He should have kept skiing!Al Giorno! Yeah, I went to high school with him, but man he's gotten fat.
The barbera cabernet blend I mentioned struck me a new invention.
They do a great job with Barbera as well as Rhone varieties, which are a natural fit for Dry Creek Valley IMHO.We were out in California last week and the Lungomere restaurant on the Oakland waterfront had a barbera-cab blend from Preston of Dry Creek on tap. It was excellent, and so was the restaurant.
Btw, Preston was one of the original "Rhone Rangers".
Best Grenache I ever made the grapes came from Orland (yes, that's in California!). Own rooted 60 yr old vines, unknown clone. Sadly, he ripped out the vineyard (50 acres of it) and planted almonds last year . . .He should have kept skiing!
So far , all three blends in the thread are either Rhone like (that languedoc is essentially a GSM with the Mourdevre substituted by Cinsault) and Bordeaux like. Here in CA , the best terroir for those is Paso Robles for the former and Sonoma/Napa for the latter IMHO.
That is preposterous. But wait a minute. Are you a winemaker? And isn't everything grafted these days?Best Grenache I ever made the grapes came from Orland (yes, that's in California!). Own rooted 60 yr old vines, unknown clone. Sadly, he ripped out the vineyard (50 acres of it) and planted almonds last year . . .
I am a winemaker. And almost everything is grafted. But not absolutely everything. In sandy, alluvial soils you can get away with own-rooted vines. Northern Lodi is well known for this (also made wine with 120 yr old cinsault a few years from northern Lodi). These by Orland were an oddity, but absolutely amazing. He had 700 acres of vines altogether, but he couldn't get paid jack. He had one block of the grenache that he farmed for premium wine that were bought by a variety of high end north coast wineries but in small quantities. He also made his own off of this block. But the rest of his stuff was being bought by the likes of Gallo, the Wine Group, etc. for barely more than the cost of farming. And not all of his grapes were as precious as the grenache, but that stuff was fun. And cheap by north coast standards, even though we were paying 3-4 times what his big customers were paying.That is preposterous. But wait a minute. Are you a winemaker? And isn't everything grafted these days?
I am a winemaker. And almost everything is grafted. But not absolutely everything. In sandy, alluvial soils you can get away with own-rooted vines. Northern Lodi is well known for this (also made wine with 120 yr old cinsault a few years from northern Lodi). These by Orland were an oddity, but absolutely amazing. He had 700 acres of vines altogether, but he couldn't get paid jack. He had one block of the grenache that he farmed for premium wine that were bought by a variety of high end north coast wineries but in small quantities. He also made his own off of this block. But the rest of his stuff was being bought by the likes of Gallo, the Wine Group, etc. for barely more than the cost of farming. And not all of his grapes were as precious as the grenache, but that stuff was fun. And cheap by north coast standards, even though we were paying 3-4 times what his big customers were paying.
If you are ever up for tasting good wines in a fun/funky setting on the peninsula, check out an old friend of mine:That's one cool gig! Of course, one of the toughest industries to make a dollar (besides, ahem, the ski industry). But both are so much fun. I don't make wine, but I'd love to. It's one of those things in the bucket list. We'll see. I do go to try some of the Alameda/Oakland urban wines, sometimes with my buddy from across the street. Talking to the producers is always fascinating. At Avila, I always stop at Peloton Cellars. I love their Shiraz. But who am I kidding. With the Euro so low and the dollar so high, most of my wines are from the old world (I tend to prefer their flavor profile, too).