In the summer of 2004, my family decided to spend a summer week vacationing in Pismo Beach. As part of our vacation, we planned to spend a day tasting the wines of Edna Valley. One of my customers suggested that I visit his brother who owned Stephen Ross Wine Cellars. So as part of my vacation planning, I emailed Stephen Dooley and set up an appointment.
When the day of our visit came, we headed out of Pismo to the warmer Edna Valley. After cruising up and down the valley's main highway, we could not find the winery. I called Mr. Dooley and he described where he was. We pulled up and the winery was in the middle of a large industrial park. This was not the romantic vision of wine country that is served up by the Chamber of Commerce.
Come to think of it, why do you need the fancy shell to house the components of a winery. All you need are is an area for your tanks, temperature controlled room for barrels, a lab and a bottling line. And the bottling line can be rented.
As I've continued in my immersion in the wine world, I have come across more and more of these industrial facilities, or as Elliot Stern put it, making wine out of large tanks. These facilities are sprinkled throughout wine country, in American Canyon and the southern reaches of Napa, 8th Street in Sonoma, the northwestern reaches of Santa Rosa and along Highway 116 north of Sebastopol. It is here that aspiring winemakers can start brands with (relatively) little money up front. These facilities provide everything needed to start production.
And these facilities are home to some of the most exciting wines being produced in Wine Country. I have personally tasted brands from Calstar in Sonoma, Covenant in Napa and most recently Sonoman in Santa Rosa, all produced in these wine factories.
Recently, several of the Santa Rosa industrial wineries have banded together to form the Santa Rosa Wine Trail. This trail is not for tourists who are looking for vine shaded picnic areas and roads that wind through picturesque vineyards. This wine road is for serious tasters who are looking for exceptional wines. Included in this trail is Carol Shelton, one of California's most idiosyncratic zinfandel producers and Siduri/Novy Winery, maker of some of California's best pinot noirs and syrahs.
Which brings me to the recently opened Vinoteca Cooperative tasting room located in the heart of the Coffey Lane Industrial Park. Vinify Wine Services, which operates this tasting room, is a cooperative that houses 8 small wineries. Earlier this week, they held an open house for the wine trade and it was eye popping, I tasted some of the most exciting wines that I have tasted in years. Ogdon Olsen, who's pinot noirs are very good, was pouring a syrah that was magnificent. Smokey, fruity, meaty with a solid acidity and smooth tannins, it screamed for us to get out the Barby and cook up some animal protein.
Then there was the Great Sonoman. They poured a 2006 Sonoma Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon that was in the same league as many Napa cabs that I've recently tasted. Smooth with very integrated tannins, this wine was redolent with bright floral notes, chocolate dust, cedar and cigar smoke and deep dark fruit flavors. It had a finish that went on for what seemed to be weeks. This was an exquisite wine. And it sells on their web site for under $40. A steal in any language.
You can find great wine in many offbeat places, including industrial parks.
In 19 days I will leave for Alaska on the Crystal Symphony. The Symphony has restaurants by Nobu and Valentino and a wine list that has all of Bordeaux's great growths as well as Tiganello and many other great wines. I will be blogging about the food and wine of this trip as I go along.
Thanks for reading.
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