Vinotrip

Posted by: Matt on July 16th, 2010

Foothill Vines @ Lava Cap Winery in Eastern California

Chances are you’ve heard that wine grows well around Napa and Sonoma in northern California. You might even be familiar with the vineyards in central-southern California around San Luis Obispo north of L.A. But unless you’ve been there yourself, chances are you’ve never heard of the foothills wine country east of Sacramento, aptly named for its situation on the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The main reason you haven’t heard of these guys, though, is that most of the foothill wineries are craft operations with similar output to a medium-to-large Maryland winery – 20,000 cases a year at the high end, with several well below 10,000. That means a lot of tasting room sales, local restaurant affiliations, and direct shipments to the good residents of California and 29 other states with reasonable alcohol regulation. Unlike the wine from the big regions, you won’t see these CA wines in your local wine shop or grocery store wine vending machine.

Sierra Nevada - not the beer. Almost as tasty, though.

Of course, I can’t talk about that dry, hilly west coast climate without bringing up Zinfandel. This region is particularly known for good zin, but all of their wines tend to pick up a certain spiciness from the minerals deposited by snow melt off the lofty Sierras in the distance. Every tasting sheet listed at least 75% reds, with one winery carrying (I kid you not) three different Zinfandel varietals. Sangiovese and merlot both showed up a lot too. The whites were kind of scattered, although I did taste a nice Viognier. Not as good as a top Virginia Viognier, mind you.

Here, in no particular order, are some wines you might want to try next time you’re in Eastern California – unless you’re lucky enough to be able to order it online.

• Jodar Vineyards: I think their Merlot might be my favorite Merlot ever. Almost more like a Zin in the color and spiciness, but without all the dry tannins. Also a nice Sangiovese that we picked up for our picnic lunch.
• Madroña Winery: First, take a moment to admire that ñ. Doesn’t happen by accident. Also, they had a reasonably good Zinfandel here.
• Lava Cap Winery: By far the best views of the day, all my vineyard photos here came from Lava Cap. This is the 3-Zin winery, and I have to admit that I picked up two (are you seeing a pattern here?).
• Boeger Winery: Another beautiful location, these guys were all about the reds. However, I liked the Barbera best this time.

Awww, look - a baby Christmas tree. Many ambitious Bay Area residents travel to the foothills to pick out live trees.

All in all, this trip made for a great afternoon drive down from our hotel in South Lake Tahoe. About 90 minutes down the mountain from there, so not a good bet during the famous Tahoe ski season, but I’d highly recommend it if you’re there for the beach in the summer. You could probably get there from San Francisco within 2-3 hours, too, if you want to try something a little different next time you’re on the west coast. Just make sure you find some friends in DC before you go so you can ship everything back to them. Not that I would do something like that. Never. Of course not. <shh.>

I'm on a boat!!!

Cheers,

Matt

July 16th, 2010 | Tags: california, foothill wineries, o christmas tree, sierra nevada, travel | Category: I thought that was obvious, Wineries | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL