Opponents in their appeal are again asserting CEQA violations and contest the order to pay the County $16.4K in administrative record preparation costs.

The appeals process is long and complicated so the end date of this latest delay is TBD, current estimate is October 2011.

As before, and in the mean time, the 2010 Tiered Ordinance stands enabling public Tasting Rooms in San Diego County Wine Country – so local wine lovers and visiting wine tourists are encouraged to visit and support San Diego County’s Award Winning  Boutique Wineries.

As you may recall, the Superior Court of California issued a ruling Friday April 15th 2011 that upheld the San Diego County Tiered Winery Ordinance.

Back in September 2010 “San Diego Citizenry Group” challenged the ordinance on CEQA grounds, seeking an injunction against its provisions.

Furthermore Citizenry was ordered to reimburse the County $16,444 for legal defense costs.

This hard-fought ordinance was over four years in the making, and was finally passed unanimously by the Supervisors in August 2010.

The thoughtful ordinance provided for a multi-level or “tiered” winery industry and in part, grants badly needed by-right tasting rooms to Boutique Wineries eliminating an onerous ~$250,000 Major Use Permit process that was effectively preventing this fledgling industry from happening – ironically in one of the (potentially) best wine-grape growing regions in the state .

As in August 2010, local wine lovers and wineries must hold their collective breath for a few more months with the hope and expectation that the Appeals Court upholds the original ruling against the opponents and in support of the County winery ordinance.

Appeal aside, area wineries continue to face costly and prohibitive building permit mandates by the County Department of Planning and Land Use (DPLU). This is the next issue that the Supervisors will need to address. Sadly the local building industry would benefit from these projects if excessive standards were not forced upon Boutique Wineries.

In the mean time, locals, please (again) raise a glass and toast the visionary Supervisors and wish the wineries the best as they begin work this next bureaucratic challenge. Let’s also toast to the future wisdom of the Appeals Court to decline the Winery Opposition’s appeal of their April lawsuit loss.

“Salute” (Italian)

“Salud” (Spanish & Latin America)
“Santé” (French)

My post in September 2010 started off saying “We had been holding off hoping to finally post good news for San Diego County wine lovers, tourism, and the community as a whole, but alas, that is not the case.”

The wine grape harvest for 2010 has been delayed in much of California, Oregon, and Washington state, due to cool weather so we have time to post on this topic today as we urge the brix (wine grape sugar content) upward.

You say: “Hey! I saw that the San Diego County Tiered Winery Ordinance passed on August 4th – Hooray!

When are the new winery tasting rooms opening? I can’t wait!!!”

Well wait you must.

Lawsuits as a weapon of mass obstruction: While the San Diego County Tiered Winery Ordinance still stands, anyone opening a tasting room under its current provisions is are risk of premature shut- down if the courts issue an injunction as a result of the lawsuit that has been filed (3 Sept) by a local group of ordinance opponents. A similar lawsuit threat was raised some two years ago by the same opponents.

CEQA a complicated well-meaning law: Those of you who are familiar with California Environmental law – primarily the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), know that this well meaning law has been used not only to protect the environment, but also in an unintended way, as a tool to stop development and projects beneficial to the community.

After the last lawsuit threat, San Diego County regrouped and spent $250,000 completing an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) plus the cost of associated staff time, hearings, and public review processes to provide the legal means of moving forward with a county-wide winery ordinance.

Most folks in the county we’ve discussed these issues with, support San Diego’s nascent winery industry, agriculture and business in general. They cannot understand why the opponents continually block this beneficial initiative.

Others residents simply can’t understand the County’s prohibitively expensive permitting process – when wineries state-wide have reasonable and affordable opportunities for on-site tasting rooms and sales. The delays and cost inherent in the prior ordinance are the primary reason there has only been ONE new on-site winery tasting room open in the last few years. When advised of a $250,000 winery Major Use Permit (MUP) most citizens (rightfully) display a jaw- drop of significant proportions and typically say “That’s ridiculous.”

To be fair here, it’s important to point out the County Supervisors recognize the chilling impact the current permitting process has on agriculture and wineries and they took significant action to rectify the situation in the form of a two year effort crafting the Tiered Winery Ordinance and directing the EIR – but their visionary efforts were derailed by yet another lawsuit.

Economics (or not) of small wineries: Vince Vasquez and Eric Larson of the San Diego Farm Bureau explain the economics of water-wise wine grapes and small San Diego family-owned wineries in this May 15th weekly National University Impact San Diego radio public policy show “San Diego and the local wine industry!” The show can be streamed, or downloaded as a Podcast at this link .

The economics of scale that exist (well actually there are none) at a premium Boutique winery require on-site retail sales to maximize profits to sustain operations. Premium wines require tastings to appreciate their uniqueness and quality. For example, 100% of Eagles Nest 2007-2008 wines and Ports have won medals gold-silver-bronze – a total of 30 in the 2009-2010 competition year.

The overhead of an off-site tasting room for a family winery operation is untenable and cooperative tasting rooms in our area have consistently failed. Case study after case study have emphasized the importance of on-site retail and wine club sales for Boutiques – and the many years needed to achieve profitability due to the heavy capitalization of a winery. These are not high volume operations that can efficiently and amazingly produce, bottle, distribute, and sell a quaff-able daily wine for a profit at a few bucks a bottle. Many if not most wine tourists want to see the vineyards where the wines originated and meet the winemaker at the winery – this can’t be done with an urban tasting room.

For an insight into the amazing Two-Buck-Chuck story, see a post from earlier this year on this site detailing Fred Franzia’s Bronco Winery operation at this link. If you are interested in more information about Eagles Nest you can see a this week’s San Diego Reader magazine at this link.

We’ve stated in testimony at Supervisor and Planning Commission hearings (this link ) that tasting room permissions and on-site retail sales of wine are “mission critical” (in military parlance that veterans will understand) – a capability critical to achieving goals – mission success. Small wineries do not have the (immense) economies of scale that large operations have, and by-the-way 90% of wineries in California are small family operations. Boutiques cannot operate on a wholesale, retail, or restaurant basis alone particularly in the current economic malaise that exists locally and globally.

There will never be a large winery in San Diego County: Practically speaking, there will never be a “danger” of large wineries in San Diego County – the agricultural parcels are too small, the terrain too sloping, and the number of vineyards too low to sustain many wineries. The Boutiques reflected in the Tiered Winery Ordinance are by wine volume 1/100th of what would be considered a “small winery” in the industry – thus a Boutique is more a microscopic or nano-winery.

If and until until San Diego County leadership can overcome CEQA challenges, and deliver tasting rooms with retail sales permissions to small family wineries, the citizens of San Diego County will have to drive to Riverside (Temecula), Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Napa, or Sonoma counties – sadly, there will be NO wine industry here.

What you can do: San Diego County residents supporting wineries are urged to remain aware and involved politically and voice their support for legislation supporting the local wine industry. Communicate your support for the ordinance to your Supervisor contact them via this link. No problem ever got better without the participation of an educated committed constituency. Thank your Supervisors for their effort on this ordinance and offer your support for tasting rooms at local wineries!

If you are interested in more information about Eagles Nest you can see an article on us in San Diego Reader magazine at this link. Or simply visit the many blog posts on this (public) blog.

Our Web 1.0 website is http://eaglesnestwinery.com and our private blog for customers is http://eaglesnestwinery.ning.com . We’re a leading winery on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eaglesnestwine and on Facebook at this link.

Good news at long last!

The Superior Court of California issued a ruling Friday April 15th 2011 that upheld the San Diego County Tiered Winery Ordinance.

Back in September 2010 “San Diego Citizenry Group” challenged the ordinance on CEQA grounds, seeking an injunction against its provisions.

Furthermore Citizenry was ordered to reimburse the County $16,444 for legal defense costs.

This hard-fought ordinance was over four years in the making, and was finally passed unanimously by the Supervisors in August 2010.

The thoughtful ordinance provided for a multi-level or “tiered” winery industry and in part, grants badly needed by-right tasting rooms to Boutique Wineries eliminating an onerous ~$250,000 Major Use Permit process that was effectively preventing this fledgling industry from happening – ironically in one of the (potentially) best wine-grape growing regions in the state .

As in August 2010, local wine lovers and wineries must hold their collective breath for a few weeks and see if an appeal is filed by the winery opponents.

Barring an appeal, area wineries continue to face costly and prohibitive building permit mandates by the County Department of Planning and Land Use (DPLU). This is the next issue that the Supervisors will need to address.  Sadly the local building industry would benefit from these projects if excessive standards were not forced upon Boutique Wineries.

In the mean time, locals, please raise a glass and toast the visionary Supervisors and wish the wineries the best as they begin work this next bureaucratic challenge.

“Salute”  (Italian)
“Salud”  (Spanish & Latin America)
“Santé”  (French)

My post in September 2010 started off saying “We had been holding off hoping to finally post good news for San Diego County wine lovers, tourism, and the community as a whole, but alas, that is not the case.”

The wine grape harvest for 2010 has been delayed in much of  California, Oregon, and Washington state,  due to cool weather so we have time to post on this topic today as we urge the brix (wine grape sugar content) upward.

You say: “Hey! I saw that the  San Diego County Tiered Winery Ordinance passed on August 4th – Hooray!

When are the new winery tasting rooms opening? I can’t wait!!!”

Well wait you must.

Lawsuits as a weapon of mass obstruction: While the San Diego County Tiered Winery Ordinance still stands, anyone opening a tasting room under its current provisions is are risk of premature shut- down if the courts issue an injunction as a result of the lawsuit that has been filed (3 Sept) by a local group of ordinance opponents. A similar lawsuit threat was raised some two years ago by the same opponents.

CEQA a complicated well-meaning law: Those of you who are familiar with California Environmental law – primarily the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), know that this well meaning law has been used not only to protect the environment, but also in an unintended  way, as a tool to stop development and projects beneficial  to the community.

After the last lawsuit threat,  San Diego County regrouped and spent $250,000 completing an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) plus the cost of associated staff time, hearings, and public review processes to provide the legal means of moving forward with a county-wide winery ordinance.

Most folks in the county we’ve discussed these issues with,  support San Diego’s nascent winery industry, agriculture and business in general. They cannot understand why the opponents continually block this beneficial initiative.

Others residents simply can’t understand the County’s prohibitively expensive permitting process – when wineries state-wide have reasonable and affordable opportunities for on-site tasting rooms and sales. The delays and cost inherent in the prior ordinance are the primary reason there has only been ONE new on-site winery tasting room open in the last few years. When advised of a $250,000 winery Major Use Permit (MUP) most citizens (rightfully) display a jaw- drop of significant proportions and typically say “That’s ridiculous.”

To be fair here, it’s important to  point out the County Supervisors recognize the chilling impact the current permitting process has on agriculture and wineries and they took significant action to rectify the situation in the form of a two year effort crafting the Tiered Winery Ordinance and directing the EIR – but their visionary efforts were derailed by yet another lawsuit.

Economics (or not) of small wineries: Vince Vasquez and Eric Larson of the San Diego Farm Bureau explain the economics of water-wise wine grapes and small San Diego family-owned wineries in this May 15th weekly National University Impact San Diego radio public policy show  “San Diego and the local wine industry!” The show can be streamed, or downloaded as a Podcast at this link .

The economics of scale that exist (well actually there are none) at a premium Boutique winery require on-site retail sales to maximize profits to  sustain operations. Premium wines require tastings to appreciate their uniqueness and quality.  For example, 100% of Eagles Nest 2007-2008 wines and Ports have won medals gold-silver-bronze – a total of 30  in the 2009-2010 competition year.

The overhead of an off-site tasting room for a family winery operation is untenable and cooperative tasting rooms in our area have consistently failed.  Case study after case study emphasize the importance of on-site retail and wine club sales for Boutiques – and the many years needed to achieve profitability due to the heavy capitalization of a winery.  These are not Two-Buck-Chuck operations that can efficiently amazingly produce, bottle, distribute, and sell a quaff-able daily wine for a profit at a few bucks a bottle.

For an insight into the amazing Two-Buck-Chuck story, see a post from earlier this year on this site detailing Fred Franzia’s Bronco Winery operation at this link. If you are interested in more information about Eagles Nest you can see a this week’s San Diego Reader magazine at this link.

We’ve stated in testimony at Supervisor and Planning Commission hearings  (this link )  that tasting room permissions and on-site retail sales of wine are “mission critical” (in military parlance that veterans will understand) – a capability critical to achieving goals – mission success.  Small wineries do not have the (immense) economies of scale that large operations have, and by-the-way 90% of wineries in California are small family operations.  Boutiques cannot operate on a wholesale, retail, or restaurant basis alone particularly in the current economic malaise that exists locally and globally.

There will never be a large winery in San Diego County: Practically speaking, there will never be a “danger” of large wineries in San Diego County – the agricultural parcels are too small, the terrain too sloping, and the number of vineyards too low to sustain many wineries.  The Boutiques reflected in the Tiered Winery Ordinance are by wine volume 1/100th of what would be considered a “small winery” in the industry – thus a Boutique is more a microscopic or nano-winery.

If and until until San Diego County leadership can overcome CEQA challenges, and deliver tasting rooms with retail sales permissions to small family wineries, the citizens of San Diego County will have to drive to Riverside (Temecula), Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Napa, or Sonoma counties – sadly, there will be NO wine industry here.

What you can do: San Diego County residents supporting wineries are urged to remain aware and involved politically and voice their support for legislation supporting the local wine industry. Communicate your support for the ordinance to your Supervisor contact them via this link. No problem ever got better without the participation of an educated committed constituency. Thank your Supervisors for their effort on this ordinance and offer your support for tasting rooms at local wineries!

If you are interested in more information about Eagles Nest you can see an article on us in San Diego Reader magazine at this link. Or simply visit the many blog posts on this (public) blog.

Our Web 1.0 website is http://eaglesnestwinery.com and our private blog for customers is http://eaglesnestwinery.ning.com . We’re a leading winery on Twittter at http://twitter.com/eaglesnestwine and on Facebook at this link.

Tasting rooms almost…

The nascent rebirth of San Diego County winery industry was given another assist  yesterday (August 4th 2010)  as the County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the “Tiered Winery Ordinance” which enables tasting rooms by right of land ownership in A70-A72 agriculturally zoned parcels in the County. The proceedings and testimony are available at this video link http://bit.ly/9SyFQW .

This has been a long 4-year effort. Winery opponents derailed a similar ordinance two years ago requiring the County to spend some $300,000 on a Environmental Impact Report (EIR) along with associated staff hours and hearings on the report. Placer County near Sacramento passed a similar ordinance two years ago without incident and has had no problem with winery customers in that county.

What’s next?

There is a 30 day Ordinance enactment (waiting) period to allow among other things, the filing of opposing lawsuits. Following enactment of the ordinance, Boutique wineries plannning to open tasting rooms modify their existing California Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABC) licences and meet several  San Diego County Department of Planning and Land Use  (DPLU) requirements.

Here’s a link to one of many news stories on the ordinance http://bit.ly/9fGe5q

The just-completed WBC10 was an outstanding compilation of Washington Wineries, eastern Washington AVA vineyards, and capable and passionate wine makers from the  Walla Walla , Yakima Valley, Red Mountain, Prosser and Spokane regions. Wine tastings were offered from other areas including the Columbia Gorge , California wines, and Spanish wines to name others.

Pre-Conference tours of the Yakima Valley AVA (Barb Glover and the board on the Wine Yakima Valley association), and wines included Airfield Estates Winery, Barnard Griffin Winery, Chandler Reach Vineyards, Chinook Wines, Cote Bonneville, Cultura Wine, Desert Wind Winery, Grenache Vintners, Gilbert Cellars, Goose Ridge Estate Vineyards & Winery, Kana Winery, Kestrel Vintners, Knight Hill Winery, Mercer Estates, Mibrandt Vineyards, Naches Heights Vineyard, Owen Roe, Steppe Cellars, Thurston Wolfe, and Two Mountain Winery.  The Prosser area features a unique collection of wineries and tasting rooms named (Prosser)  Vintner Village.

The Post-tour to Red Mountain AVA (hosted by the wineries and grapegrowers of the Red Mountain AVA Alliance and Tri-City Visitor and Convention Bureau. was both enjoyable and informative including wines from Col Solare, Hedges Family Estate, Kiona, Terra Blanca Winery, and other wineries of the Red Mountain AVA Alliance.

Centered at the historic Marcus Whitman Hotel in Downtown Walla Walla, the event included practical and technical presentations on Web 2.0 technologies and techniques, wine tastings, food pairings (Chef Jeffrey Saad), Washington state wine geology (Professor of Geology Kevin Pogue of  Whitman College)  and valuable field trips including vineyard walks, winery visits,  and winemaker-lead tasting and discussion panels. An after hours Downtown Walla Walla tasting room walkabout provided an urban touch.   A fortunate few on the self named (Twitter) @jackpotbus toured the vineyards of,  met, and shared wine with – Washington’s winery icon Gary Figgins of Leonetti Cellar and toured the beautiful and eclectic  Basel Cellars Estate Winery.

In closing, the conference provided us an excellent insight into the the grape growing potential of the area, as well as the high quality wine offerings by the universally passionate winemakers/ winemaking staffs of the region.

We have always been cheerleaders of all wine regions and Washington state is no exception.

If you ever get the opportunity to direct your personal wine tourism towards the Northwestern-most corner of the Continental United States,  try Washington and its wines and don’t forget the neighboring Columbia Gorge wines including both the Washington and Oregon offerings.

Col Solare Estate Vineyards, Red Mountain AVA, Washington (Click for larger image)

Many newer wine consumers are unaware of the importance in maintaining stable, consistent temperatures in storing their prized wines.

Wine blogs on the Internet are full of posts about the importance of temperature control from the wine cellar perspective. But what happens between the winery and the retail consumer? This discussion is uniquely from an insider/winery owner’s  (and also a wine consumer) perspective.

We have occasionally been disappointed with wines purchased through distributors/retailers who did not exercise proper temperature control in the transport,  warehousing, and storefront storage of their wine products. These were generally wines with several years on the clock  (4-5 years) and from reputable wineries -wines that could likely have been exposed to prolonged storage at higher than proper temperatures.

Our assessment was that these wines were likely “cooked” – exposed to storage at prolonged high temperatures of 70+F – 80+F that can prematurely age a wine.

So how important are shipping storage temperatures to wineries? Consider this from a Wine Business Monthly article from November 2000 authored by Jeremy Hay – Many wineries will not allow their wines to ship wine in “dry” (uninsulated) semi-trailers and require either insulated trailers or trailers with refrigeration capability. In addition to absolute high temperatures, temperature excursions (raising and lowering of storage temperatures)  is detrimental to wine. “According to the American Trucking Association, in 1998, six percent of the 501,000 American trucking companies were refrigerated carriers.” Yes – 94% of the trucks are not refrigerated – think about that some smoking-hot mid-west summer day.

Jeremy Hay continues: :  “Florida is the country’s third largest wine market, average summer temperatures hover in the 90s–while distributors have cold rooms for their most expensive brands, the great majority of wines are stored at ambient warehouse temperatures…”  “The bottom line of such conditions is that by the time most wines are chosen from a wine list or retail shelf, they do not taste the same as when they left the winery.”

Vinfolio graph depicting accelerated wine aging above 55F

Proponents of cooler storage temperatures generally recommend a range of 55F to 60F. Chemical reactions double in speed for every 18-degree Fahrenheit increase in temperature–wine stored at 73-degrees will age twice as fast as it should, at 91-degrees, it will age four times as fast. The chart to the right from Vinfolio to depicts the impact of temperature on wine

30 Medals in 2009-2010 International and National Wine Competitions

At Eagles Nest Winery, we stress strict temperature control, and to further ensure medal- winning quality – we emphasize quality sustainable winegrape production, sanitary operations,  and a careful  winemaking and barrel aging/case goods regimen.

We believe second to quality winemaking and sanitary operations,  temperature control is a key reason 100% of our Estate produced, and nearly 100% of our other wines have been medalists in International and National Wine Competitions (see Wine Awards).  Our wines are barrel aged and store case goods stored below 59F at all times.

For the above reasons, you should carefully choose Winery Wine Clubs that ship only during cool weather seasons, and also consider accelerated shipping options to minimize the time your wine is exposed to non-temperature controlled conditions.

You should ensure that your local wine distributors and wine shops store their case goods at proper temperatures especially if you live in a warm weather regions. In these tight economic times, retailers may adjust their thermostats upward to save on power bills, compromising their wine inventory.

A temperature controlled storage unit in your home ro restaurant to protect your liquid investments for that future day of enjoyment.  Don’t store your wine in that living room closet or automobile garage at 70F-80F degrees.  See out a cool, dark, quiet, vibration free location. If your collection is large, commercial off-site temperature controlled wine storage is another option.

Shared below is a June 2010 article by wine expert and columnist, Dan Berger, from the Herald Tribune on the importance of wine transport, distribution and storage temperatures.  Also discussed above were facts presented in an excellent article on wine shipping and storage in the Wine Business Monthly Archives  click here.

_____________________

Did the retailer take good care of your wine?

Over 30 judges from around the United States evaluated via blind tastings, and scored nearly 2,000 total entries and awarding medals to wines worthy of merit.

This is a rigorous, professionally conducted wine competition where experienced judges award medals to less than one in four wines entered. Congratulations are in order for all winning International and US wineries!

The full listing of the 2010 competition can be seen/searched at this SDIWC link.

Presently 100% of our 2007 & 2008 releases of Estate grown Wines & Ports are Gold, Silver & Bronze medalists, and 88% of our total 2007 & 2008 releases are medalists – in highly credible National, International, and Regional wine competitions since last year.

Eagles Nest Winery, (TWITTER @EaglesNestWine and Facebook click here) a leading Boutique Winery located n the Ramona Valley AVA near San Diego, California was honored as one of only four medal winning San Diego County wineries in this year’s 201o competition including Fallbrook , Orfila,  and Shadow Mountain.

When you consider the large number of multi-million dollar national and international winery operations that participated in this professional competition, this showing reflects very well on Eagles Nest as a small, family owned and operated winery producing quality wines from locally grown wine-grapes.

Eagles Nest Winery’s winning wines were 2008 Estate Picpoul Blanc White-Port Styled Dessert Wine 100% grown and produced on the Estate from a unique Rhone varietal features a delicate tropical fruit nose and smooth character.

Eagles Nest 2007 Private Reserve Merlo t made from 100% Merlot, this is a rich full bodied, deeply colored with dusty tannins produced from high quality San Diego County Merlot grapes.

Both these wines scored Silver medals reflecting “wines that are well made, absent flaws, and expressive, reflecting good viticultural and winemaking standards..”

Michael Franz, Editor of Wine Review Online, returned for his third year as Chief Judge. The SDIWC was held at the Westgate Hotel in downtown San Diego for the seventh consecutive year. The Westgate is a premier hotel property in the heart of San Diego, and provides an elegant and functional backdrop for visiting judges.

The Director is nationally syndicated wine columnist Robert Whitley. Judges for the 2010 San Diego International Wine Competition were hand-picked by Whitley, whose experience at managing wine competitions is second to none.

Robert also serves as Director of the Critics Challenge, the Sommelier Challenge, the Winemaker Challenge and the Monterey Wine Competition, which he co-founded with the Salinas Valley Fair in 1994.

SDIWC judging guidelines were as follows:

1.  The San Diego International Wine Competition is a blind tasting. Wines will be evaluated absent information about producer, vintage or price.

2.  Because wines have been submitted from the world over, judges may ask questions pertaining to origin so that wines can be evaluated in context.

3.  Judges should take into account the fact that winemaking styles vary. A wine that is well made within a legitimate style for the grape and category should be judged accordingly, regardless of any personal preference for an alternative style.

4.  Judges may compare notes with others on the panel, but each vote should be independent and reflect the personal opinion of each judge.

5.  Votes will be taken at the conclusion of each flight and recorded by the table monitor.

Silver Medal

A silver medal should be awarded to wines that are well made, absent flaws, and expressive, reflecting good viticultural and winemaking standards.

Gold Medal

A gold medal should be awarded to wines exhibiting outstanding intensity of flavor and/or complexity. While palate weight can be a positive factor in the evaluation, more delicate wines that possess exceptional nuance should not be overlooked for gold-medal consideration. Mineral-driven and fruit-driven wines should be given equal consideration. A gold-medal wine should leave the judge with an extremely positive overall impression.

Best of Show/Platinum

Any wine the judges believe would be competitive for best in its class should be put forward for the “Sweepstakes” round of judging to determine Best of Show in its category. All wines nominated for Best of Show will automatically be elevated to a Platinum medal.

Thanks go out to the judges and the volunteer staff of this year’s competition – Your hard work made this event a resounding success.

Adam’s Back, Wins SDIWC Best of Show Red
With LaZarre 2007 Central Coast Pinot Noir

By Robert Whitley
Creators Syndicate

There was a time, not that many years ago, when a brash young winemaker at Hahn Estates ruled the wine competition world from Los Angeles to London.

Under the skillful direction of Adam LaZarre, the Monterey County winery scored major trophies at big wine competitions around the globe. And they did it with modestly priced wines, such as a $16 Cabernet Sauvignon, a $14 Merlot and a red Bordeaux-style blend for less than $20.

For a time, it seemed a week couldn’t go by without a LaZarre-inspired wine winning best of show in Los Angeles or San Francisco or London, or some other important wine competition venue. LaZarre is no longer at Hahn, having moved 75 miles down U.S Highway 101 to Paso Robles, where he is running the promising start-up winery Villa San-Juliette. He also makes a number of wines under his own LaZarre label.

He may have moved, but LaZarre hasn’t changed all that much. He’s still brash, still prolific, and Sunday afternoon he returned to the winner’s circle at the 27th annual San Diego International Wine Competition.

“I’m back!” LaZarre exclaimed as it was revealed that his 2007 Central Coast LaZarre Pinot Noir ($35) had been voted Best Red Wine of the show. It was no small feat. Among the contenders for best red honors were the 2006 ZD Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($125), the 2007 Bell Clone 6 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($90) and the 2007 Spoto Napa Valley Syrah ($70), platinum award-winners all.

The venerable SDIWC attracted nearly 2,000 entries, bestowed more than 1,000 medals and crowned five best of show winners, including the LaZarre Pinot. Value-seeking consumers should be encouraged to note the 31 judges — winemakers and wine industry professionals — handed out one of the top awards, best of show sparkling, to the relatively inexpensive Korbel Brut Rose ($11). The sleek 2004 Domaine Carneros Le Reve Blanc de Blancs ($85) was in the running for the top honor, but the judges opted instead for the refreshing, bright berry fruit of the Korbel bubbly.

Other best-of-show winners included the 2008 V. Sattui Early Harvest White Riesling ($18.75) as best white, the 2008 Penman Springs Two Roses Syrah Rose ($15) as best rose, and the 2008 Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards Finger Lakes Vidal Blanc Ice Wine ($40 per half bottle) as best dessert.

The weekend was not short on stellar performance, and I have duly noted some of the more impressive efforts.

Fallbrook Winery, which produces fewer than 50,000 cases of wine a year in the far northeast corner of San Diego County (that’s in Southern California, merely 500 miles but light years from the epicenter of American wine, the Napa Valley) saw two of its wines advance to the finals. Though neither won the big prize, Fallbrook’s 2007 33 Degrees North BDX, Gracie Hill Vineyard ($30) was awarded the title Best Meritage and its 2009 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve ($14) was named Best Sauvignon Blanc. Quite an accomplishment for a small Southern California winery few had ever heard of.

On the other hand, Frank Family Vineyards, a well-known Napa Valley producer, made a good deal of noise on Sunday afternoon with three wines in the finals — 2008 Carneros Pinot Noir ($35), 2008 Napa Valley Chardonnay ($32.50) and 2007 Napa Valley Zinfandel ($36.75).
To reach the finals, a wine had to be awarded a Platinum medal, which would be the equivalent of a double gold at other competitions.

Bargain hunters might want to take a close look at the Cycles Gladiator wines. These are produced by Hahn in Monterey County and are uniformly priced at $10 a bottle. The 2007 Merlot was voted Best Merlot, and the 2008 Syrah took gold. The Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio all received silver medals.

Cameron Hughes was another big winner from the value category, claiming 11 medals, including a platinum and two golds. Cameron Hughes purchases small lots of leftover wine from prestigious wineries, bottles them under his own name without identifying the winery, and sells them for a fraction of the price they would otherwise fetch.

Cameron Hughes won its Platinum with a 2008 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay, Lot 159 at $15. His golds were for the 2007 Lot 116 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($22) and the 2007 Lot 164 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon ($22). These wines can be found at Costo nationwide in states where stores are permitted to sell wine.

Concannon Vineyard of California’s underrated Livermore Valley was equally impressive in the value arena, winning seven medals, the most expensive of which was the gold-medal winning 2008 Limited Release Central Coast Pinot Noir at $16. The 2008 Conservancy Livermore Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($14) earned platinum.

The East was well represented by Jefferson Vineyards of Virginia. This Charlottesville-area winery grabbed a platinum (2009 Monticello Pinot Gris, $18) and a gold (2007 Monticello Meritage, $30) along with two silvers.

Tiny Opolo Vineyards of Paso Robles earned three medals, but two of those were platinum: 2006 Serenade ($30), a red Bordeaux-style blend, and 2007 Paso Robles Tempranillo ($24).

California’s Amador County, in the Sierra Foothills, got a string showing from Renwood with a platinum, two golds and four silvers. The Platinum was a delicious 2007 Barbera at $23 and the golds were the 2007 Jack Rabbit Flat Zinfandel ($30) and the 2008 Amador Ice Zinfandel at $35 a half bottle.

And the Umpqua Valley of Oregon never had it so good. Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyard rounded up nine medals, including a platinum for its 2009 Gruner Veltliner, Revelation & Rorek Bloc at $24. Reustle Prayer Rock also scored golds with its 2008 Reserve Pinot Noir ($38), its 2008 Reserve Syrah ($38) and its 2008 Reserve Tempranillo ($38).

Of course, the big dog of the competition was V. Sattui of the Napa Valley, as usual. Sattui racked up 19 medals. Among the 19 were the best of show white wine, a platinum award for its 2007 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon ($40), and golds for four other wines.

Sattui wines can only be purchased at the winery tasting room in St. Helena, Calif., where there are expansive picnic grounds and a well-priced selection of all of its award-winning wines.

Many of the award-winning wines will be available to taste and for purchase at the annual Wine & Roses charity wine tasting, June 13, 2010, at the Westgate Hotel in downtown San Diego, where the competition was held. Tickets to Wine & Roses may be purchased at www.WineAndRoses.net.

2010 SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL WINE COMPETITION JUDGES

CHIEF JUDGE

Michael Franz, Editor, Wine Review Online

JUDGES

Thrace Bromberger, Gustavo-Thrace
Richard Carey, Winemaker, Vitis Research
Jac Cole, Winemaker, Spring Mountain Vineyards
Kimberly Charles, Charles Communications
Etienne Cowper, Winemaker, Wilson Creek Winery
Mark Deegan, Henry Wine Group
Traci Dutton, Sommelier
Gary Eberle, Winemaker, Eberle Winery
Bob Foster, California Grapevine
Patty Held, Winery Consultant
Linda Jones-McKee, Wines & Vines
John Larchet, Winemaker, The Australian Premium Wine Collection
Adam LaZarre, Winemaker, Villa San-Juliette
Tim McDonald, Wine Spoken Here
Kate McHugh, Quintessential Wines
Neil McNally, Rosenthal Estate
Jon McPherson, Winemaker, South Coast Winery
Linda Murphy, Decanter
Rebecca Murphy, Dallas Morning News
Ray Pompilio, Wine Appreciation Guild
Nick Ponomareff, California Grapevine
Ron Rawlinson, WineSmith
Lisa Redwine, Sommelier
George Riffle, Sommelier
Roman Roth, Winemaker, Wolffer Estate
Eric Runyon, Southern Wine & Spirits
Jeff Siegel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Jennifer Simonetti MW
Bob Small, Los Angeles International Wine Competition
David Stevens, Winemaker, Davon International
Mark Stuart, TheCorkHead.com
Paul Wagner, Balzac Communications
Kevin Walsh, Henry Wine Group
Duncan Williams, Winemaker, Fallbrook Winery
Wilfred Wong, Beverages & More



This is due to restrictions that wine labeling regulations place on wine grape products, and their bottle labels, and illustrations.  One of My pet peeves is Dessert Wine (What’s that?!?! many US consumers ask) has been named various alternative nautical terms such as starboard, larboard, seeking alternatives to the prohibited “port”.

Port (left) and Starboard (right) nautical lamps

The root of the problem is the “Standards of Identity” agreement between the U.S. and the European Union governing the use of  “semi-generic” wine names such as Port, Chablis, Champagne.

Did I mention that our winery is (ironically) located on “Chablis Road” if I listed our address instead of website on the labels the Feds would probably prohibit “Chablis.”

Wineries that used the restricted product prior to the standards of identity agreements are “grandfathered” (may continue to use the names) but wineries offering products after the agreement implementation dates are out of luck.

The agreement signed by the United States and the European Community (EC) on March 10, 2006 changed the legal status of 17 designations of wine.

What are some of the restricted names?

Along with Claret, 16 other semi-generic wine names are covered under the standards agreement: Burgundy, Chablis, Champagne, Chianti, Hock, Malaga, Marsala, Madeira, Moselle, Port, Retsina, Rhine wine, Sauterne, Haut Sauterne, Sherry and Tokay.

Again, a  “grandfather” provision allows wineries already using the terms before the 2006 date,  e.g.  Claret, to continue to do so, but the naming must must now conform to “the trade understanding of such class and type” and any Johnny-come-lately wineries are simply out of luck…

Shared below from Wikipedia provides additional  information on  wine classification.

Classification of wine

By vinification methods

Wines may be classified by vinification methods. These include classifications such as sparkling, still, fortified, rosé, and blush. The color of wine is not determined by the juice of the grape, which is almost always clear, but rather by the presence or absence of the grape skin during fermentation.  Red wine is made from red (or black) grapes, but its red color is bestowed by the skin being left in contact with the juice during fermentation. White wine can be made from any color of grape as the skin is separated from the juice during fermentation. A white wine made from a very dark grape may appear pink or ‘blush’. Rosé wines are a compromise between reds and whites — the skin of red grapes is left in for a short time during fermentation.

Sparkling wines, such as champagne, are those with carbon dioxide, either from fermentation or added later. They vary from just a slight bubbliness to the classic Champagne. To have this effect, the wine is fermented twice, once in an open container to allow the carbon dioxide to escape into the air, and a second time in a sealed container, where the gas is caught and remains in the wine. Wines that gain their carbonation from the traditional method of bottle fermentation are called Méthode Traditionnelle wines in France. Other international denominations of sparkling wine include Sekt or Schaumwein (Germany), Cava (Spain), Spumante or Prosecco (Italy).

Fortified wines are often sweeter, always more alcoholic wines that have had their fermentation process stopped by the addition of a spirit, such as brandy*. They include:

• Marsala
• Madeira
• Sherry
• Port

* Pointing out a nuance/correction here – Sherry is fortified with brandy after fermentation has been completed. Port may be fortified partway through the fermentation process, leaving and protecting residual sugars.

Brandy is a distilled wine. Grappa is a dry colorless brandy, distilled from fermented grape pomace, the pulpy residue of grapes, stems and seeds that were pressed for the winemaking process.

Uses of wine

Wine is a popular and important beverage that accompanies and enhances a wide range of European and Mediterranean-style cuisines, from the simple and traditional to the most sophisticated and complex. Red, white and sparkling wines are the most popular, and are also known as light wines, because they only contain approximately 10-14% alcohol. The aperitif and dessert wines contain 14-20% alcohol, and are fortified to make them richer and sweeter than the light wines. Although there are many classes of dinner wines, they are all used under six specific classes, as follows:

• aperitif: (or better known as “appetizer wines”): include dry sherry, Madeira, Vermouth, and other flavored wines, made to be consumed before eating a meal.
• red dinner wines: These wines are usually dry and go extremely well with such main-course dishes as red meats, spaghetti, and highly-seasoned foods. They should be served at a cool room temperature to bring out their aroma. The most popular red dinner wines are claret, Burgundy, Chianti, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Pink dinner wines (also called “rose wines”), a special class of red wines, can be served with almost any dish, but are considered best with cold meats, pork, and curries.
• white dinner wines: Usually either very dry or rather sweet, these wines should be served chilled, and go well with white meats, seafood, and fowl. They include Rhine wines, Chablis, sauterne, and wine made from different grape varieties such as Chardonnay and White Riesling.
• sparkling wines: Usually served at any meal with any course, these wines are most frequently served at banquets, formal dinners and weddings. The most common sparking wines are Champagne (white) and sparkling Burgundy (red).
• table wine: Table wine is not bubbly, although some have a very slight carbonation, the amount of which is not enough to disqualify them as table wines. According to U.S. standards of identity, table wines may have an alcohol content that is no higher than 14 percent. In Europe, light wine must be within 8.5 percent and 14 percent alcohol by volume. As such, unless a wine has more than 14 percent alcohol, or it has bubbles, it is a table wine or a light wine.
• dessert wines: Ranging from medium-sweet to sweet, these wines are classified under dessert wines only because they are sometimes served with desserts. Among these are port wine, sweet sherry, Tokay, and muscatel.

The labels on certain bottles of wine suggest that they need to be set aside for an hour before drinking (ie. to “breathe”), while other wines are recommended to be drunk as soon as they are opened.

‘Breathing’ means allowing a wine to aerate before drinking. Generally, younger wines benefit from some aeration, while older wines do not. The word, “younger”, refers to the first one third of a wine’s life, which varies from wine type to wine type and from wine to wine. For example, most white wines, “younger” means up to one to two years, while for red wines, they could mean as little as a few months, for a Beaujolais Nouveau, up to ten years for a hearty Barossa Shiraz. “Older”, on the other hand, refers to the last one third of their lives.

During aeration, the exposure of younger wines to air often “relaxes” the flavors and makes them taste slightly smooth and better integrated in aroma, texture, and flavor.

Wines that are older generally fade (lose their character and flavor intensity) with extended aeration. Breathing, however, does not benefit all wines, and should not therefore be taken to the extreme. In general, wine should be tasted as soon as it is opened to determine how long it may be aerated, if at all. It should then be tasted every 15 minutes until the wine is, according to individual preference, ready to drink. As a general rule, younger white wines normally require no more than 15-30 minutes of aeration while younger red wines should be no more than 30-60 minutes. If in doubt, it is better to err on the side of too little aeration than too much.

Others uses

Religious Ceremonial Use

Wine is also used in religious ceremonies in many cultures and the wine trade is of historical importance for many regions. The New Testament even claims that Jesus’ very first miracle was to turn water into wine (John 2:1-11).

Cooking Wines

Some wines are produced commercially as cooking wine, which is considered by many to be extremely salty, and of a much lower grade than even box wine. The salt s added to extend the shelf life oa an occasionally used cooking wine.  Cooking wines are convenient for cooks who use wine as an ingredient for cooking only rarely.

However, they are not widely used by professional chefs, as they believe the added preservative significantly lowers the quality of the wine and subsequently the food made with that wine. Most professional chefs prefer to use inexpensive but drinkable wine for cooking, and this recommendation is given in many professional cooking textbooks as well as general cookbooks. Many chefs believe there is no reason to use a low quality cooking wine, for cooking, when there are quality drinkable wines available at very low prices.

Last year’s event was fabulously successful don’t miss this one.

When: Sunday, March 14th

1:00 to 3:00pm, open to trade only
3:00 to 6:00pm, open to the public and the trade

Where: Del Mar Fairgrounds, Exhibit Hall
2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar

How much: Tickets for the public: $45 in advance, $55 at the door

Experience special wines from California’s family-owned and operates wineries. There will be over 200  wines to sample!  Popular and obscure but delightful varietals from wineries from the northern California to southern California.

There will be a huge number of wineries present so plan your visit carefully you can’t try them all and remain standing – even if you spit!  Here’s a list of participating wineries and FCW Varietal Map to plan with.

Call 866-465-3995 for more information or click HERE for print at home tickets.

Presently 100% of our 2007 & 2008 releases of Estate grown Wines & Ports are Gold, Silver & Bronze medalists, and 88% of our total 2007 & 2008 releases are medalists – in highly credible National, International, and Regional wine competitions since last year.

The 2010 competition completed Thursday, February 25, 2010. This year marks the 20th consecutive Grand Harvest Awards, with a field of over 1,400 entries from North America, Europe, South America, and the Pacific Rim.

Judges awarded a total of 141 Gold (1 in ten),  426 Silver (less than 1 in three) , and 461 Bronze  (less than 1 in three)  medals in this very competitive event where judges must agree on merit of awarding a medal.

Twenty-four judges evaluated over 1,400 entries.  Garnering medals at the Grand Harvest Awards has traditionally been difficult to achieve because of its high standards of excellence. Wine competitions are invaluable purchasing tools that help consumers choose from over 6,000 wineries in the US alone.

More about the Grand Harvest Competition is included in the below press release:

Grand Harvest Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jennifer Merletti

800.535.5670 x105, jmerletti@vwm-online.com

Joe Gargiulo (707.795.9400, joe@jagpublicrelations.com )

2010 Grand Harvest Awards:

Wine Competition Furthers Its Search for Terroir

Santa Rosa, California (March 2, 2010) — Judging for the 2010 Grand Harvest Awards, an international wine competition produced by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine, completed its mission of recognizing outstanding wines from all over the world and simultaneously studying the effects of terroir on wine quality.

Celebrating its 20th year, the Grand Harvest Awards was held February 24-26 at Sonoma Mountain Village, Rohnert Park, California. Complete results are posted at www.vwm-online.com/gha while a related article will be published in the May-June issue of the magazine.

Twenty-four judges evaluated over 1,400 entries and awarded a total of 1,027 medals including 141 gold, 426 silver and 461 bronze. Garnering medals at the Grand Harvest Awards has traditionally been difficult to achieve because of its high standards of excellence. Wine competitions are invaluable purchasing tools that help consumers choose from over 6,000 wineries in the US alone.

Most entries in the Grand Harvest Awards were grown and produced in the United States and Canada with some originating in Australia and New Zealand, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, and Spain) and South Africa.

“The Grand Harvest Awards are a great forum for producers to have their wines evaluated by experienced judges in the context of their respective growing regions,” said competition chairman Bill Traverso. “Wines from up-and-coming regions such as Nebraska and Florida garnered gold medals.”

This year’s Grand Harvest Awards presents a new promotional opportunity for wine producers: medal winners will be featured during March via a link on Food & Wine magazine’s one-million-unique-visitors-per-month website (foodandwine.com).

The Judges

Selected for their familiarity with wines from specific growing regions, the judges represent some of the most qualified experts in the industry: food and beverage media, winemakers, wine marketers, enology and viticulture professors and researchers, restaurateurs and sommeliers, hospitality and tourism consultants, and fine wine retailers. Judges included George M. Tabor, author of Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine; Tim McNally, radio host of “The Wine Show”, WIST 690 AM, New Orleans; Eric Degerman, managing editor of Wine Press Northwest; William S. Bloxsom-Carter, executive chef/food and beverage director of Playboy Mansion West; and Jim Trezise, president of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation.

The Search for Terroir

The Grand Harvest Awards is the only North American wine competition that presents entries to judges according to regional classification. Wines of particular appellations are arranged in flights (mostly groups of 10) and evaluated by judges who are unaware of the geographic origin or producer, knowing only varietal name when relevant. In contrast, other competitions group wines by varietal name and suggested retail price.

Beyond the determination of medals, the Grand Harvest Awards also recognizes entries that best exemplify the terroir of their respective viticultural areas, and acknowledges the influence of terroir on wine quality. After evaluating each flight, judges frequently discuss their impressions in order to identify the signature elements of terroir and their link to regional typicity (wine characteristics that are common to particular growing regions).

While it is has no scientific definition, terroir is considered to be the combined expression of soil, climate, elevation and topography in the aroma, flavor and tactile sensations of wine beyond clone and rootstock selection, cultural practices, and winemaking techniques.

About the Producer

The Grand Harvest Awards is a division of Vineyard & Winery Services, the publisher of the leading independent wine trade publication Vineyard & Winery Management magazine www.vwm-online.com , Winedex (Wine Industry Index). Based in Santa Rosa, California, the multimedia corporation also produces seminars, conferences and trade shows (Wineries Unlimited, Tasting Room Profitability, Wine Club Summit, and Managing the Winery Laboratory) as well as two other wine competitions (International Eastern Wine Competition, and West Coast Wine Competition).

Back in December of 2009 we were so disappointed to hear that Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher were no longer working for the Wall Street Journal and that their long running Tastings Column was no more.

Below is a summary of their recommendations for a quality winery experience – typically at a small winery is where you can have an unsurpassed, personal experience – and in the words of our favorite Boston Globe Travel writer – Tom Haines: (please read his eloquent article)  “You may never return so buy one wine.”

Further below we share some insights into Wine Tourism, this from a University of Iowa study. Opponents of wineries and tasting rooms are blind to the fact that small winery operations and the insignificant traffic they generate are beneficial to local economies and that wineries are among the most generous and desirable of charitable venues – after all how bad of a mood can community benefactors be in when you are around winery hosts and other wine lovers!?!?

At Wineries Small is Beautiful:

WSJ: DOROTHY J. GAITER AND JOHN BRECHER

Visiting wineries anywhere in the world is a joy and excites many people into a lifetime love affair with wine.

• Visit the small winery you’ve never heard of. You will not be disappointed.
• When people ask us about visiting wineries… they’re simply looking for someone to meet with intimate knowledge of the wines, some interesting wines to taste, and a welcoming environment in which to taste them. This is all most likely to happen at that little winery with the unfamiliar name.
• There are thousands of wineries all over the world that you’ve never heard of. They’re small, family-run and charming. Those are the ones we target.
• Our goal was simply to identify those that were open to the public and drop in. Many wineries are open by appointment only… We prefer to be spontaneous, so we rarely visit those…
• Our own favorite visits, however, are the ones where we’re surrounded by the vineyards and the tanks.
• That’s our kind of winery: small, quirky, friendly and passionate about wine.
• To feel the passion of wine and winemaking, it’s important to seek out the smaller places where you can really spend some quality time with the people behind the bar.

Fifteen (15) Steps to a Successful Winery Visit

Boutique Wineries Offer a Premium wine Experience

Sharing a CLASSIC, time-proven list of sage suggestions from two of our favorite wine writers. This list is  sure to make all your future wine tastings visits a huge success!

We recommend you review before, or take this list with you on each wine outing until you have it committed to your wine appreciation routine.

Fifteen Steps to a Successful Winery Visit ‐‐‐ Go Early, Ask Questions, Don’t Get Carried Away;  The Empty Box Rule

WSJ: 15 Steps to a Successful Winery Visit

June 29, 2007

By DOROTHY J. GAITER AND JOHN BRECHER

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118306817695252069.html?mod=Tastings

There has never been a better time than now ‐‐ right now, this week ‐‐ to go visit a winery near you. All over the U.S., more wineries than ever are open and eager for you to drop by. Many of them plan special events during the summer and entire regions now are heavily promoting their wine trails. (If you missed Weekend Journal’s recent cover story about the spread of American wineries and wine tourism, drop us a note at wine@wsj.com and we’ll send it along.)

Winemakers and winery owners are among the world’s most charming and interesting people, and they often give away samples of their art for free. Why wouldn’t you go? If you do, here are some tips on how to visit wineries, with some suggestions for winery etiquette. We’ve focused here on visiting wineries in newer wine regions, where tourism might not be as well advanced as places like Napa and Sonoma.

‐‐ Get an empty box for wine. Grab one at your local wine store, or think about buying a Styrofoam wine carrier from the shipping store. Trust us on this. You are going to start buying bottles of wine that will rattle around in your car unless you’ve brought a box. You’ll thank us for this advice when your box is full (and this might have an added benefit; see below).

‐‐ Hire a car or have a designated driver. Chances are you will taste more wine than you expected to ‐‐ those little tastes add up. Not only that, but if you’re not used to drinking wine early in the day, it could catch up with you fast. In many of the newer wine regions, the wineries might be spread out, so you have some driving ahead of you. Various tour companies are popping up in wine regions all over the country that are happy to chart your visits to wineries and take you to them.

‐‐ Take the kids, but, if you do, find something for them to do. Wine regions are very pretty around now, so green and lush, and winery people are nice, so it’s a shame for children to miss the experience. But tasting rooms can be boring for children, so ask right away if there are cookies or crackers, animals to play with or anything else for kids to do. Some, though not nearly enough, have basketball nets, bocce courts, coloring books or Play‐Doh. Take along a Rubik’s Cube, which did the trick for our kids for a while.

‐‐ Go early, especially on weekends. The thing that’s the most fun about a winery visit is chatting with the people behind the bar, who are often the owners or winemakers, especially at smaller wineries. They won’t have time to talk with you if it’s busy.

‐‐ Focus on the smaller places. There is something comforting and unintimidating about the larger places with big parking lots, T‐shirts for sale and lots of hired help. But to feel the passion of wine and winemaking, it’s important to seek out the smaller places where you can really spend some quality time with the people behind the bar.

‐‐ Be polite. Yes, this seems obvious, but we’ve visited hundreds of tasting rooms over more than 30 years and we’re always amazed how rude people can be. In a smaller winery, you are likely to be in part of someone’s home and possibly talking to the owner. And you’re probably getting wine free, or for a small charge. Be nice, and show them the respect they deserve.

‐ Try new, unfamiliar things. In many parts of the country, the grapes that grow best are native American grapes or hybrids. Perhaps the winery makes a Chardonnay, but it’s not as good as its Vignoles. If you stick to grapes you know, you could miss out on the regional specialties.

‐‐ Have an answer to the question, “What kind of wine do you like?” Tasting‐room personnel tend to ask this reflexively as an ice‐breaker, but many people who aren’t totally comfortable with wine find it hard to answer on the spot. In any event, we’d be hesitant to answer it directly because we don’t want to try only the kinds of wines we already know we like. Even if you think you only like dry wines, you should try some that are sweet, and vice versa. Think about saying something like, “I enjoy all kinds of wines. Which would you start with?”

‐‐ Ask where the grapes were grown. Many wineries these days all over the country make wine from grapes grown in California or someplace else far away. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but when we visit a winery in, say, Connecticut, part of the fun of the visit is tasting wines made from grapes grown in Connecticut, near where we’re standing. If you don’t want to ask, just peek at the label. If it says “estate bottled,” that’s a sign that the grapes were probably grown right around the corner.

‐‐ Ask questions. Don’t be shy. If you ask simple questions like “Does this look like it will be a good year?” or “What food goes best with this wine?” the person behind the counter will appreciate your interest. Don’t try to show off with questions like, “Did this get any ML?” unless you really, really care about malolactic fermentation. There are no stupid questions ‐‐ and, in any event, you can’t do worse than the visitor who once asked a tasting‐room pourer whom we’ve known for years, “How long does the wine stay in caskets?”

‐‐ Remember that it’s a tasting room, not a bar. If you want to drink a big glass of wine, buy a bottle and have a picnic. And even if you are not driving, be very careful about how much you’re drinking. People who have had too much to drink ruin the tasting experience for everybody.

‐‐ Be careful how much you buy. It’s a nice gesture to buy a bottle or two, but you shouldn’t feel pressured to. Still, we tend to get carried away at wineries and buy more bottles than we intended. You’ll be amazed how quickly those bottles add up. Many wineries now can ship across state lines, so you can probably call and get those wines after you get home if you have non‐buyer’s remorse later.

‐‐ Keep wines out of the hot car. A car that’s sitting in the sun will cook your wines in no time flat. Find a way
to avoid that.

‐‐ Ask wineries how to ship your wine back. If you have bought a case or so at various wineries, you might find it easier to ship it back, so ask if there is a local shipping place that specializes in this. This might not be possible, depending on various state laws, so this is where your Styrofoam carrier comes in: Just pack it and check it on the plane with you. There are obviously some risks involved, but we have done this for decades without incident. (Check with your airline to make sure it has no rules against this.)

‐‐ Finally, keep this in mind: The wines you bought at the winery will not taste as good at home as they did at the winery. We’re sorry to end this list with a downer, but it’s true. When you’re there, surrounded by the wondrous sights and smells of a winery, with the winemaker across the bar, pouring wine in pristine condition that has never traveled, the wine tastes special. You simply can’t replicate those conditions at home. But this is exactly why you should go taste wine at a winery this week.

WSJ: 15 Steps to a Successful Winery Visit

June 29, 2007

By DOROTHY J. GAITER AND JOHN BRECHER

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118306817695252069.html?mod=Tastings