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Ask a Wine-Know: September is California Wine Month
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Posted by Anncierley Fri Sep 14, 2007 08:59:14 PDT
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Did you know that September is California Wine Month? Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed that for the third year in a row. You should have been seeing wine specials at your favorite store and supermarket all month in honor of this important segment of the economy of our state. Let's raise a glass together. Cheers!

We residents of Kern County, living and traveling amidst miles and miles of rows and rows of grapevines should have seen numerous pickers in the vineyards all summer long, as our very important table grape crops were harvested, boxed and transported to market. People of my age (ahem, old) who grew up in this area, remember sitting under the grape arbors that were fairly common in our backyards, picking and enjoying the yellow, small Thompson Seedless  in their heavy clusters, or climbing the neighbor's back fence to get at the wonderful, big, juicy Muscats. Ahhh....

 As the weather cools, the time arrives for the picking and crushing of the wine grapes. Fall is coming and that means Harvest Time in the wine world, always hectic, always fun and full of promises. Winemakers find time in their very busy schedules to engage in festivals celebrating the occasion. Tourists abound, hoping to catch sight of pickers, wishing for the chance to watch some part of  THE CRUSH, and to participate in any small way in the event.

Guess what? You can too. I highly recommend a trip to the wine country during late September, October and even November. The vineyards are gorgeous as the leaves turn color. Driving our highways to Los Angeles or heading North up 99 or I-5 or going West to the Coast, you will see acres and acres of vines. If you want to actually see trucks unloading grapes and watch some part of the crushing process, you need to stop at a winery, and usually during a week-day. If you want an up close and personal visit where you can actually see the whole process in operation, sign up and attend a week-end Harvest Festival in one of the big areas.

Now, as promised in the last column, today we are going to discuss the pending Harvest Wine Tour, October 19-21 in Paso Robles. Several readers asked me questions about this event and wanted my recommendations as to what to attend, etc.

First, investigate and learn about the event NOW so that you can sign up right away for what you find suits your interests. These things sell out fast!  Housing (motels, hotels) in the Paso Robles area is at a premium. You might find yourself having to stay as far away as the beach towns like Cambria, Cayucos, or Morro Bay, or heading south to San Luis Obispo and the towns along the way. In case you haven't noticed, the Central Coast Wine Area is expanding by leaps and bounds! It seems like there's a new winery opening daily!  Make your hotel reservations even before you decide on the exact wineries you want to visit!

We'll talk a lot about Paso area wineries in this column because they're so close and can be done in a day's time, but unless you have a designated driver ( a member of your family and friends who will not drink) do not attend one of these festivals - the wine flows pretty easily. Plan to spend the night, Highway 46 is treacherous enough already.

The Harvest Wine Tour is being held over three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and more than 90 wineries will open their doors for very unique and wonderful events for their wine club members and you, their adoring public.. One of them, Arroyo Robles, will even cap off the evening with a sailboat cruise out of Morro Bay sipping wine!

Get the big overview of the week-end by going on-line (www.pasowine.com), click Harvest Wine Tour and then click on the particular wineries you are most interested in visiting. They're all listed on that website. You can also phone for information and a free brochure at 1-800-549-9463. Read about what each winery is doing. Food is also included in the prices for their events. A lot of things are free too.

As for my recommendations, I really like to attend the events where the winemakers are present, barrel samples of the latest wines are available for tasting, I like to find out about the current harvest, and of course, I like good food!  If the weather is nice (not too hot) I really enjoy vineyard tours and hearing the latest results of new plantings, etc. I'm a real nerd in that regard.

Alright, alright - what wineries would I recommend? Here's where I'm planning to go this year:  Denner, Edward Sellers, Four Vines, L'Aventure, Linne Calodo, Tablas Creek, Turley, and Villa Creek.  I'm also interested in seeing the new tasting rooms/wineries at Firestone and Vina Robles.

Don't you forget to patronize our Bakersfield guys too, if you haven't been there recently:  Arroyo Robles, Graveyard, Grey Wolf, and Still Waters. They all are participating in this event.

Fall Harvest or Fall Festival Events like this are a lot of fun. You meet people from all over, the atmosphere is festive, a lot of the cost is minimal, and you get to taste much  wine, usually the latest releases (if the wine is ready), and you have access to wines that are often so good they'll go in a hurry once they reach the market!

Try this event. You'll like it! And (a BIG AND) notice how good the Rhone (Syrah) blends are getting. If you haven't been drinking these wines, here's your chance to try a bunch of them. They're dynamite. My opinion is that they're the best wines coming out of this area right now. I love to drink them! Try Linne Calodo's Rising Tides or Sticks and Stones, or Saxum's James Berry Vineyard or Broken Bones, or Tablas Creek's Panoplie. Wow is putting it mildly.

On to a few other things - I have to say something about Bakersfield Wine Society's last event, the winemaker Darryl Groom (from Australia) dinner at Luigi's.  The wines were as good as advertised and the food was an outstanding accompaniment. Chef Gino Valpredo really is on top of his game, as the 70 or so folks that were there can attest to - and I can tell you he really knows how to pair wine with food. If you haven't thought of Luigi's as a place where fine wine from all over the world (not just Italy) is served, think again. It really has become a place for wine lovers in Bako.

Coming Events in addition to the Harvest Tour mentioned above -

Bakersfield Friends of Wine will meet Friday, October 19 at Bakersfield Country Club for a wine dinner featuring 6 wines from an old favorite, Mirassou. The wines are from Monterey County. The price for these and for dinner is $62. Call Klaus Hoeper at 871-6463 for info and reservations.

Wine questions? acierley@etcrier.net

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