crafted red, but the cab/syrah was solid and delicious. And really, they took very good care of us at Eberle so I had a really nice experience.

A few more cases laden, we headed back to the Bay Area early Sunday morning. While I need to drink more and buy less wine for sure, I like the opportunity to get down there and explore Paso's finest. And boy, I can't wait until Caliza gets a wine club.

Cheers fow now afficianados!

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