Wine Region: El Dorado County

categories: Booze, Wine

Like much of California’s wine history, the founding “wine-fathers” of the Sierra Foothills date back to the Gold Rush days. California’s Gold Rush originated in El Dorado County when James Marshall discovered the firsts glimmery nuggets at Sutter’s Mill in 1848. Along with the rush of Americans, Europeans,too, flocked to the area seeking their fortune in gold. Those immigrants brought with them their love and knowledge of grape growing and wine production and by 1870, El Dorado was one of the largest wine producing regions in California.

But by the 1920s, the gold mines had closed and Prohibition kicked in. It wasn’t until the 1970s, alongside Napa’s wine production “comeback” that the Sierra’s, too, found their permanent place on California’s winemaking map. For El Dorado, it was the opening of Boeger Winery in 1973 that gave this Foothill nook it’s status as an important wine region, becoming its own AVA in 1983. Today, El Dorado has over 2,000 acres planted to vines, about 50 wineries, and produces some of the most bold California wines due to their unique place below the Sierra Mountains.

Courtesy of the Eldorado Wine Association

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14
Jun
2017

Gérard Bertrand 2016 Cote des Roses

categories: Booze, Wine

I love a good rosé and I love a good Rhône wine, so it’s a safe bet that a Rhône-style rosé would be right up my alley. Predominantly familiar with the California take on Rhône varietals, I was excited to receive the Gérard Bertrand 2016 Cote des Roses and taste the Languedoc AOC’s expression of these most familiar varietals.

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14
Jun
2017

Wine Region: Languedoc-Roussillon

categories: Booze, Wine

I’m hesitant to write about French wine — what is, in my eyes, the foundation for pretty much all wines. It has a bit of a celebrity status I suppose. One of the best ways to “unintimidate” myself is to focus on one specific region in reference to a few wines I’ve had opportunity to taste, putting this educational experience into context. So, please join me as we travel overseas to France’s Languedoc-Roussillon wine region.

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12
Jun
2017

Rhone Rangers: And Now for Something Completely Different…

categories: Booze, Wine, Winery Reviews

The New Wave of Single-Variety Rhône Wines

This past weekend I attended the Rhone Ranger’s San Francisco event. Rhone Rangers is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote winemakers and wineries who focus on Rhône varietals and Rhône-style blends. Each year, the Rhone Rangers San Francisco Grand Tasting event gathers together a huge number of those wineries to help educate the public on these important grapes, winemaking methods, and of course the wines themselves. While not every year has a theme, it seemed that this year’s theme is the up-and-coming trend of “weird wine,” or “obscure” varietals.

As I’m sure many of you have noticed, I’ve been exploring a few of the lesser-known wine varietals lately (Tannat, Counoise, Cinsault…to name a few). And it’s not just because I have an insatiable, geeky interest in wine, it’s because more and more producers are bringing to light some of those varietals that have been hidden in the dark — as part of the lower percentages of classic and common blends.