Revisits and New Gems

Our search for good zinfandels took us back to the Dry Creek region of Sonoma County California.

Parking The Wanderer at Alexander Valley RV Park in Healdsburg, we set out to do some tastings. First we revisited a couple of our longtime favorites, St. Anne’s Crossing,

and Pezzi King from the Wilson Family Wineries as well as Foppiano’s. At the suggestion of a friend, we checked out some other vineyards and came away with a couple of gems, Limerick Lane (especially their Old Vine, Block 1910) and Martinelli for good zins and a fun tasting room.

Of course we couldn’t be in Sonoma County and not visit our good friend, Trudee

who lives on a farm and is a locksmith in Sonoma.

With The Wanderer pretty much loaded with zinfandels from Sonoma and pinot noirs from Washington and Oregon, it was time to revisit our dear friend and excellent winemaker, Bill, in Eldorado County.

Bill and Randy go way back, like all the way to their high school days at A&M Consolidated. Not only does he make exceptionally good wine for Jodar Winery, Bill is a very talented musician. We always have a grand time listening to Bill and Wayne at The Wine Smith in Placerville.

Over the years of visiting Bill, we have become acquainted with a lot of folks, some we now call friends. Wayne, with the help of his wife, Isabell, barbecued some amazing ribs and fixings. and invited us as well as Bill and Zachrie, to their home for dinner. 

Another gem, Zacharie is the new owner at The Wine Smith.

Such a fun gal!

Yep, made of wine corks.

With friends,

we braved the near 100° temperatures

to listen to Bill andWayne’s Excellent Adventure at Skinner Winery on Sunday afternoon.

With more great memories in our bank, we left the Eldorado County Fairgrounds where we were camped for four days.

(Not exactly a pretty site, water and electricity but no sewer and certainly no Wi-Fi, we were one of three RVs, the showers were clean and spacious; at $35 a night in California, we were pleased. Actually we liked it better than our previous stay at the KOA which was $65 and it is closer to The Wine Smith. )

Next we headed over to Amador County and the Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort RV Park.

For an extra $10 (that would be $45) a night, we had full hook-up, concrete slab, high speed internet, laundry facility and a beautiful walking path. 

The staff was very friendly; we couldn’t find anything we didn’t like here. I’d say we found a gem!

Many of you have been a recipient of a glass and maybe a bottle of Borjon Zinfandel or Barbera, so you know it is a favorite of ours from Amador County  

(and, yes we stopped in to say hello and to pick up our wine club shipment.)

We had planned to do a bit of tasting in other Amador wineries, but many were closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. (Good thing as we were just about to the end of our wine budget.) However, we did wander into Sutter Creek (a gem in itself)

So love the small towns!

and found the Scott Harvey tasting room. The wine was good but the real treasure was the tasting room host.  Enthusiastic about Sutter Creek and Amador County, he sent us down the street to taste some sparkling wine at Le Mulet Rouge. (After a taste of the California Sparkling Wine, ABN was hooked! Even though there was no almond flavoring it had an almond taste.)

He strongly recommended we make a visit to the Union Inn over in Volcano. So we did. 

It was obviously a popular place with the locals as folks greeted one another on the comfortable patio. The food was good, especially the heirloom tomato salad, but what really got our attention was the smooth stout on nitro. (Does anyone see a theme here? We do like our zins and dark brews.)

Sadly, our time in wine country has come to an end, but we will return!  

Some of you have inquired about the wildfires, fortunately we have not seen any. There has been some haze but no smoke. Temperatures have hovered in the high nineties, reaching 100+ at times. With lack of high humidity, it cools to a very comfortable temperature in the evenings.

The Wanderer is pointed east; next stop, Hoover Dam.

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All Zinned Out (Almost)

Since our last post, we have been exploring the Dry Creek region of Northern Sonoma County in California. This is not our first visit. Why do we continue to return? The zinfandel wine! For our palate, we have found the Dry Creek region to be the best and we were not disappointed this trip. We revisited only one winery from our previous trips, Truett-Hurst. The wine is very good but what we really

like is the setting and the tasting room staff. Sometimes we think our palette is greatly influenced by our experiences. In addition to growing grapes, Truett-Hurst has a vegetable garden as well as a goat, of course that resonates with ABN! We happened to be tasting with a delightful young couple from Minneapolis that were on their honeymoon.  They were bicycling along the wine trail, which we did a few years ago and had intended to do this trip; that was before we lost our front wheel in Kansas. Given the temperature was 106 degrees, we were not unhappy to have a good excuse to drive instead.

Out of the 12 wineries we visited we found a few from which we will probably order and have hopes to visit again. Unti  (where we discovered the grape (montepulciano), Mauritson (for their Rockpiile collection), and maybe Mazzoco (one of the Wilson Family Wineries) It is interesting that once a wine tasting room representative (is there a title for that person?) knows one's varietal preference, he/she will recommend another winery. Cameron at Unti suggested we taste at Foppiano. We really liked their zinfandel and, surprisingly, their chardonnay. Foppiano has a great patio where they do the tastings at picnic tables adding the chance for

conversation with other tasters. We spent quite a bit of time talking with a couple from Orlando as well as with Pete and Lil, who happen to be local. Pete and Lil suggested another tasting room, Pezzi King, tucked away in downtown Healdsburg. I think it maybe our best find so far. A very small winery with one of the more unique sauvignon blancs we have tasted, as well as a very smooth, full bodied zinfandel. Reasonably priced ($22 - $32 bottle) I am sure we will become a regular customer. Pezzi King is another Wilson Family winery.

The temperatures  in Cloverdale exceeded 100 degrees each day during our visit. Without the humidity, we found it not too uncomfortable and dined outside most of the time.

We ended our time in northern Sonoma County celebrating the marriage of the son of good friends from eastern Tennessee. A beautiful couple with a beautiful future.

After a stop at the Farmer's Market in Healdsburg, we wandered on over to El Dorado County where we were greeted with a haze of smoke. A few days ago a wild fire broke out in the adjoining county of Amador. We were told it was about 45 minutes away and moving away from us. Keeping our fingers crossed!