​Jim and Ed’s Excellent Adventure
We went up to this place up north that rhymes with Dracula which we thought was really cool, and they had this circle we could drive around and after we got bored we found this restaurant (Vineyard Rose) in a winery just near the circle and, like, Ed says that this is an awesome place and that we had both been there and had this great tri-tip sandwich.  No, it wasn’t like you know made from the tips of that thingy the fish guy carries but pieces of steak and caramel onions.  They gave us a wine list so we had some wine with fancy names, you know, Ed going for the Zorro wine cause I guess he likes Zorro, and like I went with one with a really fancy name Toursomething National, only they spelled National with a c not a t.
Now after we ate and as we were in a place called South Coast Winery Resort & Spa but, like, they didn’t have that name on the bottles.  Instead, they had this really excellent name – Wild Horse Peak.  So naturally we looked around for the spa and the wild horses but got lost and hey, wouldn’t you know, finally wound up at the door right next to the door to the restaurant where they do the wine tasting and they took us out on their porch which is really big and we thought we would drink some more wine. Tthey had both the Z wine and the Toursomething wine on a list so we got that and, like, they brought the wine out in this really cool spirally thingy.

​So we tried the wine and I got to try the Z wine and it had this cherry-like taste and then they really liked us and maybe it was because they thought Ed looked like Mr. Carter, some big muckity-muck for the winery so they brought us more wine, like Petite Sirah and Syrah and Cabernet Souvenir.  I think Petite means small in French but the Petite Sirah was the same size as the Syrah.  I liked it better than the Syrah and Ed liked the Syrah better than the small Sirah and Ed is bigger than me so maybe it’s not the size of the wine but the size of the wine drinker???

​I took some cool pictures of the place with all of these awesome medals and lots of neat other stuff.  They had this other room that we couldn’t go in because of the virus but I got an awesome picture.

​They have this really awesome club any dude or dudette can join (if you are over 21) where they pick 3 bottles of wine for you per quarter and you get an awesome 25% off.  And, like the best, most excellent, part is that you can drop by there four time a month and get free wine!!!  They also will let you stay at their hotel for a 15% discount and you can eat at their great restaurant for 10% off.  That guy Carter must be something because they have this other place called “Carter Estate” that they own and club members get to drink there for 50% off.  He even has his name on some of the wines…

OK, it was not a particularly perilous journey.  In fact, he had a great time and tasted great wines.  His report:
"Perhaps you are considering a wine trip near San Francisco.  You have heard of Napa Valley, but are open to other choices.  Did you know that Sonoma County, just west of Napa, has nearly twice as many acres of vineyard compared to Napa?  Sonoma has more vineyards than Napa (450 compared to 390).  And it has much more diverse climate, as indicated by its 18 different AVA’s (American Viticulture Area).  The largest Sonoma AVA is Russian River, located north of Santa Rosa, and south of Healdsburg.

​Sonoma County, with its cooler climate, specializes in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel.  I only had a long weekend to visit, so I focused my search on a few vineyards that excelled in my red grape favorites.  I tend to like clone specific varietal wines that show complex flavors and that come from small boutique wineries.  I found several treasures.
Pinot Noirs from the Sonoma region are, in general, halfway between the elegant light-bodied wines of Oregon and the full-bodied giants from California’s Central Coast.  I found the Sonoma pinots to be medium bodied, fruit-forward, and with very soft tannins.  They will easily pair well with a wide variety of foods.  New favorites I discovered on this trip came from Bucher Vineyards and Benovia Winery.  Bucher’s single clone Pommard Pinot ($55) was particularly well balanced, with prominent dark fruit flavors and a strong smooth finish.  I was also intrigued by their clone 943 which is very fruit-forward and intense, and is grown by only a few vineyards.  Benovia had a large selection of well-made wines, and they presented them in a beautiful tasting room with a great view of their property.  My favorite was the LaPommeraie ($65), a blend of clones 777 and 828, which was aged for a long 16 months in new French oak.  Wow, the flavors were wonderful!  Benovia Winery also caught my attention with their Zinfandel ($42), a flavorful and complex wine that was a great value.

​Dry Creek Winery was another great discovery.  They served five different Zinfandels (and had several more for sale) in a beautiful outdoor patio setting.  I knew I was in for a treat when they poured the samples, and I could smell the floral nose while the glasses were still on the serving table!  Dry Creek’s zins were medium bodied and filled with complex flavors of blue and black fruit.  My favorites were Somers Ranch ($44) and Farmhouse ($42) which was made from their Heritage clone grapes.
Of course, there are many other great wineries in Sonoma County.   Check the internet to find other treasures, and add them to my list to create your own tasting tour.  You won’t be disappointed!"
Doc Ed

​It is probably not a good idea to go wine tasting on a very windy winter’s day, especially now that all of the wine tasting is done outdoors.  Well, we did just that and it turned out to be a fortunate trip.  Our first stop was to visit one of Ramona’s best wineries, Edwards, to check on the release of their Syrah clones and generally shoot the breeze.  Well, the breeze shot us instead, so we headed off to Ramona Ranch.  Ramona Ranch is located on the same road as Edwards (same side), though much closer to the town center.  Anyway, the winery boasts an award-winning Tannat.  This was my second trip, but like the first the Tannat was not available for tasting.  So, I bought a bottle.  More on this wine below.
The winery does not have much of an indoor wine tasting room, so you sit outside on a very nice patio a listen to music as you sip their very nice wines – see below.  They are building a new facility – foundation has been laid – just behind the parking lot.  Now the wind was still blowing when we arrived at Ramona Ranch, and I can assure you that it was pretty cold on that back porch, yet there were plenty of people there (all of the seats in the sun were taken), so, yes, this is a popular winery which I have been very late to discover.  Sorry guys, but I was waiting to taste the Tannat and the dog ate my homework….

​They make tasting very simple -- $2 per taste (3 minimum), you choose what you want off of their menu (shown below).  They pour the first taste in a glass, then send you out on the porch.  The rest of the wines you selected are brought out in plastic cups so you refill your tasting glass yourself.  I like the method because it allows me to do parallel tasting so I could readily compare their two Sangiovese offerings.  Also tried the Viognier and the Aglianico, both of which are quite nice and have been added to my wine hoard.

​Now on to Tannat.  This French grape has found its way to South America where it is grown in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and especially Uruguay, where it is the most popular wine.  This grape yields a wine with the highest level of antioxidants of all red wines, so it is the healthiest wine you can drink.  On the down side, high antioxidants mean high tannin levels, and this grape makes wines that are right up there near the top.  One of the advantages of growing this grape in Southern California is the long growing season, i.e., the wine makers can let the grapes ripen longer, softening the tannins and making the wine drinkable after only a few years aging.  I can’t say too much about the Ramona Ranch version as this was only the third time I’ve tried Tannat, and one was a sample that has yet to be released.  But it is a very nice wine even without proper aging….
Ramona Ranch has wine club, as noted on the picture of the big board.  Standard 20% discount on 2 or 4 bottles four times a year, with two free five-sample tastings or a glass of wine with your visits to the winery.  Of course, wine club members get access to their best wines, including their Tannat and some wines that are never available to the general public.
Really worth a visit – but not on a cold, windy day….

​Viognier is a white French grape, found mostly in the Rhone region.  The grape is used to make a varietal with the same name (duh!) and as a blending grape, but with the red grape Syrah.  This unusual combination is supposed to produce a very nice wine which some day I hope to get my hands on.  As far as Southern California is concerned, to date Viognier only shows up as a varietal or in a blend with other white grapes.  I say “to date” because at least one winery (Edwards) is growing Viognier to blend with their Syrah.
While Viognier is considered an uncommon wine, it is grown just about everywhere – in the US, Australia, South Africa, Italy, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Portugal – you get the idea.  Now, back to the blending of this white grape with Syrah grapes.
As you may or may not know, to make white wine the grapes are crushed and the juice pressed out.  The juice then is fermented.  OK, crush, press, ferment.  To make red wine, the sequence is crush, ferment, then press.  Crush, ferment, press.  So, if you are making a blended wine using both white and red grapes do you blend after fermentation, or do you ferment them together?  If you ferment them together, do you press the white grapes first and add the juice to the red grape must, or crush and ferment them with the red grapes?  Must, by the way, is the name for the fermenting crushed red grape mixture.
To answer this question, I quote from the Ridge website:
“The idea of co-fermentation isn’t new, we see greater complexity and color develop when zinfandel co-ferments with field varietals such as petite sirah, carignane, alicante bouschet, mataro etc.   In the northern Rhone valley, viognier has been used in small percentages to co-ferment with syrah to aid in stabilizing the abundant color of syrah and to temper tannin extraction.  This has been successfully done for hundreds of years.  I would also say that viognier has a few extra weeks of ripening ahead of syrah, so in the northern Rhone valley, on a cold year, the viognier might bring ripeness to the wine….
Chemically, there are non-pigmented phenolics within the viognier skins that have a strong affinity for bonding to side-groups of the anthocyanin pigment of syrah.  Once these bonds are formed, they remain soluble and stable within the wine and provide a deep blue/purple spectrum of color.  Viognier also has a beautiful pungency of apricot, peach, and white flower which helps lift the total aroma of syrah which tends to be dark and gamey.“
I should add that Ridge did quite well in the “Judgement of Paris” wine tasting competition, i.e., it is one of the great American wineries, so if they say the grapes should be field blended I have to go with it….

I first encountered Montepulciano about six years ago.  I had never even heard the name, and had trouble remembering it after first tasting the wine at Ponte in Temecula.  It was love at first sight – well, actually first taste.  I have selected this grape variety and the varietal wine made from it as my second to review because it was this wine that made me realize that there are very good red wines not made from Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir grapes.
So, another rare Italian red grape variety?  Not exactly.  I mean, it is an Italian red grape variety, but not quite a rare grape.  Uncommon, then?  No.  In fact, it is quite common in Italy -- Montepulciano is the second most grown red grape grown in Italy.  So, wines made from the grape must not carry the varietal name, yes?  No, actually the grape is commonly used to produce a wine called Montepulciano.  So why hadn’t I run into it before?  While I might have but not remembered it, fact is that after we first tasted this very nice wine, we began looking for it.  Did not find it at the supermarket, Costco, Trader Joe’s, or any restaurant wine lists.  Lots of Chianti, Barbera, Valpolicella, Chianti Classico, and Barolo, but no Montepulciano.
One explanation that I have read is that the while the grape has its origin in Montepulciano, it is now grown extensively in Abruzzo.  Abruzzo is not an area of Italy that gets a lot of tourists, hence, few outside of Italy know of its existence.  Not sure if I buy that explanation.  My view is that the Italians drink the better wines made in Italy and export the ones they don’t particularly care for.  The answer may be in the numbers – while Montepulciano plantings cover less than half the acreage of Sangiovese, much of the Sangiovese crop is used to make cheap Chianti for sale to America.
Now for an anecdote.  One of the restaurants we frequent is Pernicano’s (on Mercy Road just west of Interstate 15).  Our standard fare always included a glass of Chianti.  Then, one night not too long ago, a new wine appeared on his wine list – Montepulciano.  We had it that night, and our next visit as well, but on the subsequent visit he had sold out.  It has become very popular, and is now near the top of his wine list.
As a final note, we did order Montepulciano at a restaurant in Rome.  I am happy to say it was as delicious as any produced in our area of the world.
My next wine to be reviewed was going to be another red wine.  News of this blog somehow reached the white, sparkling, and dessert wines in my wine chiller, setting off protests and even threats of violence.  Other grievances came to the fore, such as always being put in the bottom of the chiller and seeing the reds come and go while they remain untouched.  This latter complaint died quickly when they were informed of what happens to wines that leave the chiller, as we demonstrated by uncorking their leader, a wonderful Viognier from Europa Village.  While the white and sparkling wines will remain at the bottom of the chiller, I have decided to meet them part way by making Viognier the subject of my next blog.

​I’ve mentioned a number of grape varieties that are relatively rare, or at least uncommon, that you can find at the wineries in Southern California.  I have decided to educate you on some of these with the hope that you will try them, and also because the wineries are all shut down and I need to write about something.
The first grape variety that I would like to feature is Lagrein.  My first post on this website was in December, 2017.  Now my first blog was about Orfila Vineyards.  An easy choice, as they are a very popular winery with a great location and some very nice wines.  I also like the fact that their tasting room is their barrel room, hence even the red wines are served at a reasonable temperature.
With this in mind, I took an afternoon trip to Orfila to get some pictures for the blog, and, of course, do some wine tasting.  On the wine tasting menu was this very strange name – Lagrein.  So I asked if this was a blend, not ever hearing about a grape named Lagrein.  Well, the wine on the menu was not a blend, which I should have known since it says so on the menu.  Hey, I’m old and have trouble reading the fine print and the sun was in my eyes and I was distracted by a naked woman running through the tasting room…  OK, the last two are out-and-out lies.
Anyway, turns out Lagrein is a grape variety, but, despite its seemingly French name is actually from Italy.  It is a medium-bodied red wine, a bit on the level of Cabernet Sauvignon, but to me seemed a bit drier with a great finish.  So why have you not heard of this grape before?
Well, for starters it is pretty rare.  It is grown mostly in the Italian Alps, though according to Wikopedia is also grown in Australia and in California.  It likes cooler temperatures and ripens slowly, although I have read that it also really produces, i.e., it is a very high yield varietal, and often has to be pared down.  I have also read that the wine should be aged a bit before drinking but starts going south in five years or so.  I love some of the write-ups about this wine, that it is a Teroldego cross and is similar is many respects to Teroldego, as if Teroldego you are going to be able to get a good idea of what the wine is like by comparing it to another wine that might be even rarer.
Back to my story.  So, there I was with this great discovery.  I bought a bottle, brought it home, and used it as the cover bottle for my first blog.  As for the wine itself, turns out my wife was on antibiotics at the time so could not drink.  I had to drink the entire bottle myself – the things we have to do….
The Orfila grapes come from San Luis Obispo, and that is where it is grown in California.  Not sure how the grape would do in our part of the state.  Anyway, Robert Renzoni also has a version, though it is not 100% Lagrein and goes by some strange name that I never remember because I really don’t like it.  I also had the wine in Italy, and truth-be-told, it was just as good as the Orfila version.  I should add here that I did not see the word Teroldego on a single wine list in Rome but did find Lagrein and also found Lagrein in one of the shops at the highway stops but never Teroldego so they really need to say that Teroldego is related to Lagrein and not the other way around.  Just saying…
 I also tried some in Paso Robles.  I won’t mention the winery because my wife tells me I shouldn’t say bad things about a winery so let me just say it was not quite “up to snuff” and leave it at that.
Lagrein has become our “go to” wine – indeed, this summer for the first time since the days when we thought Two-Buck Chuck was drinkable that we purchased a whole case of one wine.  The vintage I first tasted was 2016.  I am happy to report that 1) 2017 is just as good, 2) they still have some of each left though they are not on the tasting menu, and 3) they will soon release a 2018 version.  This is a wine you should at least taste, so I will let you know when Orfila releases this 2018 vintage.
Next up:  Montipulciano

​I started this blog about three years ago.  My wife and I both retired on the 30th of June of 2017 and were spending more and more time visiting wineries along with our son’s father-in-law, Doc Ed (yes, we are the In-Laws).  Doc Ed had been searching out wineries in our area long before our children met, so we depended on his lead.  He expressed his frustration at not having a reliable winery guide, a site to help us decide which of the many wineries were worth looking into.  Having a lot of time on my hands, and having some experience writing blogs and websites, I decided to take up the challenge and create my own website where I would post reviews of wineries we visited and liked.  Yes, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.  Those wines out there can’t taste themselves, can they?
Along the way I’ve learned how little I actually knew about wine.  I now know enough to ask intelligent questions, and hope someday to be able to understand the answers.  Anyway, here are some on the winery situation in Southern California – and what the future may bring:
Wineries Visited:  Over the course of the three years of this blog I’ve visited over 80 wineries.  That’s not 80 visits to wineries – that’s visits to 80 different wineries.  The list includes 9 in Napa, 6 in the Central Coast, two in New York State, and one in Italy.  The rest have all been in Southern California, which gives you some idea of how many wineries we have in our area.  I suspect my standards for what constitutes a good winery have become tougher.  Which leads to…
San Diego County Wines:  At the time I began this website I was not aware of the 2010 San Diego County ordinance that allowed wineries to open tasting rooms in the unincorporated areas of the county.  Hence, I did not realize that many of the wineries I was visiting were more or less start-ups, with relatively young vines.  Not sure if it would have made much of a difference, as I really did not understand the effect of vine age on the quality of the grapes (generally, best grapes come from vines that are over ten years old).  Anyway, I am happy to report that while my tastes have become more refined the county wineries have kept pace.  Indeed, the wines are getting better, especially in the Ramona area.
Some of this improvement can be attributed to the age of the vines.  I suspect that the wine makers have played no small part as well.  Weather may be a factor (for better or worse).  In any event, things are looking good for the future if the wine makers adapt to global warming…
New Grape Varieties:  Global warming is having an effect on the world wine industry.  Best example is coming out of France.  Until recently, only six grape varieties could be grown in the Bordeaux region of France.  Higher temperatures are having a bad effect on the Merlot crop, a potentially severe economic blow to the region.  Accordingly, a replacement for Merlot is being sought.  Ergo, Bordeaux is allowing growers to experiment with another seven varieties.
The import of this for our region is quite clear – wineries need to consider more heat resistant varieties.  And they are doing so – local wineries are growing grapes that UC Davis has determined best for this purpose, including Albarino, Aglianico, Montipulciano, Negroamaro, Tannat, Tempranillo (ugh!), Nero D’Avola, Touriga Nacional and Teroldego.  The wines produced from these grapes are among the best in Southern California, even though they are often from the youngest vines.  As the number of wineries turning to these grapes grows, we may become known for these wines, much as Napa is for their Bordeaux varieties.  Assuming growers greatly limit the amount of Tempranillo they grow, the future looks bright…
Geography:  Most of the wine growing regions of California, including Temecula, have wineries concentrated in areas that allow for “wine trails”.  As the present time, there really are no such concentrations in San Diego County, but we are seeing the potential on either side of Ramona.  The “near” trail that seems to be forming actually begins with a small number of wineries in Escondido near the intersection of Bandy Canyon Road and Highland Valley Road.  At the other end of Highland Valley Road, just outside Ramona, is another batch of wineries.  The gap between them is around 4 miles of winding road.  If a few more wineries were to open in that gap we would have a real wine trail.
The second area I will call the “Old Julian wine trail”.  It begins on the Julian side of Ramona by Third Street.  A few wineries are located past Ramona along 67, while another cluster starts where Old Julian Highway intersects Third Street.  New wineries are opening at the far end on the Old Julian side, and if a few new ones come in on the 67 outskirts one could have a complete route going from 67 to 78 to Old Julian Highway to Third Street back to 67.
Of course, other wine trails may be evolving in Fallbrook, Warner Springs, and along the 91 corridor.  The numbers in these regions are still small, but there is a lot of land available, and…
Water:  The high summer temperatures and drought are seriously hurting the multi-billion-dollar agricultural business in Southern California.  Of particular concern are two of the main product areas – citrus and avocados.  Both require far more water than grape vines.  Right now, there are around 25,000 acres planted with citrus and avocado.  If even a small fraction of citrus and avocado farmers switches over to growing grapes for wine I will be very, very busy….

If you haven't yet been to the wineries in Ramona, here's your chance to see them at their best.  17 wineries have come together to offer a special wine tasting affair.  Purchase a passport for $10 per person and you can then get 3 tastes for $3 at all of the wineries.  Best part:  the pass is good weekends from November 28 through December 20!
Of course, I would love if you would take the time to check out my reviews on these participating wineries -- and visit them if you haven't already:
Correcaminos Winery
Hatfield Creek Vineyard & Winery
La Finquita Vineyard & Winery (reservations required)
Mahogany Mountain Vineyard & Winery
Principe di Tricase Vineyard & Winery
Three Hills Winery
Turtle Rock Ridge Winery
Vineyard Grant James
Just go to the Ramona Valley Vintners Association website to purchase your passports.
As a final note, you can be sure that the wineries are offering more than just three taste special, so before making your plans drop in on their website to see what they are planning.

​As COVID-19 spikes and political rancor rises to new heights, we are led to wonder if it is a good time to drop in on one (or two) of our local wineries.  To answer this question, I turned to the Bard: “To taste or not to taste, that is the question.  Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take wine against a sea of trouble and by getting looped end them.”  Of course, the Bard’s characters even fantasized about wine: “Is this a wine glass that I see before me, the stem toward my hand?  Come, let me clutch thee.  I have thee not, yet I see thee still.  Art thy not, favored vision, sensible to feeling as to sight?”  Then there is this: “Give me a bowl of wine.  In this I bury all unkindness.”  Or this: “Come, come, good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used; exclaim no more against it.”  But this might be his best quote on the subject:  “The wine-cup is the silver well, where truth, if truth there be, doth dwell.”
So, then, it seems that the Bard agrees with Lord Tennyson that “tis better to have tasted and tasted than to never have tasted at all.”  Wineries are open – what are you waiting for?

​Last weekend we returned to Turtle Rock Ridge Vineyard Winery.  The winery is named after various rock formations in the area that resemble turtles, though since they are on very dry land they should be called tortoise rocks not turtle rocks.
Anyway, there may be a legend going back to the mid-1800’s regarding wine and these rocks.  As the supposed story goes, a small wagon with several casks of wine was sent out from the Spanish mission to the Julian area.  The wagon was not pulled by horses, but in fact by four men, suggesting that the wine was indeed stolen by the four men.  This is somewhat verified by the fact that the turtle rocks are a bit off of the trail.  There is also very strong evidence that there were only three men, the reported forth being the imaginary friend of one of the men, reportedly a tall white rabbit named Harvey.
In any event, the wine and the men never reached their destination.  A search found the three (or four, if you count Harvey) along with the cart on turtle rock ridge.  According to the three men, turtle rocks blocked the main trail and left the men with only one way to go, toward the ridge.  The turtle rocks then began closing in on the men and cart, so they opened a barrel and splashed them with wine.  This proved to be a very bad idea.  The turtles went into a drinking frenzy, attacking the wine with gusto, eventually consuming all of the wine in the barrels.  Needless to say, the men’s story must be taken with a grain of salt, given that 1) they were known winos; 2) they were quite drunk when found; 3) the turtle rocks were just rock formations, not living things; and 4) the men kept insisting that there were indeed four of them, not three.
Given such a harrowing tale, it would seem that Turtle Rock Ridge – which should have been named Tortoise Rock Ridge – would not be a great place for a winery.  Fortunately for all of us wine lovers, Laurie Wagner and Ian Vaux ignored the threat posed by the wine-loving turtles and established Turtle Rock Ridge Vineyard Winery.
Which brings us to the rest of this story.  Blending wines is quite an affair, entailing quite a bit more art than science.  Essentially, the winemaker and friends/associates start with a base wine variety, tasting it to see what are its week points, then mixing the wine with other wine made from other grape varieties to correct the perceived flaws.  For example, Cabernet Sauvignon, from which many of the great wines are made, is known to have a relatively poor finish.  Hence, it is often blended with wines known for their finish, such as Merlot.
Such a blending activity was in progress at Turtle Rock Ridge, led by Laurie, when Ian dropped by and uttered the phrase “Hello, gorgeous”.  Unbeknownst to the wine makers was that the turtle rocks had sensed the wine and were slowly converging on them.  Fortunately, each of the turtle rocks thought that Ian was talking to them.  Being turtles that look like rocks it was the first time for all of them to be called gorgeous, so, being all females – legend has it that only the females drink wine, the males preferring beer – either were so shy that they ran and tried to hide from Ian, or ran off to tell their friends.  Of course, being essentially rocks “ran” is a very relative term.  I mean, when your normal rate of movement is measured in millimeters per hour….
Anyway, we are probably quite fortunate that Laurie and Ian decided to name the wine that was blended that day “Hello Gorgeous”, as the name seems to have kept the wine-loving turtle rocks from the wine, which, by the way, is really good.  Love their Zinfandel as well, and you should not ignore their Hello Sexy.
So, that’s the legend of Turtle Rock Ridge and the turtle rocks, though they should be named tortoise rocks….