GARAGISTE'S #5 WOWS FANS OF ARTISIAN WINE ©

            I know this how? Because my new hero, Erik, told me, "It's awesome, best ever." So, you might well ask, why is he a hero? OK, here's the story. But first, the back story. This event uses stemless  glassware made by Stolzle, which is important to this tale. The taster crowd at the Fest has a tradition of clapping and cheering when someone drops and breaks their glass. This had happened two or three times before Eric gave me his review. As I turned away to let someone into the table I tagged an elbow and dropped my glass to the concrete floor. Dang, I thought! But when the bottom of the glass hit pavement, it just bounced. I made a move to catch it but down it went, then up again and I hadn't quite caught up. The third hit finally did the job and I bowed to the cheering crowd, skulking away find a replacement.

Fast forward to nearly the end of the tasting and I see Erik coming along across the aisle. Suddenly his glass makes a break for freedom. Hits, bounces. And again. And again, at which point Erik snatches it in mid-air. A three hopper and the glass is still intact and back in service. While Erik (whose last name I never got) pulled off a good save, what about that Stolzle? I highly recommend those of you with friends having bad hand/glass coordination get some of these beasts.

If you haven't been exposed to the Garagiste movement or their tastings and programs, put it on your to-do list. And get The Dirt online by signing up at www.californiagaragistes.com for news about the organization.

This year's version started with a winemaker's dinner on Thursday and a meet and greet event Friday evening. Held at Broken Earth Winery, it was a sell out and featured out-of-area wineries in the group. Saturday began with two fully subscribed seminars. The first was on the use of the aroma wheel in helping your appreciation of descriptors used in wine jargon. The second was a three maker panel discussion of current trends in using stems and seeds during the fermentation. Opinions on this have varied over the years and an option that doesn't lend itself to large production wineries. The process adds subtle changes to tannins and structure of the wines. If the technique is of interest, Kaena Wine Co., Paix Sur Terre & Golden Triangle wineries were the wines presented. All are very low production but some delicious samples were tasted.

The main event included nearly five dozen wineries with twenty or so varietals in the mix. Several food vendors also offered product to sample, ranging from olive oil to brownies. I didn't get a head count but think this was the largest crowd ever but a change in tasting table layout made it seem less crowded than last year. And if three to five hours of wine tasting hadn't worn you out, there was the After Party with beer from Paso's "Barrelhouse" micro brewery. Loud and proud AC/DC tribute band High Voltage kicked out the jams so the ladies could dance and the guys sit and watch, just like junior high.  A fun and well done festival, with a great and knowledgeable group of wine lovers in attendance. Can't wait for #6.  

KNOW THY MEDALS ©

            When I received a recent copy of The SOMM Journal it included the results (Gold or higher award) of this year's San Francisco International Wine Competition (www.sfwinecomp.com), I searched for winners from the Central Coast. I like to be aware of how the region fares against other areas of California and in this case the world. But the more I dug into the details the more I scratched my head.

Those of you who make regular visits to tasting rooms have seen bottles on shelves with medals and ribbons displayed. Wine club members are constantly reminded that such and such a bottling was an award winning wine. Or it received a score in this or that prestigious trade publication.

What you may not know is that to get this recognition the winery has to decide which ones have real marketing value. Then fill out often complicated paperwork to submit the wines, which also requires multiple bottles of the wine that need shipped within a time window. All at the expense of the winery. This can easily run into a lot of wine and related expense considering wine judging is coming close to being a spectator sport in terms of games played.

Submission to these events is a risk reward proposition and you have to pick your poison. With that in mind, let me run some facts by you. In the above referenced tasting, Anthony Dias Blue who is the Executive Director of the publication mentioned and a highly respected wine writer for many years, offered the following in his preface to the results.

The number of wines submitted was a record 4,902 offerings from 26 countries and 29 states, judged by 50 palates. Cabernet continued to dominate with 544 tasted, nearly a case per judge. The tasting uses a 100 point scale and uses the typical award of a Double Gold when all those on the panel (of course the judges are broken into smaller tasting groups) rate it the highest in the group being judged.

There were 254 of those awarded along with 538 Gold, 1,742 Silver and 1,568 Bronze. Thus, only 800 (16%) of those submitted didn't medal. This begins to look like those Participation trophies given to a 12 and under soccer team. And devalues the real merit of the awards. But all the consumer sees is that the wine was given this prestigious medal. If only 16% didn't get anything but another 16% received Gold or Double Gold, how good an indicator is the ranking?

Well, one might assume the submissions were all exceptional offerings to a top flight judging. Could happen that most were superior products. So let's look at a couple of examples. And also consider that it is possible that some rare category, say Best Sangiovese Blend, had few wines entered.  The judges all agree that one wine is the best of the lot but score the wine as an 86. Is this really a wine that merits a Double Gold? In this case, because they also award the best of varietal/type, the winner was a home boy, August Ridge 2010 Jovial Reserve, Paso Robles. This is a winery I enjoy and with which I am familiar. So good on them for a tasty and unique offering. I would guess that this category could include some Super Tuscan style entries and be more competitive than I suggested. But that is unclear in the way results are presented.

A couple of others include the Best Syrah + Best in Show Red. Also a Paso Robles wine, sort of, from Jeff Runquist, a 2013 Syrah. Jeff is a very accomplished (28 Gold & 80 Silver medals in 2012) winemaker with a serious resume (see jeffrunquistwines.com) and a winery in Plymouth, Amador County in the Sierra Foothills. He has a unique network of growers and uses those contacts to bring in grapes of 20 varietals and 9 AVA designations. His Syrah and Cabernet connections are from growers he knew from his days making reds in Paso as winemaker for Jerry Lohr. So, yes Paso is the AVA for the label but they take quite a ride for Jeff to use the grapes. Interesting that with all the wineries making Paso grown Syrah in this area, Jeff "crushes" them. Sorry, couldn't resist. Still, kudos to him.

And, to continue to blow the local horn, the Best of Type includes (also Double Gold) Balleyana 2013 Firepeak Chardonnay from Edna Valley, Cass Winery Viognier 2014 Paso Robles, Santa Barbara White Rhone Blend "Marcella's" from Fess Parker 2014. Also an Albarino 2013 from Wedding Oak in Edna Valley, Sangiovese 2013 by Gary Eberle, grapes from Wine-Bush/Hidden Valley in Paso and Best Nebbiolo out of Santa Ynez winery Old Creek Ranch, Estelle Vineyard 2009. The list goes on, check the referenced web site, but 39 top medals (15%) went to Central Coast wines and most were in the $28 to $36 range with several under $20.

One of the strangest categories was sparkling wines. The Best Brut & Best Sparkling was Champagne Collet 2004 Millesime Brut, France $96. But there was a Gold given to a $600 Blanc de Blanc NV from Armand de Brignac, France, which was alphabetically listed just above Barefoot Refresh NV Perfectly Pink, CA at $8. This I find difficult to understand and may indicate a flaw in what it takes, or should, to medal. And most of the really big money wines from cult labels avoid these tastings as they add no cachet but could be a bad miss. So, Know Thy Medals or Caveat Emptor.

SLO HARVEST, GARAGISTE FEST & HOSPICE RETURNS ©

          Most of the grapes have been harvested and the reports are generally coming in as much less crop than typical but also concentrated flavors that should turn into an excellent vintage for the Central Coast. With the ongoing lack of rain, this was to be expected. And as the weather has cooled just a bit, it is a busy time for wineries getting all the juice fermented and dealing with tourists who love the harvest season.

Coming up November 5-7 is the Garagiste Festival at the Paso Robles Events Center with side bar events at local restaurants. For ticket options and details on the event, see www.garagistefestival.com. There are full weekend passes, dinner on the 5th, main tasting, seminars and party involved and the group sent word out yesterday that the full pass tickets were selling out quickly.  If not familiar with the movement, the name of which comes via people making wine (starting with Bordeaux allegedly) in small batches in their garage. All the wineries participating make very few cases of their offerings and are not seen on the general market. Many are well known winemakers at larger facilities and do their own thing on the side. It was very popular with great attendance last year and many excellent wines were to be found. It also attracts a crowd that is more wine knowledgeable than general wine tourists. Plus there is a personal connection as the actual winemaker is usually pouring. Many of the larger tastings have to put tasting room or volunteer people at the booth due to volume.

            November 6-8 has another offering for the wines of the San Luis Obispo AVA, Harvest on the Coast. The opening dinner on Friday night is already a sellout but the main tasting on Saturday has tickets available. That also includes an auction event. And so does the Sunday Sliders & Wine event. Which is included for free in the full event ticket. Tickets and more information can be found at www.slowine.com. This takes place at the Avila Beach Resort who has special room rates for attendees.

            I am very pleased to hear that Hospice du Rhone will return to Paso Robles next spring, April 14-16 after a few years absence. They held a smaller, intimate version of Hospice at Blackberry Farm in Tennessee during that period and held the last one back in September of this year. Plans appear to have been to return there (per the resort's web site) next spring but a recent email blast announced the return to Paso. As the Central Coast is well known for producing wines from the nearly two dozen varieties grown in the Rhone Valley of France and the local branch of Rhone Rangers is very active, it seems logical to promote the local wines in the area. More details as available.

TRUCKIN' GRAPES, HARVEST WINE WEEKEND & DERBY

            I didn't mean to take July off but it flew bye and suddenly it is August and I've started seeing loads of early ripening whites being hauled to wineries near and far. More than half the grapes grown in Paso's AVA are sold to wineries outside SLO County. This is similar in all Central Coast growing regions. There is a sea of vines in south Monterey County on the Lockwood mesa as you drive the 101to or from King City. Pretty impressive and primarily headed for major labels outside that county. North Santa Barbara County is much the same.

First up, the annual Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance's final major event of 2015. Though always held the 3rd weekend of October, it is an early date this year, the 16th-18th. So not too early to make plans. Rather than a big central tasting event, Wine Weekend's focus is on special activities at the wineries. A wide range of options are available, throughout the now 11 sub AVA designations of Paso Robles. The PRWCA publishes a full listing of participating locations and what they have planned for your visit. This can be picked up at local wineries but should also be available electronically soon at www.pasowine.com.

I'm often asked about favorite wineries to visit. Like my children, I love them all the same. Perhaps since I don't have any. Seriously, from large production labels to those where a hobby got out of hand and is now a vocation, there are styles to fit what you are looking to see. Perhaps you want to concentrate on a varietal. The options cover such grapes as Zinfandel, Cabernet or Bordeaux blends, Syrah or Rhone blends and those that offer Pinot Noir. Even Italian specialists are found here. And the same is true of white varieties, including several wineries now making Albarino for example.

Maybe you want to know more about the Templeton Gap wines or those from the Willow Creek or Creston districts. And there are eight others to choose from! But the other question I get on a regular basis is from those with limited time. They have to be somewhere later but would like to do a tasting close to the hotel or where they stopped for lunch. There are several tasting rooms within walking distance, or a short ride, from City Park. The map in the PRWCA "Grow Wild" brochure has a detail of downtown Paso and includes restaurants and more. The booklet is readily available, including at the Association's office.

An option you might enjoy, is visiting the actual winery and tasting room of Derby Wine Estates. It is easily seen from many parts of town, located on Riverside just west of the railroad track. Look for the big square tower above the trees toward the south. Since some streets don't go through, the easy access is to take 10th west from Spring (main drag) St., cross the tracks to the dead end and go right (south) for a few blocks. Derby is a large grower operation with three distinct vineyards from the east side to the west side of the coastal range. They use only about 10% of what they grow for their own label. There are blends as well as an excellent Cabernet and several other varietals and a knowledgeable and friendly group in the tasting room. And it is all brand new.

The owners undertook a major project in purchasing the abandoned and fast fading Almond Growers co-op warehouse and processing facility. Though it may have been cheaper and less hassle to build new on their property along E46, a welcome sense of community committed them to a multi-year project to restore the landmark structure. It has been open for about a year now and they included an outside lounge area with a smoker. That is now a casual Friday site for smoked foods, wine of course and some music. Whether for a quick sample of local wine or an evening out, you'll enjoy yourself. More about the wines and events can be found on the web at www.derbywineestates.com.

CATCHING UP ©

            There has been so much to write about over the past few weeks there has been no time to actually do the writing. The previous piece about upcoming CABs of Distinction, Paso Robles Wine Fest and the International Chardonnay Symposium have all now taken place and yours truly made them all.

I don't do frequent recaps of done deals but this particular group is worthy of an after action report. Especially if you have not been involved but might wish to consider attendance in the future. The CABs (Cabernet & Bordeaux) event was a two part gathering. The first was a public tasting on the weekend and then a trade and media section on three days the following week. Out of town, I missed the big tasting and the kick off barrel sampling on day one. The feedback on both was positive from a crowd of wine writers, sommeliers, restaurant owners and hospitality types and bloggers with a wine focus. Hopefully this will translate into getting the word out on the quality of Cabernet Sauvignon and related Bordeaux varietals made in the Paso Robles area. SOMM JOURNAL magazine was a major backer of this event (and Chardonnay Symposium below) and imported Court of Master Sommeliers members from around the country. It was interesting to hear how wine list determiners viewed offerings from the Paso region be they in NYC or LA.

Several of the two dozen wineries in the CABs group offered various programs on the final day. I attended a blending at Brecon Estate (http://breconestate.com), aimed at deciding the future bottlings of their Reserve Cabernet and Bordeaux blend. Lucky for me, I was the only one who picked that session. Having done this in the past, getting one on one time with owner/ winemaker Damian Grindley and his wife Amanda, an untitled(?) but busy co-worker was a treat. Working with several selected barrels of Cabernet from the estate and other local growers including some York Mountain AVA juice, we first worked on the Reserve and then added other grapes to the blend. I was especially fond of the Petite Verdot which became a small but important addition to the final product. Great fun, as was trying to decipher English as spoken by a Welshman.

Then it was off to Vina Robles for a comparison of wines coming from the same grape but grown in various vineyards in the sub AVAs. Three each of Cabernet and Petite Verdot, which gave me four different AVA tastes of the later and five of Cabernet plus that from the stand alone York Mountain AVA. Winemaker Kevin Willenborg led us through the comparison. One interesting  comment regarding the Petite Verdot was how higher temperatures in the vineyards being used, vs. Bordeaux, softened the tannins. This made the wine more approachable than the Euro version and more useful for being a larger component of local Bordeaux blends. Our group included retail, publishing and other sommeliers in the mix leading to lively discussion and a nice final experience for CABs week. I look forward to a similar gathering next year.

            Next up, the Paso Robles Wine Fest weekend. This was the 33rd version of this Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance's major annual event. With about 250 participating wineries, there was plenty to do, spread all over the eleven sub-AVAs in the region. Wineries held many special events with food and music to go with your wine. Winemaker dinners at both downtown restaurants and the actual wineries, the Reserve & Grand tastings, educational sessions and auctions were just some of the good times.

After a bit of an organization stumble dealing with crowd control for the main tasting last year, the staff at PRWCA took hard look at prior planning for 2015. I note that part of the issue last year was really those in the crowd, many of whom got into the early entry line without the proper ticket and became a hurdle. Job well done goes to the fix provided. The security team vetted the tickets, did the purse search etc. whenever you arrived and used a simple stamp instead of wrist bands. Versus the half hour it took to gain entry to the park last year, the solution provided a five or fewer minutes from gate to wine in a glass. Brilliant!

Other new and improved features were expansion of the space, moving the music stage, food trucks inside the venue and a dedicated picnic area. A huge hit was the pre-packed lunch offerings from several local restaurants. For $10 you got a complete to go (each provider had a set item you could review) and a souvenir "keep cool" carry bag. I was surprised to see how many people took advantage of the idea and surveyed several of them. Thumbs up from all. See you at the 34th next spring and hoping the weather remains as perfect as this version.

            Last in this triple play were three days spread over the Five Cities area, along the coast, south of San Luis Obispo. There was a tie in to local government who helped make the event a showcase for various resorts and local chefs. The International Chardonnay Symposium was also part of the SOMM JOURNAL relaunch effort and brought in nearly twenty members of the Court of Master Sommeliers. While most were from well known California operations, some diversity by way of Montana and Colorado was also in the mix. They were put to work on panels, judging and yeoman's efforts in controlling the wine service at the dining events. 

It is interesting that the Central Coast sandwiches the Rhone, Zin and Cabernet climate of Paso Robles with the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir of Monterey and Santa Barbara regions. And south San Luis Obispo County is closer to Santa Barbara in that regard. Pardon my generalization. If you aren't familiar with south Monterey County, it ends only about 15 miles north of Paso. There are huge areas of vines from there north to King City, easily seen from Hwy. 101, especially on the Lockwood mesa. But no wineries until Greenfield. The better known Monterey wines come from further north, along the River Road wine trail and Carmel Valley. In terms of wineries, Monterey has far fewer than the cousins to the south. But there is a lot of juice coming from the area, including major players such as Lohr, Wente and Gallo for example.

The point of the above is that Chardonnay is the most popular varietal grown and sold. It deserves to have a focused event. One that isn't just about the area but inclusive for comparison. This event does that, as does the World of Pinot held in Santa Barbara due to the growth of, and interest in, wines from that grape. Paso's interest is also well represented by the Rhone Rangers events, a strong garagiste presence in those wines and representation at events like the Wine Fest discussed above. The fine Zinfandels from the area have that showpiece as well. Adding the CABs group also serves Paso's terroir well and will hopefully grow.

So, I see good things for the future of the Chardonnay Symposium. It was well organized, despite the challenges of a moving feast of locations and program options. Held in an area that is increasingly tourist oriented, it adds a nice component to the mix of events. And it fits in well with the Pebble Beach wine event to the north and Sunset Magazine's  Savor event. Both of which include the broader variety of wines from the region.  Pebble Beach also goes into comparisons with the best of Napa, Sonoma and others.

A nice mix of tastings, educational panels and a crowd size that provided access to sixty Chardonnay producers, up close and personal, split over two days of tastings. Plus after hours dinners and, in this case, a lunch with the retrospective tasting of Mt. Eden & Hanzell made for an experience I recommend you put on your wine calendar for 2016.

FUN WITH FACTOIDS ©

            In case you were wondering, there is a lot of wine and winery growth going on all over the country. The gorilla in this room is Gallo. In 2014 the 70 brands that make up their portfolio saw 80M cases sold. Many to people who have no idea their fave beverage is a Gallo product. The company has always shown smart and aggressive marketing skills. But the current success is partly due to taking the pulse of those seeking value for every day consumption and responding to it. From a quality and flavor standpoint, some of these products are very attractive to the general public. Gallo has also trended a bit to the upscale market, including the recent acquisition of the J label sparkling wine.

            Also growing are the number of virtual wineries. Not of the video game universe, these are labels that represent winemakers who operate under the umbrella of another brands bonded premise. This is a method that has attractive features for small volume wines. They avoid the hassle and expense of having a government bond for the storage facility and can spare themselves the high capital demands of seldom used (but expensive) equipment. It is a win for the bonded winery as well, which can charge for the use and get revenue from such things as available empty tankage, bottling line and warehouse space.

Virtual wineries make up 18% of the U.S. producers but more than 1/3rd of those in California. The total number of wineries (including non-grape producers) grew by about 7% last year depending on various data sources. With California boasting nearly four thousand wineries now the state is home to 47% of those in the entire country. Add the over 1,300 in Washington and Oregon and you see the effect the industry has on the west coast. With 525 new wineries opening last year, the total number in the U.S, is now 8,287.

There are wineries in every state in the union. Texas is now 6th with 215 and Hawaii, with 4, is ahead of last place Mississippi which has only 2. Bet you wouldn't have thought Alaska is at #45 with six. Arizona and New Mexico both have 48 bonded wineries. But those clever virtual guys and gals have 15 in AZ and there are zero in NM.

One last fact; in the annual list of Ten Hot Brands as published by Wine Business Monthly, the Central Coast took one-fifth of this year's listing. These were Paso based Halter Ranch and Monterey County's McIntyre. Congrats!

            I should mention that the eleven sub viticultural areas now in the Paso Robles AVA are now label legal. However, you are not going to see many of them on store shelves for a couple of years. Most wineries are holding off until the 2015 vintage is in bottle and some are going even more slowly. More on this can be found in an archived article.

EARTH DAY, CABERNET & MORE TO DO ©

            Celebrating Earth Day - April 22 - a bit early, many wineries along the Central Coast are having special events over this weekend.  If you are thinking about a little wine tasting check out these web sites for which and what is offered: montereywines.org, pasowine.com, sbcountywines.com, slowine.com or smvwines.com. One afternoon long major celebration, by way of example, is the Main Event  at Castoro Cellars (.com) taking place on Saturday the 18th. Tickets, along with a discount code, as well as details are on their site. It continues with a "recovery" yoga session and brunch on Sunday.

            The Paso area is well known for Zin, Syrah and other Rhone varieties. But in the background of world class reds, Cabernet Sauvignon gets less buzz. Over the past few years a small but growing group of wineries (pasoroblescab.com) has been trying to change that. Known as the Paso Robles Cab Collective, they are hosting the first major event the organization has held. Called Cabs of Distinction, it takes place May 1- 7. Friday through Sunday is consumer focused, starting with a four course meal at Il Cortile Ristorante on Friday evening, with wines from Cht. Margene and Le Cuvier.  Saturday is the Grand Tasting offered by the twenty six wineries in the Collective. On Sunday, fourteen of the wineries will feature special tastings and other offers for Grand Tasting ticket holders. Details and tickets are available at the web site above. For sommeliers and others in the trade/media additional tastings, education and tours will take place Tuesday through Thursday. If qualified go to info@pasoroblescab.com to request a pass for those sessions.

            A few other upcoming things that might interest you include the following. Per usual, more information and ticketing is through the web sites noted. April 29 - May 3 is the annual Wine, Waves & Beyond  a beach themed combo of tastings, golf, surf movie, long board surfing, wine dinner, music and car show. Something for everyone. FlavorofSLO.com is the place to find what's happening Sunday, May 3rd in support of United Way. It will be held at historic Jack House in San Luis Obispo where, on April 29th, an event called Lambs On The Veranda is happening. Enjoy the property and garden and learn the history of sheep ranching on the Central Coast. Call 805-781-7300 or go to slocity.org/parksandrecreation for reservations.