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California Wine Experience 2013: Day Seven

29 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by totalwineandmore in California Wine Experience 2013, Wine

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Adler Fels Winery, Anaba Wines, Sonoma

The incredible view from Adler Fels, Sonoma

The panoramic view of Sonoma Valley (Adler Fels Winery)

Our final day is a short one, with half of our group leaving after our first stop to make their flights. Adler Fels Winery in Sonoma was our first stop; perched on a mountain top, it had beautiful views of the valley below. After a quick breakfast at the viewpoint, we separated into two groups – one for tasting and another for a tour of the winery.

Adler Fels winemaker, Harry Parducci, Jr.

Adler Fels winemaker, Harry Parducci, Jr.

Adler Fels makes a good amount of wine for us aside from the Adler Fels Line. Some labels include Abbeyville, ­­­­­Kitchen Sink and Buffalo Grove, to name a few. Not all the wine is made here on the property since the winery is very small. They have much larger production facility off-site that is used to produce the majority of their labels. Adler Fels is unique; they don’t own a single vine!  It’s really amazing how they have developed so many great relationships with growers over the years that have allowed them to access to great grapes, which in turn delivers to us great value-for-the-money wines!  We had a chance to meet with Harry Parducci Jr., the winemaker for Adler Fels, as we tasted through his latest releases.

Blending is hard work!

Blending is hard work!

Sadly, half of our group headed off to the San Francisco airport while my group went to the town of Sonoma to visit with the folks from Anaba Wines for our last tasting and education of the trip. We walked into the winery and were surprised with a very fun exercise – we got to blend our own wine!  There were four stations set up where we had Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre barrel samples to work with. Proprietor John Sweazey was on hand to get us started. Not only did we get to blend our own wine but we also had to come up with a name for it and tasting notes to help sell it. In the end, there were four winners – two tied for one of the categories. TONS of fun for the last stop!

Anaba Winery group photo of Total Wine & More teamI’m so sad our trip over; I wish it could keep on going but unfortunately, we have to get back to our stores. A week that saw over 40 wineries, tasted over 350 wines and met countless wonderful, hospitable and passionate people in the wine business – there are many, many highlights.

Each stop we encountered different personalities, different views on winemaking, and “secrets of the trade” that will all be shared with you in our stores throughout the next few years. I’m sure they’re already up in some locations but be sure to keep an eye out for pictures of the teams from each winery. For me, the trip was a very educational one, with the best memories of times spent with passionate owners and winemakers and gaining a deeper understanding their unique and distinctive wines.

Cheers,

Cyrus

California Wine Experience 2013: Day Two

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by totalwineandmore in California Wine Experience 2013, Wine

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Black Cordon Vineyards, Ceja Vineyards, Kunde Winery, Napa Valley, Peter Paul Wines, ROY Estate, Sojourn Cellars, Sonoma, Wine

Amelia_Ceja_and_team

Amelia Ceja (center) with our Texas team

California Wine Experience: Day One is here.

It’s 8:00 a.m., and the team is on the bus and headed for wine country!  First stop is Ceja Vineyards, located in the Carneros region of Sonoma. For those that are not familiar with Carneros it’s actually called Los Carneros, or “the Rams” and is an AVA (American Viticultural Area) that straddles both Napa and Sonoma. Owner and co-founder Amelia Ceja was the first to greet us – and let me tell you, this is one of the most passionate wine personalities I’ve ever met!  The family has an incredible story; the Cejas were originally harvest workers that made it to the big show – producing some of the best examples of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in California. My favorite of the visit was their Pinot Noir, full of mouth-watering acidity and gorgeous fruit flavors, all about finesse and elegance. Sadly, we had to keep to our schedule which if it was up to Amelia; she would have had us for the entire day to herself.

Jeff Kunde

Jeff Kunde speaks to our team

Next up,  Kunde Family Estate.

Running just a tad behind we turned into the Kunde estate where we were greeted by Owner, Jeff Kunde and his winemaker, Zach Long. With no time to spare they each jumped onto a bus and we headed up the mountain to get a better view of the property. The Kundes have been growing grapes and making wine for over 100 years and are the largest land owners of planted vines in Sonoma Valley. They also make our Kinneybrook line, which is actually where the Kunde Winery is located. The Kinneybrook Ranch … and of course there was a brook running through the property – so hence the name Kinneybrook. Kunde WineryAll the grapes for those wines come from that piece of the property. There are amazing views from the Kinneybrook vista point, not to mention outstanding wines. We tasted through the entire lineup of Kinneybrook for the upcoming releases with not a bad wine in the lineup!  Lunch was served in the shade of trees and then we headed back on the bus to Green Valley for a visit to River Road Winery, one of our best winery direct partners.

Winemaker Joe Freeman

Winemaker Joe Freeman

Welcoming us with a glass of rosé, the team of River Road was all there to say hello. Boy, did they pull out the all the stops!  Owner Ron Rubin, winemaker Joe Freeman, assistant winemaker Ed Morris and several vineyard owners were in attendance including the Boschetti and Hopkins families – names you may know from River Road’s single vineyard Pinots and Chardonnays. In the winery they had tables set up for us to go through the most recent vintages of their wines. Winemaker Joe Freeman led the tasting, with support from his assistant Ed, who used to work for a cooperage and has extensive knowledge of how barrels are made and the effects they can have on wine. The group this year was really inquisitive; Joe had his hands full answering all of their questions. Because we had so many questions, we ran a little behind, sacrificing some dinner minutes to take advantage of the time we had with Joe and Ed. It’s not like they let us leave hungry though, the Hog Island oysters on the half shell and crab cakes they provided were delicious!

Sojourn and Team

(center) Craig Haserot, proprietor of Soujourn Cellars

Peter Paul

Peter Paul, proprietor (left) with winemaker Daniel Moore (center) and our team

As if that wasn’t enough for one day, we went back to the hotel where we had a meet and greet scheduled with 25 more producers. What an amazing tasting; each year this event keeps getting better and better. Each team member interviewed one producer and will be sharing their findings on the bus to their teammate in between winery visits over the next few days. Of course, once the interviews were over, we had the chance to walk the room and taste all the wines which came from Napa, Sonoma, Lodi, Amador County and the central coast. It was really hard to pick favorites, but a few of the highlights for me were the Peter Paul Wines, Sojourn Cellars Pinots, Black Cordon Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon and of course, ROY Estate.

Ah, it’s a lot to ponder, especially with my palate fatigue (this is tough work!). Time for me to put the glass down. More tomorrow!

Yours in wine,

Cyrus

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