​We finally made a visit to Orfila Vineyards and Winery’s urban tasting room in the San Diego County city of Oceanside.  It is a relatively small but quite nice facility only a block from the ocean.  We sat at a table outside, drinking one of favorite wines (more on this wine below), enjoying first their charcuterie board, then a hummus and pita platter. Two important points to be made about these dishes.  First, the charcuterie board includes bread that is absolutely incredible.  Second, the hummus is very spicey.  You'll have to excuse the funny angles of the pictures below.  I took them after my second glass of wine....

​Now on to the wine mentioned above.  It was Lagrein.  This wine is a very rare red variety grown mostly in northern Italy, the subject of an earlier blog on this website.  We have been waiting for this 2019 vintage for some time now, and it did not disappoint.  It could have been served a bit cooler, though.  I’m guessing that they are more accustomed to the Escondido tasting room, which is kept quite cool.  As you can see in the menu below, most of the Orfila wines are available, and wine club members get their normal discounts and free wine.
One final note:  parking.  Because it is a urban site, parking is a problem.  There are a few spaces in front, but I should warn you that you have to back into these spaces.

​It was a nice Sunday afternoon – sun shining, temperature in the mid 60’s – a perfect day to do some exploring.  So Doc Ed and I decided to branch out, seek a winery in one of the remote areas of San Diego County.  We chose Old Survey Vineyard on Old Survey Road.
Old Survey Road branches off of Bandy Canyon Road about halfway between the San Diego Zoo and Highland Valley Road.  In other words, in the middle of nowhere.  One mile up that road (and I do mean UP) one finds Old Survey Vineyard.  We averaged about ten miles an hour going up the road, by the way.  No traffic, just a really bad road (they hope to repair it soon).  What we found at the end of our trip was worth it:  a very nice facility with a great view, and, most important, good wine.  You can see from the pictures below that we weren’t the only people wine tasting in the middle of nowhere that afternoon, i.e., I did not discover Old Survey (par for the course).

​Old Survey is a small winery, very boutique.  While the amount of estate grown wine is limited, they do make wines from grapes purchased from other vineyards.  We came to learn that the wines vary from year to year, i.e., they don’t buy the same grape varieties every year.  Currently they only offer red wines, all priced the same ($43 a bottle).  Their current offerings are shown in the wine tasting list below.  Tastings are $10 per and include all of the five listed wines, unless you leave your glass unattended…  This is a very friendly winery.
As for the wine, well, suffice it to say that the worst of the wines we tasted was pretty good.  This is relatively rare.  Not a single wine in the “eh” level – including a Tempranillo!!!  So for all of you readers of this blog that are fans of Tempranillo, this is the place to go…

​Old Survey is a small winery, but they do have a wine club.  They only require members to purchase 8 bottles of wine a year in two batches – May and November – that they select.  Discount is approximately 20%.

​It seems that more and more people are discovering Southern California wineries.  Even as the number of wineries has increased, the number of visitors to existing wineries has increased.  This is no better exemplified by my recent visit to Altipiano in the Highland Hills region of Escondido.  Well, all right, it turned out to be a special occasion – it was Denise Clarke’s birthday.  Denise and her husband Peter own the winery, and Denise is the winemaker.  Peter is the resident stand-up comedian.  I’m very happy to report that I actually got some of her time.  More on this further on.  Anyway, parking was almost impossible, and their patio was chock full of people.

​They’ve switched to serving flights of three wines, though you have to dance for your wine (just kidding), and they had some great live music.  I’ve written a piece on the rare Italian white grape Arneis, and lo and behold it is now part of their offering (and a good one at that!).  Can’t take credit for this – this wine was in the bottle long before my blog on Arneis.

​As for my time with Denise, I learned that Altipiano will be releasing two new wines in the next year or so, the outstanding Italian red varietals Aglianico and Nero d’Avola.  Wow!  Tasting prices have gone up to $35 for a flight of three wines.  You can see all of the current offerings in the pictures below.  As with many of the small wineries, Denise is sourcing some of her grapes to meet the huge demand for her product.

​On a recent visit to Forgotten Barrel, Doc Ed and I had the great fortune to be taken by the owner, Rodger Grove, to their barrel room where we were given the opportunity to taste their fortified aged wine, Legacy 32 Tawny Solera.  Note that it is really a tawny port, but port is a trade name and its use is highly restricted.  Anyway, the wine is extraordinary.  It also has a very interesting story.
Rodger purchased the winery from the Ferrara family back a few years ago.  Back in the barrel room he discovered this very, very large oak barrel (see picture below), and, much to his surprise, found it half full of aged, oxidized, fortified red wine, i.e., tawny port, though it cannot be named tawny port….  One way of making tawny port or a wine that looks like tawny port, smells like tawny port, and tastes like tawny port but cannot be named tawny port, is to use the Spanish solera concept.

​The solera system in Spain is used to make Sherry.  Wine is fortified by adding distilled wine (like brandy), then put into a barrel for aging.  But it is generally not an empty barrel.  Rather, it has been used to age wines from earlier vintages, some of which has been poured into another barrel to make room for the new wine.  Now the second barrel also contains wine from previous vintages, and some of it has been poured into yet a third barrel to make room for the wine from the second barrel.  There is a final, or bottom, barrel from which wine is removed for bottling.  Hence none of the wine has a vintage.
The technique is also used for Port, Tawny Port, and Marsala wines, among others.  In the case of Forgotten Barrel, the bottom barrel is huge.  If you look again at the large barrel picture you can see how it dwarfs other barrels seen behind the giant.  Wine is aged in the smaller barrels, then added to the large barrel when wine is removed for bottling.  It is not clear how long the wine has been aging, but it is pretty tawny so it most likely has been more than thirty years.  If the barrel has been around since the beginning of the Ferrara winery in 1932, some of the wine may be ninety years old! 

"Let me tell you about a few of the unique wines I tasted.  First, there was a 2020 Chardonnay ($32) that differed from the usual oaky butter wine found in many other places.  This Chardonnay was fermented in a steel tank, which produced a crisp and acidic wine with aromas of lemon and apple.  The 2018 Syrah ($42) had all the expected tasty flavors, and really surprised me with an additional big flavor of black pepper that extended well into the finish.  I was excited to find out that this Syrah was made from Noir Clone grapes.  It was my favorite on this trip.  Another tasty wine, the “flagship of the property” was the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon ($46) which had predominantly black fruit flavors (without the grassy flavors sometimes found in this grape) and very good balance of fruit, alcohol and tannins.  Other pleasant offerings were a GSM, a Rose (Grenache/Syrah blend), Zinfandel and a Bordeaux blend."

Doc Ed reports on his visit to Beckmen Vineyards in Los Olivos:
"​Beckmen Vineyards is a real treasure and I encourage you to visit them.  Their property, about 150 acres divided into two parcels, specializes in Syrah and Grenache, with small amounts of other French varietals.  Their wines are well recognized by review groups such as Vinous and Wine Enthusiast, and are served at great restaurants across the country.  Their website reports that they even have been served at the White House.  With all these honors, I was very pleasantly surprised to find the staff to be extremely welcoming, friendly, and well informed.  One more honor:  this winery is the first one in the country to be a certified biodynamic vineyard."

​“Each of the wines I tasted was very pleasant, and most were surprisingly inexpensive considering the quality and recognition this winery has received.  Three wines were special favorites for me.  The 2019 “Big Hands” Syrah ($26) Clone 470 had aromas of blue and black fruit, and provided a very long finish with flavors of coffee, chocolate and vanilla.  The 2019 “Purisima Mt” Syrah ($36), a blend of nine clones, had aromas of black fruit, and flavors of black pepper and chocolate.  It has received a score of 94 from Vinous, and I bought several bottles.  The 2019 Syrah Clone 1 ($76) was a new clone for me to try.  It had aromas of black fruit, chocolate flavors, and a little less pepper than the Purisima Mt.  It received a score of 95 from Vinous.  In addition, I enjoyed tastings of 2020 Viognier ($39), 2019 Estate Grenache ($26), and 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon ($36).”

Beckmen offers two wine club options:  Purisima at 3 bottles quarterly at a 20% discount and Inner Circle at 6 bottles quarterly at a 25% discount.  Both offer free wine tasting four times a year for wine club members.  Purisima members can bring one guest, Inner Circle three guests.

​They weren’t top billing, only had a small part behind a great star, a sidekick much like Tonto to the Long Ranger.  They often appeared before the King when Italy still had a king.  Then their producers decided to drop them, and they almost completely disappeared.  Eventually, they were given their own show.  It is still a pretty small show, but has reached from northwestern Italy to southern California.
I am talking about grapes, of course.  A specific white grape variety known as Arneis.  For many years, this grape was grown in the same fields as Nebbiolo to be blended into the King of Wines and the Wine of Kings, Barolo.  But then the producers of Barolo decided that the wine should be made only from Nebbiolo grapes, and the Arneis vines were forgotten.  Indeed, the grape variety almost became extinct.
Fortunately, some producers found value in this grape, creating an Arneis varietal.  How it found its way to Southern California is a bit of a mystery (well, to me anyway), but it is here and I, for one, am very, very glad.  I was surprised to find out how rare this grape variety is, having found it at no less than four Temecula wineries I assumed it was a relatively common wine.
My first taste of this wine was at Ponte, and it impressed right away.  Their version is not very acidic, much like a Viognier but with more of a pear aroma and taste with a bit of stone fruit.  Pretty nice wine to have with lighter Italian fare or when you just feel like drinking a glass of white wine.
Now I know what you are thinking:  if this grape makes such a great wine, why aren’t more people growing it?  Well, the answer is in the name.  You see, the grape originates in the Piedmont region of Italy.  In Piemontese, the name means literally “little rascal”.  I have also heard it called the “little bitch”.  You see, crop yields are low and it is prone to attack by powdery mildew.  I should add that if you pick it even a little too late the grapes will be overripe – which might explain why they are also used to make a sweet wine using the passito method where the grapes are dried outside in cages.    

​I started this blog about four years ago with the view that I would only review wineries that I could recommend to my friends.  For most wineries, I have to taste several of their wines to come to a decision whether to do a review or not.  Which means that sometimes you really get caught in a bind.  It really isn’t a good idea to let the people at the winery know that I review wineries if I don’t think well enough of their winery to review it.  On the other hand, without revealing that I am looking to review their winery I might not get to taste the key wines that can make the difference.  Doc Ed and I thought we were in that situation last Saturday.
Doc Ed had visited the winery about six years ago, when it was in its infancy, and was not impressed (to say the least), so we were a bit wary.  The winery was handling the tasting by serving sets of four wines (see picture below) from a set menu.  Well, the wines we really wanted to taste were not on the menu.  Turns out it was much ado about nothing.  We tasted their Viognier (after hearing how it came out a bit on the light side), and we were hooked.  This winery was definitely going to be up for a review.

The winery in question is Domaine Artefact.  Located on Highland Valley Road in Escondido, it is one of the larger wineries in the area, and one of the best in all of Southern California.  Why?  Because, like the last winery we reviewed, Mermaid Valley, they know what they are doing.
To begin with, the grape varieties they grow do well in our environment.  I don’t know if they bought the land knowing that it would be perfect for Rhone Valley grapes or decided after the fact.  It does not matter – it works.  Then, after a few years, they built a great wine tasting facility (see pictures below), with both indoor and outdoor seating with a great view.

​Of course, the proof is in the wine.  Nothing but very good to excellent, enjoyable from the first taste of their Viognier to the last taste of their Petite Sirah.  Seven wines tasted, all among the best of their kind produced in Southern California!  See the list below.  I have featured their Grenache Noir, only because it is one of the few Grenache reds that I have tasted worth buying.  We hit both of their GSM’s and Syrah’s as well.  I should add that they also know how to properly serve their red wines, i.e., at the right temperature.  See their cooler below.

​Right now, the only food available is a charcuterie box (see below), but the kitchen has been built and it is expected that they will open their café in two to three years.  Love goat cheese gouda!  Chef mentioned tri-tip sandwiches.  YUM!

​They do have a wine club with 20% discount on the obligatory twelve bottles per year (in two semi-annual offerings) and 15% on all other wine purchases.  Members can make changes to the two offerings if made in advance of the pick-up date.  Twelve free wine tastings per year are included.

​I am extremely happy to announce that I have completed all of the requirements for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), Level 2 (for wine, of course).  WSET was established in England by the same people and at around the same time as the Court of Master Sommeliers.  The Court of Master Sommeliers is geared for people in the restaurant trade, whereas WSET is more for wine writers, winery reviewers, et al., and is more technical.  At the top of the heap of WSET, one becomes a Master of Wine.  Of course, if you go the Court route you wind up a Master Sommelier.  For people like me, WSET is the better track, so I took it.  Not to be outdone, Doc Ed is impatiently waiting the results of his WSET Level 3 finals, having moved from the Court where he had already achieved level 1.
WSET is more classroom oriented, and I was quite lucky to have the course taught locally by a Master of Wine, Lindsay Pomeroy.  The classes included tasting lots of wines, something I found quite delightful (duh!).  She also teaches both WSET level 1 and level 3 classes, and some others, including a wine tasting class.  Her website is www.winesmarties.com, should you be interested in taking one of her courses.
If you pass the test, you are awarded a pin and a certificate.  I have attached a picture of the pin, but they do not want the certificate duplicated in any way, including a picture, for fear of being forged.  I will wear the pin on my winery visits, of course.  Need it for my street cred…

​It is Halloween as I write this, and I have been in contact with the spirits for two days now.  Wine spirits, that is, beginning Friday night as a select few were given preview of what was to be.  This event, at the Old Julian Winery, was brought together to conjure up support for the 9th Annual Ramona Art & Wine Festival, being held November 5, 6 and 7.  Baskets of spirits and strange concoctions were given out to those with the temerity to raise their wands and offer money to free the baskets, taking them to safety in their homes.  On display were works of art to be seen (and auctioned off) as part of the Festival.  Ah, you ask, why such an undertaking?  To support murals on Ramona walls.  But are the murals painted to ward off spirits, or to improve the appearance of the town?  Hopefully not to ward off spirits – that would really put a crimp in the Ramona wine industry….
We handled that visit quite well, though greatly overbid on all fo the baskets without being too consumed by the spirits.  Boldened by our success, the next day we gathered our group of intrepid wine lovers and set off on yet another adventure, returning to Mermaid Valley Vineyards.  Our luck did finally run out – the spirits were too strong!  We tried to resist (that’s a lie), but eventually they wore us out, many even returning with us to our abodes!  Not even our funny hats helped!  I mean, how do you resist a high black pepper Zinfandel?  I actually like their Grenache, and I am definitely not a Grenache lover!
I’ve attached some pictures of the art to be auctioned off next week.  For more information on the Festival go to www.ramonaartandwinefest.net.  Participating winery include Correcaminos, Hatfield Creek, La Finquita, Old Julian, Principe di Tricase, Ramona Ranch, Schwaesdall, Three Hills, and Vineyard Grant James.  They should add a special award for anyone who can properly pronounce both Principe di Tricase and Schwaesdall….