BajaNomad

The intersection of Bakersfield, Guadalupe and south Sonoma wines

Santiago - 10-30-2020 at 08:41 AM



SWMBO and I each month take a couple of days and drive somewhere within a few hours of our home in NorCal. This time we reserved a small cottage in the country, south Sonoma county. Lots of cows, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and of course, a couple of wineries, heh.

We are done with faux Tuscany castles, appointment only, resort casual dress please wineries. Enough already. Right around the corner is a small, family run winery, 1600 cases max, husband in the shed, wife running the front of the house. Cool.

We walk into an empty tasting room and almost turn to walk out when the wife-hostess comes in from the patio and invites us out, asking if we are catholic. I flash back to Sept 1960 when our god-fearing pastor exhorted us, from the pulpit, to please vote Nixon as if Kennedy wins, the Pope will rule ‘merica. We demure and she says she is busy building an alter for her father, getting ready for dia de muertes this coming Sunday. She, and everyone else on the patio are from Mexico; either recently or only one generation ago.

She starts the tasting with a rose of cabernet, first time for us and tells her life story of coming to America as a small child with her parents, settling in Lamont (Bakersfield) and working the harvests. Her father hears that in Napa during the harvest, the pay is better and goes there for three seasons before being hired full time. Two years later he is offered a $1 per hour raise, but only if he learns English. For the next year, after coming home from work he sits in his truck with cassette tapes and teaches himself English. Two years later he dies.

But the young girl has fallen in love with the wine-making life and promises herself she will one day complete her father’s dream, and she has.

During one of the pours, she mentions that she has tasted wine in many countries, even Mexico. Oh really, we say, you ever been to Guadalupe? Over the next hour we trade stories and rate Guadalupe wineries, restaurants, chefs, hotels as she and her husband go there 4 times a year, bring equipment down to their winery friends and lugging wine, furniture and anything they get north.

I have no idea if her story was true, but we did leave with a case at damn near $50 per of really good pinot, cab, rose and dessert wine. Each time we open one we will pretend the story is true.
The winery name is from the first two letters of her father's name.




Honrama small.JPG - 35kB

David K - 10-30-2020 at 08:48 AM

Interesting shaped bottle! ;)

Santiago - 10-31-2020 at 03:34 PM

Weirdly, the next day we get sandwiches for lunch and go to Jack London State Park and hike the trails for about 90 minutes. After driving for 30 minutes looking for a place to picnic, Shirley finds a winery that is close, open and allows walk-ins for tasting.

We pull in to the parking lot, get out and are greeted by three young men, all of Mexican decent, who point us to the tasting room where two young Latinas are busily filling cases with bottles to be shipped to club members. They say tasting must be on the patio (covid rules) and we walk out to a huge patio - very Baja-like overlooking vines as far as you can see.

Turns out this winery was started by their grandfather who came to USA via the bracero program in the 1940s, stayed and started buying farm land in Sonoma and Napa counties. They grow wine grapes on three large ranches in Sonoma, Napa and Lodi, keep the best grapes for themselves and sell the rest. The upshot is that we only visited two wineries, both owned and operated by decedents of recent emigres SOB. We couldn't have done that if we tried.

TMW - 11-1-2020 at 04:58 PM

Thanks for the posts. I've always wanted to do a wine tasting tour whether here in the U.S. or in Baja but never did. Someday I will.

David K - 11-1-2020 at 05:00 PM

Hey, I'm game if you drive! LOL

TMW - 11-1-2020 at 05:02 PM

Your on. Sometime after our Nov. trip.

thebajarunner - 11-1-2020 at 05:44 PM

The good old days of free tastes are long gone
Most places charge you, up front, for 3 or 4 small shots.
Not complaining, just making sure you understand the rules

I love a good glass of red but have discovered that the difference between a $15 or $20 bottle and a hundred bucks or more is hardly distinguishable. Oh, yeah, the big buck wine is great but I have a number of very good wines in the lower bracket that I fall back on.

Bought a $60 bottle of cab in Napa two years ago, saved it for that really special occasion. We opened, let it breathe, decanted, and it was not much above the $13 blend that we have at home most evenings. (I presume that the price tag is what makes it taste better)

TMW - 11-1-2020 at 08:20 PM

Most of the wine I buy has a screw off cap, so I'm a cheap wine drinker. I also prefer chardonnay over the red, but will drink either.

thebajarunner - 11-1-2020 at 10:15 PM

ABC of wine
“Anything but Chardonnay “

Try a Sauvignon Blanc. Marlborough region of New Zealand
You will never go back to Chardonnay

Costco sells an excellent Kirkland brand for $6.99
You cannot tell the difference from a $16 bottle of Whitehaven

Has a screw top to boot

You just got the best wine tip you will ever receive

TMW - 11-3-2020 at 12:20 PM

almost all the red wines I've tasted make my mouth pucker like I ate a persimmon.

thebajarunner - 11-3-2020 at 01:24 PM

Quote: Originally posted by TMW  
almost all the red wines I've tasted make my mouth pucker like I ate a persimmon.


Try a Bridlewood Blend 175
About $13 retail
Smooth and easy
If that makes your mouth pucker then stick to KoolAid
:):):)

BajaTed - 11-3-2020 at 03:00 PM

I've done all the racetracks in those regions also.

Bakersfield; Buttonwillow - true road course
Sonoma - technical track
& the Baja 1000 - epic adventure every time.

Hook - 11-3-2020 at 04:40 PM

Quote: Originally posted by thebajarunner  
ABC of wine
“Anything but Chardonnay “

Try a Sauvignon Blanc. Marlborough region of New Zealand
You will never go back to Chardonnay

Costco sells an excellent Kirkland brand for $6.99
You cannot tell the difference from a $16 bottle of Whitehaven

Has a screw top to boot

You just got the best wine tip you will ever receive


Well, I would say beware of Kiwi Sauv Blancs that will make nearly every orifice pucker. They can be quite tart. They've backed off, somewhat, from their heyday of the 80s-90s when they were "discovered" by the rest of the world.

However, the Kirkland Ti Ponte NZ Sauv Blanc is quite a bit better balanced, at least for my palette.

I think the Ferrari Carano Fume Blanc, a bit more oaked sauv blanc, is an excellent buy for around 10 bucks.

But if you are trying to convince a red wine drinker that there is life beyond red wines. sauv blanc is probably not the place to start. A dry riesling, a chard or a pinot grigio is probably the way to go. Possibly a viognier, too.

Still, my favorite white IS chardonnay. No other white wine can have the complexity of chardonnay. The trick is to find ones that are not over-oaked. It's not that hard to find, anymore.

TMW - 11-3-2020 at 07:47 PM

In a restaurant I usually order Kendall Jackson chardonnay. At home I usually buy Liberty Creek chardonnay.