Wine experiences from the Sierra Foothills.

What is the Estate component?

Estate wines are not just every wine you pick up at a winery that has a vineyard attached. What “estate” means is the bottle of wine you are looking at, is 100% from grape to finish, from one place. There is a certain orientation to a winemaker that does all 100% estate wines.
Learning the wine spectrum

One of the funnest parts of learning wine is learning the spectrum of your favorite variety. How different processes related to wine making can make a Zinfandel highly acidic and fruit forward, versus a bomb tannic Zinfandel that should be called dark matter on an oak shadowed lane.
Mourvèdre – diversify with abundant sun, and less oak

Mourvedre is a classic grape for the Sierra Foothills because it loves heat and has a long growing season. Learn about who does Mourvedre best in the Sierra Foothills.
Wine ratings – are they worth it?

This post is all about understanding ratings for wine, and who does trustworthy ratings, and how to get the information you really need.
Why so much oak?

Learn about oak in wine, and how to find more fruit forward or natural wines, also often called old world style. Lighter, fresher and variety centric wine.
Whites and Reds – more hidden California favorites

Learn about some of my favorite varieties to try from the US west coast. With some interesting recommendations.
Sierra Foothills Grenache

Grenache is a fantastic grape for high elevation wine making in the Sierra Foothills. A red fruit roll up with amazing herbal and spice notes thanks to elevation and terroir. The ultimate mountain spice variety.
Tempranillo a California fringe variety

Tempranillo a majestic and noble grape made famous in Spain (think Rioja). In California this is a low production variety, but with a small cult following among top tier producers similar to Southern Oregon or Texas.
Orange wine from green Slovenia

Understanding orange wine is a bit of a challenge, here is a starter based on my trip to Slovenia where I tried some amazing orange wines.
Tannat Oui Oui

Tannat is a unique, dark fruit red wine grape that also can be found in the Sierra Foothills. Find out where…
Viognier happily hidden behind Chardonnay

Viognier is a beautiful grape that does extremely well in the Sierra Foothills terroir. Here is where to find it.
GSM makers of the Sierra Foothills

A blog on what is GSM, and which Sierra Foothill and Paso Robles wineries, have amazing GSM blends.
Castilla y Leon – Tempranillo and Malvasia

I had the pleasure of going to a wine industry event in South San Francisco at the San Franciso Wine School on a cool November 2024 day. I learned a lot about the largest region of Spain from a historical perspective, and mostly about the wines and wine culture of this large portion of north-central…
Aging your Rhone styled wine

This post is a short take on aging wine, and specifically what Rhone styled wines do best in the cellar.
The noble road to 100

Notes from Bill Easton’s talk on his journey to Ascent Syrah, the most awarded Syrah in the Sierra Foothills of California.
California Syrah: from deep black fruit to king of red Rhône

California Syrah is still young in its evolution to a noble grape status. Learn about it in this blog.
50 years of modern wine making in El Dorado County

Learn about the history of the two stalwart wineries of the Camino/Apple Hill region of El Dorado County.
Rhone Valley Vineyards – vast and blended

My notes on the Rhone Valley Vineyards event in San Francisco, June 2023. Maybe augment your collection with some real french Rhone varietal wines.
Roussanne found, where is Marsanne?

A fun trip down the winery trails of Roussanne and Marsanne. Learn about them both.
Barbera is not Barolo

Big Barbera is quite common in the Sierra Foothills, and flourishing more all the time.
Zinfandel won Gold Country

Zinfandel is a chameleon grape and lots of styles for this grape exist in the Sierra Foothills. Perhaps the number one grape to look for in the foothills is this one.