​If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  So what do you do if life gives you spoiled wine?
Well, that is a problem that Alfredo Gallone, owner of Principe di Tricase, faced.  Before making wine he obtained some Cabernet Sauvignon to experiment with.  During the 2007 Witch Creek fire here in San Diego County some of the wine overheated, turning brown due to oxidation.  He kept the wine, not knowing what to do with it.
Fast forward five years.  In 2012 Afredo began researching sweet wines, including fortified wines such as Sherry, Port, and Marsala.  Fortifying involves added a distilled wine (i.e., brandy) to the wine increasing alcohol content and adding sweetness.  What he found is that Marsala is created by boiling the wine – deliberately overheating it in a controlled manner.  Turns out, wine that is unintentionally overheated has a Marsala-like taste, so much so that in Italy it is said to be Marsalato – tastes like Marsala – and can be made into a wine suitable for cooking.  And off went the light bulb!
He went back to his spoiled wine and tasted it.  Sure enough, it had a Marsala-like taste but was very dry.  Now if he could just make it sweeter by adding a bit of grape juice.  Nope, not sweet enough.  He needed a more concentrated grape juice. 
There is another way to make a sweet wine that does not involve adding anything to the wine.  In Italy, Alfredo’s homeland (he’s from Naples), the method is called “passito”.  The grapes are picked when ripe and then put into a screened in area and allowed to dry out in the sun, greatly concentrating the sugars in the grapes.  So, if he were to squeeze some of these grapes and add the very sweet juice to his dry Marsala-like wine….
Eureka!  He added the very sweet juice from the dryed grapes to the spoiled Cabernet Sauvignon wine and turned it into a Marsala-like sweet wine.  Below is a picture of the wine and you can see the brown color.  Also note that the bottle is not full – my wife used it to make a rather fantastic Veal Marsala -- which led me to writing this blog.  By the way, he can’t label the wine “Marsala”.  Marsala is a registered trade name.

​You might ask what became of Afredo’s attempt at making sweet wine? I can attest that it was a great success.  Now I am not an afficionado of sweet wine, but I really have to say that his are really, really good.  My favorite is his first, Romantico, made using Aleatico grapes.  All made the Italian passito way.
Try it.  You’ll like it.

I’ve been to a number of wine-tasting classes or events over the many years – and believe me, I have many years.  I’ve learned how the look at the wine, how to properly smell it, how to hold the glass, and how to swirl/gargle the wine in my mouth to detect the proper flavors.  All very nice.  But there are some things that they never tell you that you really should know.  Here are some of the things that they don’t tell you:
Item 1:  serving temperature.  If you’ve followed this website, you already know what this first “things that they never tell you” is, namely, the optimum serving temperature of the wine.  As you can see on the chart shown below, the optimum serving temperature of wines is very much determined by the type of wine.  The great myth is that white wines are served chilled and red wines at room temperature.  As a result, most people serve their white wines too cold and red wines too warm.  It always amazes me that most wineries do not keep their red wines at the proper temperature.  You’d think that they would want to have you taste their wine at the optimum conditions.  After all, they are trying to get you to buy the wine…

​Item 2:  wine aging.  They never tell you if the wine should be aged any more, or if it is ready to drink.  Sure, the winemaker really can’t say for certain that his wine needs two more years of aging – I don’t really expect that – but he can indicate that the wine needs some aging, or, perhaps of greater importance, how long you can age it before it needs to be drunk.  It is important to remember that for most wines there is an optimum age.  In other words, you can overage a wine.  And yes, white wines change with age as well as reds – reds get lighter, whites darker – and in many cases the whites improve with age.  My wife and I are red wine drinkers, so white wines generally sit for long times in our chiller.  We were pleasantly surprised when we opened up a bottle of Chuparosa Albarino that we had forgotten about for a couple of years.  It was marvelous!  Naturally, the next time we visited there they were out of Albarino.
Item 3:  wine storage.  A corollary to item 2 is how to store the wine.  At least one winery we visited stored their wine at too high a temperature – 74 F – and hence all of it was spoiled.  From what I have read, wine should be stored horizontally at a uniform 55 F (hence the name of the storage company I am associated with – Chateau 55).  Along this same line, I’ve been to two wineries where the wine spoiled in the tasting room (see item 1 above) due to high temperatures.  So, while wine should be good at room temperature for a year or so, just a short time at high temperature can ruin the wine.  OK, that means you need to drink your wine quickly in the summer if you keep your house at 78 F.  I highly recommend a wine chiller.  If you need to buy one, go for the cheaper models.  The expensive units have rigid shelves that are too close together to handle wider bottles.  Just one such bottle will cause you to lose an entire row.  The cheap units (see mine below) have flimsy shelves that can handle the larger bottles if you store them backward.

​Item 4:  orange or brown wine.  They never tell you what a wine looks like if it is spoiled, so I will.  It will have a brown or orange tinge.  If it really gone, it will also be cloudy, with lots of suspended particles.  As noted above, I have run across the orange tinge three times at wineries.  The suspended particle wine was served to me at a friend’s house.  I believe the problem is the rate at which the tannins react with oxygen.  If the tannins in the wine oxidize slowly at low temperatures the solids come out of solution, leaving behind a very smooth wine with great complexity.  If they oxidize quickly or at high temperatures, the solid remain in solution and the wine tastes awful.
Item 5:  other bad wines.  Of course, the wine can turn into vinegar.  This is not very likely as most wines contain sulfites that kill the bacteria that can convert the alcohol into acetic acid (vinegar), and in general the bacteria are not going to get into the wine after it is in the bottle.  Another thing to look for is the cork rotting.  This can occur, and if it does the wine will be bad.  Which of course leads to restaurant wine tasting, i.e., why the server gives you the cork.  I always look at the cork to make sure that it is wet with the wine – the wine has been stored on its side – and to make sure it is not rotted.  Which leads to the stopper issue….
Item 6:  stoppers.  I use the term stoppers rather than corks because some wines do not use cork stoppers.  Alternatives are rubber and screw tops.  Cork is the standard because it allows a small amount of air to leak into the wine, allowing the tannins to age gradually.  Other soft stoppers – rubber, composites (cork or otherwise), or compound units – also serve in the same capacity.  But a screw top does not.  So, looking at the cork can tell you a lot about how long a wine should be aged.  If it has a screw top, it is ready to drink.  Doc Ed looks at the corks from another perspective – how highly the winemaker regards his wine.  If he uses cheap corks it sort of indicates that he doesn’t have a high regard for his wine.  You can read more about corks in our about section.

​Item 7:  phases.  I find it somewhat surprising that I’ve been taught in wine tasting classes how to hold the glass, swirl the wine, properly look at the wine color and clarity, and see to it that the wine reaches everywhere in my mouth, but never about the three “phases” of wine tasting.  These are the attack, the mid-palate, and the finish.  The attack is when the wine first enters the mouth, the mid-palate the taste while it lingers in the mouth, and finish is what you taste after you swallow or spit out the wine.  Actually, I’m not sure about what you taste after you spit out the wine…. 
So there you have it, a summary of the things that you are seldom if ever told when in a wine tasting class.  So, the next time you are tasting wine at a winery, ask what temperature you should serve the wine at.  Ask if the wine needs aging, and how long it should be aged.  Ask to look at the cork.  Oh, and make sure the wine isn’t orange….

​During this lockdown our wine reserves are dwindling.  Not that we are drinking more wine (well, maybe a little more), but all of the wine we are drinking is coming from our reserves.  So how are you faring?  If you are running low, many of the wineries are open for on-line business. In fact, this is a great time to purchase wine directly from the wineries.  Almost all of them are offering great deals on their wine.  I’m taking advantage of the low prices -- right now I’m waiting on a delivery of wine from Vineyard Grant James – six bottles of red wine (Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Zinfandel) at $25 per bottle with free delivery.  These are typically priced in the $40 range.  Of course, buying now is a good way to help keep your favorite boutique wineries afloat.
Now if you do take advantage of the low wine prices, you may need extra space to store the wine.  If you live in San Diego north of interstate 8 you might want to look into Chateau 55.  The special deal still works if you go through this website – first month free and 5% discount for the next 11 months.  You get a key and a fob to allow you to access your wine whenever you want without worrying about getting the virus.  More important, perhaps, is that you can have the wine delivered directly to their facility and put into your storage locker so you don’t even have to deal with a delivery man.
The wineries are doing other things as well as selling wine, such as virtual wine tasting events and even Zoom wine pickup parties for their club members.  Remember that some of the best balsamic vinegars and olive oils are available from the wineries.  Wineries that have both include Orfila (though they are out of their red balsamic vinegar, my personal favorite, and I am really bummed out), Ponte (very good but the sell out quickly), Robert Renzoni, and Principe di Tricasse.  Speaking of Principe di Tricasse, they make a Marsala wine.  My wife made an outstanding veal marsala last night using their wine.  Hatfield Creek might be a place to visit without running into other people.  They have a maze that you can try to navigate.
Horror of horrors!  I just got a message from Grant James that my wine won’t get here until tomorrow!  Oh, well, I guess I have enough to make through another day or twenty….
Anyway, please take care.  And remember, you don’t have to drive anywhere….

​On the last day of our journey we rode through strawberry fields that seemed to go on forever to reach our final winery of the trip:  Cambria.  Cambria Estate Vineyard and Winery, located in Santa Maria, is not a boutique winery.  It is not a small winery.  It is a very big winery.  The strawberry fields became vineyards that stretched as far as the eye could see.

​Doc Ed had visited Cambria on his recent trip up to Santa Barbara, and highly recommended it.  At the end of the long drive we found a relatively small tasting room.  A bit of a surprise – I would have expected a larger facility for such a large winery.  Anyway, one large table filled a good part of the room, which was good because we had a large group and brought lunch.  See pictures of the tasting room below.

​We were there for the wine, of course, and, as you can see in the tasting menu, the only red wine they make is Pinot Noir.  Note that three of the five are pure clones of Pinot Noir.  Now I must confess that I cheated.  Yes, you heard me right, I cheated.  You see, Doc Ed brought back some of their wine, and, well, I tasted their Clone 23 Pinot Noir a few days before the trip.  Well, more than tasted it – I guess “guzzled” fits better.  More about Clone 23 below, but first a little bit about clones.

​Vineyards don’t start by planting seeds – just takes too much time for them to grow and you don’t really know what you are getting.  Rather, they plant vines.  If all of the vines have the exact same DNA – they all came from the same plant (usually by grafting) – then they are said to be “clones” of the original plant.  You can probably see where this is heading.  If I grow the vines from seeds, they will all have different DNA.  Some will grow well, but not produce good wine.  Some will struggle, but produce very good wine.  Others will grow well and produce good wine.  It all depends on the growing conditions.  Anyway, the best vines are cloned, and, if the clones are particularly good, given a name or number and made available to other vineyards.
Getting back to Cambria, they had five Pinot Noirs on their tasting menu, three of which were pure clones.  The first two mixed clone offerings were good.  Then we hit the third Pinot Noir, Clone 4, an outstanding example of a more-or-less classic Pinot Noir.  Clone 2A proved to be pretty good, though I really liked Clone 4 better.  Then we went to Clone 23.
Pinot Noir is a light red wine.  Indeed, I was told by one expert that you can tell if a Pinot Noir offering is pure Pinot Noir by trying to see your thumb at the bottom of the glass.  If you can see your thumb, it is a pure Pinot Noir.  He never met Clone 23.  It is a dark red – no way you can see your thumb.  Whatever the case, Cambria’s Clone 23 is outstanding.  But wait, didn’t I know this before I arrived at their tasting room?  Well, not exactly.  You see, Doc Ed had the 2015 vintage.  We were tasting the 2016 vintage.  The 2016 vintage is a bit fruitier, maybe even darker.  Honestly cannot say which I like better.  Anyway, we bought bottles of Clone 4 and Clone 23 2016 vintages, and some Clone 23 2015 vintage for Doc Ed.  Oh, and some of our group tasted the whites – and loved them.
Wine club is a three-tiered system, requiring 12, 18, or 36 bottles per year in three shipments for 15%, 20%, or 25% discounts, respectively.  All memberships include free wine tasting for up to six people.  Members can customize their purchases.

​After our experience at Babcock, we headed up the road to Paso Robles and set up camp.  Well, not really set up camp.  I mean, it was a pretty nice air bnb we stayed in.  OK, so we didn’t rough it….  Anyway, the next morning we resumed seeking out more altars to Bacchus, more of the nectar of the gods.
Seeking clues to the native habits, our first stop was at a farmer’s market in the center of town.  It was raining a bit (just a drizzle, actually), but as were still in California it was enough to keep the natives indoors.  So we headed out to seek liquid sustenance.
Our second stop was at a place called Seven Oxen.  Much to our surprise, she was ready for us! How could she know we would be stopping there?  Someone had to have tipped her off.  Could it have been someone from the farmer’s market that we visited?  Not likely – we were the only ones there on that cold, rainy morning.  Perhaps someone from the first winery we visited?  No, they were too busy trying to sell us their mediocre wine.  No, it had to be someone from our group of intrepid explorers.  But who?

​And was she ever ready – not only did she have wine ready, but cheese and salads and flat bread pizzas (delivered from the distillery next door), individually to our order!  And there is was – right on the wine pairing menu.  A name – Frances.  It had to be one of group, Frances, aka, Charo, who had blown our cover – and, by the way, placed our lunch orders.  We were shocked!  OK, we weren’t really shocked – we had given her our orders -- but it makes for a good story, no?

​Seven Oxen is an Estate winery, but the winery itself is far removed from the vineyards, located in a commercial park.  The facility is nice, but lacks the nice outdoor seating and view of “country” wineries.

​As for their wines, the Grenache is quite nice – and this comes from someone who really doesn’t care for Grenache.  The others were good as well, and then there was the Tannat.  This was my first time tasting this particular varietal, and, well, I really, really liked it.  Bought some!

​They have two levels of wine club.  Level 1 requires purchase of 6 bottles every six months (12 bottles/year) at a 15% discount.  Level 2 is double that number of bottles at a 30% discount.  The discounts are good for other purchases from the winery, and for both levels wine tasting for two is complementary.

​We left Melville with the feeling that we needed more, but could we, dare we, go off the beaten path? Only a short deviation, perhaps, just across the way?  Yes, we would do it…
And there we were, standing in front of a large barn-like structure, an open doorway to another world.  Then we read the sign on the giant door – “Carpe Diem” – and we had to enter.  In front of us, on the far side of the room, was an altar to Bacchus.  Another altar sat far to our right.  We neither walked forward or turned right.  Rather, pulled by the allure of some strange music, we turned left into what could have easily been Pan’s Labyrinth.  And soon we found what was pulling us into this maze.  No, not Pan’s flute or the call of the Sirens, no, it was something far more powerful.  You see, they had taken those old records off the shelf!!!

​Reminiscing about those days of old, we wandered the maze.  Finally overcome by our great desire to again taste the nectar of the gods, we made our way to Bacchus’ altar on the far side of the room.  The nectar was there, and we tasted of it – Chardonnay, Grenache, and Pinot Noir, lots and lots of Pinot Noir.  We retreated to a comfortable nesting place not far from the altar, leaving only to refill our drinking vessels.

​But I was not satisfied.  I knew there had to be more, so I begged the priestess serving us for more.  More she had, poured from a black bottle, a dark red elixir, complex, fruity, with nice tannins, smooth as silk.  Cabernet Sauvignon was the name on the bottle.  I called over my fellow explorers, and they in turn tasted this wondrous liquor.  So good it was that we made an offering of plastic to the priestess, and she, in turn, gave us many bottles to help us along on our journey.
You may ask what god made these wondrous elixirs?  Well, his name was on the bottle:  Babcock.  Fortunately, Babcock is not stingy with his elixirs.  One can make offerings of gold, silver or plastic to obtain 2-6 bottles per quarter of a year, with savings of 20 or 25%.
Our thirst satiated, we left the wonders of Babcock, stopping only to take many, many pictures.  Then it was on to dinner and then northward, to explore other venues where we might find more of the wonderful nectar of the gods….

​Doc Ed did some scouting for us, hitting the wineries in the Santa Barbara area.  One of the wineries that he loved was Melville Winery, so we stopped there first on our way north.  As expected, it was well worth the visit.  Melville is located in Lompoc, on a main road going through the northern row of Lompoc wineries.  Very nice facility, with outside seating and a nice view – see pictures below.

​The tasting room is quite comfortable, but only had high chairs for seating – not my favorite set up.  Water available, but one had to buy munchies if so inclined.  Pictures of the inside follow.

​All of their wines are estate.  You can select tasting from one of two menus, a $15 dollar one and a $20 dollar one, though they don’t necessarily hold you to either one.  Menus are shown below.  I must admit to being a little perturbed by the winery.  You see, here they had some really great wines – in particular one super Pinot Noir – yet they served them at room temperature, which, while nice for the visitors was not particularly nice to the wines.  I just don’t understand why they didn’t serve them at the right temperature, especially their Pinot Noirs which really need to be served in the 55-60 F range.

​Now on to the most important thing, the wine.  Unlike many wineries, they pay particular attention to the clones, both of their Pinot Noir and their Syrah.  Attention to such details results in some pretty good wines.  For example, their Anna’s Pinot Noir is a mix of two clones – 667 and 114.  And it is fermented with the stems!  The result is a very, very good wine – which, not surprisingly, I am not the first to notice.  It was rated 96 by Wine Enthusiast!
But it wasn’t the highest rated.  That award goes to their Donna’s Syrah.  A mix of two clones – Estrella and 1 – it has a nice high black pepper, and was rated a 97 by Wine Enthusiast!  Bought some!!!  I really like the black pepper in wines, but to date only had Zinfandels with such high black pepper notes.  Also of note is their mixed clone Estate Pinot Noir – really good wine for the price.  Bought one of those as well.
The winery has three club levels – Premier Cru, Grand Cru, and Monopole – requiring purchase of 9, 18, and 36 bottles a year (in three sets), with 15, 20, and 25% discounts and 2, 4, and 8 free tastings per month.  Grand Cru membership limited to 600, Monopole limited to 200, so there is some exclusivity in joining the higher-level clubs.

​Right next door to Shadow Mountain in the Warner Springs area is Sierra Roble Winery and Vineyard.  This relatively-small winery with magnificent views in all directions specializes in Bordeaux-style wines.

​The facility itself is small, with most of the seating outside.  Note from the pictures below how nice it is.  Also note the fans in the ceiling, which I am sure really help on hot summer days.  The tasting room itself in very small.  To make it easier to sit outside and just enjoy the wine they have a “serving” window from the tasting room to the porch so you don’t have to go back inside to get the next pour.  Very nice!  See pictures below.

​Red wines are kept in individual chillers, though they could be a little colder.  Of course, they have water available.  As mentioned above, and seen in the following tasting menus, the winery only deals with Bordeaux varietals.  The best red, as one would figure, is their Cabernet Sauvignon.  It is a pretty rare find – a good local Cab at a decent price.  Of course, if you have a good Cab, you should have a good Bordeaux blend – ergo, their second-best wine is their Ava’s Cuvee, with 60% Cab.  And, yes, I came home with a bottle of the Cab…  An important note should be added here, namely, the Cabernet Sauvignon available is a 2014 vintage.  Unlike most other Cabs sold in Southern California, it is ready to drink, i.e., the tannins have been nicely aged.

​Now a word of warning.  Most wineries in our area are pretty generous in their pours.  Advertised one ounce pours average closer to 1.5 ounces.  Some wineries will get a little carried away, with pours closer to 2 ounces.  Well, they were a bit more generous than that.  How much more?  Let’s just say that it was a good thing I wasn’t driving – and that was after skipping one pour!!!
Their wine club is 3 to 4 shipments per year of 2-3 wines selected by their winemaker, at a 20% discount, 25% off cases, and 10% off other merchandise.

​From the pictures below of Forgotten Barrel Winery you would think it was located somewhere out in the country.  It is not.  It is located only a few blocks from the center of Escondido in a residential neighborhood, just off of Upas.  Just a winery, no vineyard, i.e., they make their wines from purchased grapes (though they do have some vines along their driveway).  Does that make it an “urban” winery or a “suburban” winery?  Well, their wine is pretty good so who cares!
​There are several nice outside areas to sit and drink wine.  The tasting room itself has only a small seating area reserved for wine club members, but they do have a large indoor facility to hold weddings and the like.  Pictures follow.

​As you can see from the tasting menus below, they bring grapes in from all over the place – Napa, Fallbrook, Valley Center, San Diego, Santa Rita Hills.  Wine lots are often pretty small – sometimes as little as five barrels of a specific varietal.  Hence, they depend on selling small amounts of a lot of varietals vs. large amounts of a few varietals.  Tasting is either $10 per person or $15 per person, depending which menu you want to follow.  Pictures of the tasting room follow.

​I am happy to report that they served the red wines at a good temperature -- I would hope that this was not just because it was a cooler day.  Given that the young man who served us is a level 3 Sommelier it seems like a given…  Anyway, water was readily available, and while they didn’t serve any munchies, they were also available.  No restaurant, of course, but they were setting up for entertainment when we left. 
Now to the wines.  Of the wines on the tasting menus, the best, by far, is the Syrah.  It is really good (bought some).  Below I’ve posted their price list with some wines not on the tasting menu.  The one outstanding wine on it is their GSM – also bought a bottle of it.  But that is not all!  Doc Ed had visited this winery a few days before the two of us dropped in and he got them to let him taste wines not on either list – a Pinot Noir made from grapes from the Alexander Valley, bottled but not yet released, and Tannat made from grapes sourced locally, still in the barrel.  According to Doc Ed, these are really, really good wines.  On the down side, as is the case in many small wineries, they reserve their best wines for their wine club so neither of these wines may become available to the public.

​As for their wine club, it is a 3 bottle per quarter club with a very nice 25% discount, and 20% on other wines and anything else they are selling (mostly food items – munchies and the like).  Complementary wine tasting is limited to two per month.

I first found Winderlea Vineyard (winderlea.com) over ten years ago.  At that time I was searching for Oregon Pinot Noir to ship home to my Chicago cellar to contrast with my collection from California.  Right from the first tasting at Winderlea, I knew I had found my wine!  Since then, I have returned many times, and happily referred friends who were visiting the area. 
Compared to California Pinot Noir, grapes grown in Oregon produce wine that are similar to the French “burgundy” style.  Growing in a cooler, more northern location, Oregon wines will have less of a fruity nose and palate.  They will taste more earthy, and have a bit more acid to provide structure to balance the alcohol and tannins.  The end result is a lighter, more elegant wine that provides a pleasant alternative to the more fruity, bold and assertive California wines.

The wine club at Winderlea ranges from six to twelve bottles per shipment, which are released three times per year.  While they suggest the composition of each wine shipment, they permit substitution to customize the order.  Price discounts range from 15% to 20% depending on the level of club membership.