Searching for "grenache"


Feb
2017

Winery Review: Alta Colina

categories: Booze, Winery Reviews

Only slightly off the beaten path of Highway 46 in the Adelaida district of Paso Robles is a quaint little family operation, Alta Colina. Here, upon a hilltop, the Tillman family has set up shop on their 130 acre ranch, 31 of which are planted to 15 blocks of vineyard. They have a unique plot of land, with sturdier soils (containing a high percentage of fractured shale amongst the loam) than even some of their closest neighboring vineyards. And being just out of reach of the cool, foggy air of the Templeton Gap, the vines are blessed with a moderately warm climate that can, in the summer, get down right hot.

The view from the top of Alta Colina Vineyard

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Feb
2017

Winery Review: Re:Find Distillery

categories: Beer & Cocktails, Booze, Winery Reviews

It’s no secret that I like my wine, but when drinking hard liquor or making a cocktail, vodka is my spirit of choice. I was introduced to Re:Find Distillery when co-owner Monica Villicana kindly sent me a sample of her Re:Find Barrel Finished Vodka. (Click the link to read the full review. SPOILER ALERT: It’s awesome). So, when I made my pass through Paso Robles, home to Re:Find Distillery, I had to pop in and see this operation from the inside.

Monica and Alex Villicana, co-owners of Re:Find Distillery

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Feb
2017

Winery Review: Kukkula – A One-Man Wine-making Show

categories: Booze, Winery Reviews

One of the best things about visiting a boutique winery is being able to meet and greet with the proprietor, the vineyard manager, or the winemaker. The best thing about visiting Kukkula is you can meet all three because all those roles are each filled by founder Kevin Jussila.

Kevin, whose professional background is in business money management, has always been an agricultural enthusiast — an enthusiasm that transformed him into a hobbyist winemaker. In 2003 he decided to turn that hobby into a parallel career path (Kevin is still in the corporate business game), purchasing his 80-acre property off of Chimney Rock Road in the Adelaida hills of Paso Robles. ” In December of 2004 we moved to the Central Coast and started to build the dream,” Kevin says. And he means this literally. An avid architect enthusiast, Kevin’s are the hands that built both his family home and his current tasting room — both of which sit atop his beautiful estate vineyards.

The vineyard is appropriately named, Kukkula being the Finnish word for “the hill” or “high place.”

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Feb
2017

Hearthstone Estate 2013 Montepulciano

categories: Booze, Wine

I’d never heard of Hearthstone Estate until I was approached to taste their wines. Imagine my surprise when, upon opening the package, a bottle of Montepulciano was staring right up at me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen, let a lone tasted, a California Montepulciano. I discovered — and fell in love with — the varietal when eating my way through Italy on my honeymoon. I know to those more versed in Italian wines, Montepulciano may seem like an everyday “bulk-buy” type wine, but to me it bottles the beauty I think of when I think of Italian culture — forza, forte, y la bella vita. What I’m saying is that this wine had a lot to live up to…

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Jan
2017

Crux Winery 2013 GSM Red Blend

categories: Booze, Wine

In my book, you can’t call yourself a Rhone Ranger unless you make a decent GSM. Look at the fine print in my book and it also says that those individual components have to shine on their own — Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre. Well, if you look in the glossary of my book under Rhone Ranger, you’ll see a picture of Steve and Brian of Crux Winery. Not only do they do justice for the Rhone-style, but they grow and produce these typically warm-weathered grapes in the heart of Northern California’s Russian River Valley.

Read more about Crux Winery here.

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