Santiago
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Bad wine day.
Last week I had a couple of hours and visited an old friend winery and two new-to-me ones.
Sol Y Barro: new cava so he now has three. His Cab/Grenache 2015 is as good as ever. He now has a Barbera/Nebiolla 2015 that is a must - the
finishing taste on the palate is very good. Barbera lovers need to try this. He has a white (I can't recall the grape) that is very unusual, bone
dry but lots of fruit. Not your typical Mexican white.
After visiting Sol y Barro I decide to hit a few new places. Ugh.
La Lomita: Up in the northern side, just in the hills, beautiful site and building. I try the "two red" tasting; could barely finish the two tastes.
Bad, Bad off flavor. Yet, the dozen or so other people there were drinking and having fun. OK, so I pay extra to taste the Tinto del Hacienda and it
was passable so bought a bottle and left.
Villa Montefori: Again, the grounds and building were impeccable and the two red tastings were not drinkable. I don't mean it wasn't very good, I
mean you would never serve this to anyone, ever. Again, very off flavor, something went wrong.
The owners and operators of these wineries must know, aren't they tasting their own product? I will never go to these two wineries again. Maybe they
don't care or they are just washing money thru - whatever, don't bother.
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Sweetwater
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Mood: chilly today hot tomale
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As a "boutique" vintner since 1990, I find it unlikely to improbable that these winery's do not realize they have a bad product. If it is not the
grape source, then it is their process. Both have easy solutions. Grow or purchase a better grape, chemistry is pretty easily determined and your
educated palate should be a guide. Process errors often come down to cleanliness and consistency. I came from a background of sterile compounding so
it seemed very easy to get process correct.
I've got around 60 gallons in my 'wine room' and just finished bottling the last of a batch. That means I can blend some a new batch and begin
sampling in the next few weeks.
Salud!
Everbody\'s preachin\' at me that we all wanna git to heaven, trouble is, nobody wants to die to git there.-BB King
Reality is what does not go away when you stop believing in it. -Philip K Dick
Nothing is worse than active ignorance. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1749-1832, German writer, artist and politician)
When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I\'ve never tried before. - Mae West
Experience is what keeps a man who makes the same mistake twice from admitting it the third time around.
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4Cata
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Santiago, thanks for heads up on Sol & Barro, and yes, I will skip the other two. What's your opinion on Vinisterra?
Agaveros, silk in a bottle, a beautiful bottle!
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chuckie
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It's hard for me to accept an "ugh" rating from someone else. Peoples tastes vary so much, and everyone is convinced THEY are the authority.
Condemning an entire winery on one persons say so? Nah.....Try it yourself..
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Terry28
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Finally, something I agree with Chuckie on.......
Mexico!! Where two can live as cheaply as one.....but it costs twice as much.....
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chuckie
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WOW! Thanks!
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BajaGeoff
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Sol Y Barro is one of my favorites! Aime produces some great wines and does most of the work himself. I bought a case of his wine to give away as
gifts a few years back and people really enjoyed it. Here is some more info: http://www.bajabound.com/destinations/bajawinecountry/solyba...
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chuckie
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I think no one is saying his wine is not good....I am sure it is.....But it's not a good reason to condemn others.....
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Hook
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Quote: Originally posted by chuckie  | | I think no one is saying his wine is not good....I am sure it is.....But it's not a good reason to condemn others..... |
No, actually, I think the original poster IS saying that he tasted wines that are not good.
What kind of spin are you putting on this, Chuckie? You're passing judgement in a situation that you arent even part of? At least he tasted the wines.
"You are sure it is" good? How can you say that???????
Cant one have an opinion about a winery's wines and post it here?
Or, maybe it's a little like declaring Punta Chivato some kind of Yuppie Dump, because of one house on the market?
I've been to wineries where all the wines are "ugh". Many of them were in Guadalupe, back in the late 90s and early 2000s.
"Ugh" is a far cry from passable or drinkable; the two most gracious terms one can use for mediocre wines. When wines are "ugh" to a person who
regularly drinks decent wines (which I know Santiago does), the wines are probably not going to be drinkable to 90+% of all wine drinkers.
The other 10% probably dont know chit about wine............
Santiago, I remember a review that someone posted on Nomads from a wine guy's blog. He was touring wineries in Guadalupe. He was appalled at how many
of the wines clearly were suffering from grapes that were being watered in overly-saline/salty water. He claimed you could taste it. Is that what you
might have been tasting?
[Edited on 6-20-2015 by Hook]
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4Cata
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Not wanting to bring rv thru TJ to wine country. Heard there was a US based wine trail tour company out of Sand Diego. Any personal or heresay
recommendations?
Agaveros, silk in a bottle, a beautiful bottle!
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
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I dunno much about wines, lived in Mendocino county just down the road from Parduccis for many years.....Drank only ripple and thunderbird....I'll
leave this to the folks who can dictate what other people like....overly saltine water? shees.....I am sure it is good? How can I say that? Easy....I
think he knows good wines.....I don't accept him telling me what is bad .....
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Santiago
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I've had a week to think about this and I've come up with a few possibilities. I am not a wine snob, I drink wine in the $10 range most days. $20 is
a lot for us to pay. I drink all reds and whites out of the same type of glass. I've been known to throw in an ice cube or two on a hot day. I do
not know very much about the technology of wine making or how a tasting room should be operated.
It did have a salty, chemical taste to it. The first thing that came to mind was some kind of solvent. These two wineries are very close to each
other, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 mile apart - I have no idea where they source their grapes. There are three valleys and I don't think Santo Tomas has the
salinity issue.
Also, I was there right about noon on a Friday; both of these tasting rooms are closed Monday thru Thursday. I believe none of these bottles were
opened in front of me. Is it possible I was tasting from bottles that had been open for 5 days and if so, would it produce such an off taste? Seems
unlikely that this would happen on 4 different wines from two different wineries. The odor, by the way, seemed normal.
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4Cata
Nomad
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Just a quick question--did the wine you bought taste like the wine you tasted? Have had the unpleasant experience of the wine I brought home not even
resembling what we tasted. Not in Baja, but in some of the wine regions in Central California--Paso Robles and Napa, to be exact. I'm not a wine
snob, am fairly frugal when it comes to wine tasting so it had better really impress me for me to buy it.
Agaveros, silk in a bottle, a beautiful bottle!
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Santiago
Ultra Nomad
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Good question and I don't know as I gave the wine to fellow campers. Lomita's Tinto del Hacienda was a blend of 4 reds, the same blend each year (I
asked if they changed the blend) so I assume they have got this formula down. It was an average red blend wine, fine as a daily wine other than the
fact it's way overpriced, but I've beat that horse to death. $20.
By the way, if you buy a bottle they do not charge you for the tasting, which I think is becoming more and more rare in the valley. For example, at
Sol y Barro they charged $7 to taste 3 wines and when I bought 3 bottles, they still charged for the tasting. Now, Aime was not there, he had a young
person open the tasting room for me. Maybe Aime would not have done that as I have bought lots of wine from him in the past; still, it is obviously
his policy or else his employee is pocketing the tasting fee.
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durrelllrobert
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Never a bad day to whine about your wine.
Bob Durrell
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