Bring Out The Barrel wine tasting weekend a big success

January 29thand 30th was a beautiful winter weekend for wine tasting in the El Dorado wine region.  Saturday was clear, crisp, and the sun was out.  Sunday started out with some threatening clouds that cleared away in the early afternoon.  The wine fans that managed to get tickets to this event were traveling from one winery to another and having a great time of it.  Not only were the wineries offering barrel tasting, but the bottled wines were available as well and small-bite food goodies were provided.

The 2010 grape growing season started out with a cool spring and some late frost leading to concerns about the quality of the crop.  The season was highlighted by a mild summer and good weather through October.  The grapes got enough hang time to produce the sugar level and ripeness that makes good wine.  The barrel tastings of the 2010 futures last weekend proved that it was a good year for the region.  What was remarkable was the maturity of these wines after only a few months.

The difficulty with any wine tasting weekend with twenty-six participating wineries is that you just cannot get to as many as you would like.  Following are just a few barrel tasting notes for some of the wines and wineries that I visited. 

David Girard Vineyards offered a 2010 Select Syrah that had good structure, strong varietal character with the pepper that we love in a syrah, and enough tannin to age well.  The second offering was a 2010 Mourvedre.  Watch for this one.  Plenty of fruit, well balanced, with a strong back bone.

Gold Hill Vineyards had a 2009 Chardonnay that was fermented in stainless and aged in French oak.  It was dry, well balanced with a good nose and plenty of varietal character.  A definite winner.  Next was a 2009 Cabernet Franc, which is one of Gold Hill’s best wines, that was dry with plenty of fruit, good structure, and a clean finish.

ParaVi Vineyards provided a unique opportunity to taste their exciting 2009 port-style wines made from zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon.  These wines exemplify the newly emerging port-style wines made in California from non-traditional grape varieties.  It has taken the pioneering efforts of wineries like ParaVi to develop our own port-style wines that rival the traditional ports from Portugal.  Congratulations to ParaVi for these excellent entries into this exciting arena.  These ports will only be available at the winery or to Wine Society members.

Illuminaire Winery offered a 2009 Pinotage, which is a hybrid grape variety from South Africa, that was wonderful and much like our favored zinfandel.  Fruity, well balanced, with good structure.  It will be bottled this May.  Next was a 2009 Zinfandel typical of the kind we like around here; big, jammy, tons of fruit, some residual sugar, and fairly high alcohol.  Bottling is planned in March. 

Holly’s Hill Vineyards had several barrels of 2010 wines that stood well on their own, but are also blended to produce their outstanding Patriarche wine.  First was a 2010 Counoise with a lighter body, good fruit, still with enough tannin and structure to hold its own.  Next was a 2010 Mourvedre which was robust and hearty, with plenty of fruit, sound structure, and an earthy quality that contributed well to the wine.  Finally was the 2010 Patriarche blend of mourvedre, syrah, grenache, and counoise.  Simply put, this is an outstanding wine.  It is balanced, fruity, with sound structure.  It will spend a year in the bottle before it is released.  Watch for this one.

Auriga Cellars put forth a 2009 Tuscan Blend of sangiovese, merlot, and syrah that was just plain wonderful.  It had all the important factors combined; structure, tannin, balance, good sangiovese character.  After eighteen months in French oak, it will be bottled in April.  Grab this wine if the see it.  Last up was a 2009 Zinfandel that had grapes from two different local vineyards.  It’s the kind of zin we love here in El Dorado; big, jammy, plenty of zin aroma and sound structure.  Another winner.

Don’t forget to get your tickets for Passport Weekends taking place on March 26thand 27th, followed by April 2ndand 3rd.  Click here to go to the El Dorado Wineries website to purchase tickets and get more information.