On the Road with the Grape Guy

Report from - Tasting in Carmel, California (part 2) ... September 16, 2011

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

Our next stop along the way was to Bernardus, a winery that began because of the owners love for red wines of the Bordeaux region.  The family fortune comes from the owner’s father who became the exclusive importer for German cars (VW, Audi and Porsche) after World War II.  The vineyard area consists of about 300 acres spread over six estates, of which 58 are planted.  Bernardus is not available in Ontario, so you’ll have to live vicariously through these notes.  Stanley, our wine jockey and lexicon about all things Bernardus (and, it seems, Monterey County) took us through a tasting of a dozen or so wines with a real enthusiasm for each and every one, and he was not afraid to point out his favourites along the way and tell us why.  Best White: 2009 Sierra Mar Chardonnay ($40.00) a wine made from grapes in only their third leaf, aged 10 months in a 50/50 blend of new and used French oak.  For a wine made with such young grapes this wine shows some real finesse and delicacy, not overpowered by the wood, there is a real suppleness on the palate and lovely fruit; the piece-de-resistance is the Wurther’s candy finish that just keeps going and going and going (**** ½).  Best Red: hands down it was the single block, single vineyard 2004 Swan Block Merlot ($125.00), this is a real unique wine for this winery as they do not expect to ever be making such a wine again, but the fruit was just so good this year that the winemaker insisted.  Aged 20 months in a 50/50 blend of oaks (new and used) and then rested 2 years in bottle before release.  Very smooth with blackberry, blueberry, cassis and milk chocolate, still has some nice tannins on the finish (**** ½).  Only 350 cases produced.

Wines Scored – (in Order of Tasting): ... To read about this part of the tour and see some of the pictures, click here

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Report from - Tasting in Carmel, California (part 1) … September 16, 2011

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

It started out like “one-of-those-days” but ended much better.  We set our sights on the wineries around the tasting rooms of Carmel and in the Carmel Valley, so we drove into Carmel-by-the-Sea, home to at least five winery tasting rooms.  Unlike back home where the winery’s store has to be attached to their actual winery, here you can have a completely separate store off your property and over the mountains, if you wish.  The rooms recommended by the Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association were Galante, Caracciolo Cellars, Figge Cellars and Cima Collina , and the fifth was Wrath, which had just opened last month.  Here’s where the one-of-those-days comes into play: each tasting room did not open till about 1 or 2 in afternoon, we were strolling Carmel at 10am … and Wrath is in a crazy open mall, and I was positive the map had them on the third floor (not the first where I eventually found them later in the day … more on that later).  So with frustration we climbed back into the car and pointed the GSP to an address I had been given: 8940 Carmel Valley Road – Chateau Julien.

The Chateau was started 30 years ago, with a total acreage of 16, of which 5.5 are planted, with now, 19- year-old Sangiovese vines.  Merlot is their flagship wine, which parallels the St. Julien region of France, which they patterned the winery after.  They were proud to tell me that they were the second winery in the Carmel Valley.  I found them to be a winery that has the winery experience down to a tee, but the wines were lacking … (read about part 1 of the journey and see some of the pictures, click here).

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.