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Silver Pass Weekend November 7 & 8, 2009 PAGE 34 YOURGUIDETOCALIFORNIAWINE,GETAWAYS,THINGSTODO&EVENTS winecountrythisweek.com EASY-TO-FOLLOW WINERY MAPS • OCTOBER 16, 2009 New Daily Wine Tours from PAGE 24 LONGBOARD VINEYARDS PAGE 20 EHRET FAMILY WINEMAKER PROFILE: BENNETT LANE LODI WINERIES’ TASTING ROOM OF THE WEEK: WINERY SUMMERS WINERY WINERY ‘FIRST SIP’ COOPER GARROD WINERY PAGE 28 PAGE 42 PAGE 36 PAGE 67 PAGE 71 WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK 2 www.WineCountryThisWeek.com WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK www.WineCountryThisWeek.com 3 WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK Published Weekly Since 1981 More than 1,000 distribution points – Read by more than 2 million people annually www.winecountrythisweek.com 669 Broadway, Suite B • Sonoma, CA 95476 P.O. Box 92 • El Verano, CA 95433 707-938-3494 Fax 707-938-3674 PUBLISHER Mike Giangreco Direct (707) 938-3734 [email protected] MANAGING EDITOR Chandra Grant Phone 707-938-1783 • Fax 707-938-3674 [email protected] CALENDAR EDITOR Cathy Gore Phone 707-938-3494 • Fax 707-938-3674 Email [email protected] OFFICE MANAGER Cathy Gore Phone 707-938-3494 • Fax 707-938-3674 Email [email protected] CIRCULATION & Jeff Burgess, Director DISTRIBUTION 707-304-6464 or [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS $75 per year ($1.44 each) PO Box 92, El Verano, CA 95433 SINGLE COPY Send check for $5 to PO Box 92, El Verano, CA 95433 EDITORIAL Michelle Baker CONTRIBUTORS Carole & Daniel Ehrler Diana Greenwood Jenna Hansen Kathleen Thompson Hill Richard Paul Hinkle Les Maher Charles Neave Nan Reiley Frances Rivetti Jeffry Ross Sue Straight, Wine Wench Abigail Zimmerman SALES General Sales Mike Giangreco 707-938-3734, [email protected] Sonoma, Mendocino Margaret Villarreal and Lake Counties 707-338-2894, [email protected] Napa Valley RoseAnn Trzesniewski 707-334-1930, [email protected] Livermore, Lodi, Mike Giangreco and Sierra Foothills 707-938-3734, [email protected] Monterey Bay, Central Coast, Whitney Brem Santa Cruz Mountains 831-596-4945, [email protected] Reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permission is prohibited. Planning a Visit to Central Coast Wine Country? Pick up a copy of WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK:CENTRAL COAST or download the current issue at www.winecountrythisweek.com 4 www.WineCountryThisWeek.com WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK www.WineCountryThisWeek.com 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS | WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK 24 OCTOBER 16, 2009 – ISSUE 42 – VOLUME 28 COVER California Wine Tours ON THE COVER ONTHE California Wine Tours . 24 20 WINE COUNTRY NEWS Wine Country Calendar . 12-19 Wineology by Len Napolitano ......................................29 SPECIAL COUPONS ..................................................18 WINE COUNTRY GETAWAYS Overnight Accommodations . 32 FEATURE NAPA VALLEY ....................................................33-47 Longboard Vineyards WINERY St. Helena Maps . .37 Calistoga ......................................................39 26 Yountville .....................................................40 Downtown Napa Map . .41 William Hill Napa Valley Fine Art . 43 Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries Map . 44-45 Chardonnay with Smoked Salmon SONOMA COUNTY ...............................................48-63 Sonoma County Wineries Map . 50-51 PAIRS and Apple Relish on Goat Cheese Russian River Area Wineries Map . 52 Crostini Santa Rosa Map . .54 PERFECT Geyserville Map . .54 Healdsburg Map . 57 71 Sonoma Valley . .58-63 Sonoma Valley Wineries Map . .58 Glen Ellen Map . .61 Sonoma Plaza . .62 MENDOCINO & LAKE COUNTIES . 64-65 Lake & Mendocino Counties Map . 64 LIVERMORE VALLEY .................................................66 OFTHEWEEK Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards Livermore Wineries Map . 66 TASTINGROOM LODI/WOODBRIDGE ................................................ 67 10 Lodi/Woodbridge Area Wineries Map . 67 NORTHERN CENTRAL COAST . 68-73 Monterey Bay/Santa Cruz Mountains Map . 68 Carmel Valley Wineries Map . .72 Salinas Valley Wineries Map . 73 SIERRAS/FOOTHILLS ................................................74 Sierra Foothills Wineries Maps . 74 OFTHEWEEK Pessagno Winery WINECLUB WINERY LISTINGS . .75-86 6 www.WineCountryThisWeek.com WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK www.WineCountryThisWeek.com 7 WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK Head 8 www.WineCountryThisWeek.com WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK See the “right” side of the Napa Valley wineries map on page 44-45 www.WineCountryThisWeek.com 9 WINE CLUB OF THE WEEK SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS The Official Appellation-Specific Wine Club Featuring Exclusively Santa Cruz Mountains Wines WINE CLUB DETAILS earch no further, you’ve found the best and easiest way to discover the wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains when you become a member of the Santa Cruz Benefits of Membership SMountains Wine Club - the only wine club officially representing the wineries • Free Membership – No fees or dues. of the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association. • A Variety of Wines – Receive a variety of selected We offer a great way to sample a variety of handcrafted wines carefully selected handcrafted Santa Cruz Mountains wines. Many from award-winning wineries located in the highly acclaimed Santa Cruz Mountains of these are from family-owned, small wineries Wine Appellation. Over the past six years, more than fifty award-winning wineries often not available through retail stores. have been featured in Santa Cruz Mountains Wine Club shipments. • Free When You Join – Receive two free tickets to With four different wines in each shipment from DIFFERENT wineries, the the Santa Cruz Mountains Vintners’ Festival held club offers three convenient membership levels, delivered right to your door, or if annually in June or two Free Passports to the you prefer, available for in-person pick-up. Santa Cruz Mountains Passport days – each an We invite you to become a member by visiting our website or calling $80/pair value! 831-685-8463 today! Welcome to The Club! • Winemakers’ BBQ – Exclusive V.I.P. invitation to the annual Santa Cruz Mountains Winemakers’ MEMBERSHIP LEVELS BBQ held in the summer – not open to the public. • Discounts – 10% On all Santa Cruz Mountains REDS & WHITES REDS ONLY! PINOT ONLY! Winegrowers Association events. Quarterly Quarterly Twice A Year A variety of four bottles A variety of four bottles A variety of four bottles & Tasting Guide & Tasting Guide & Tasting Guide with food pairings with food pairings with food pairings Average cost per shipment: Average cost per shipment: Average cost per shipment: $100, plus tax, $100, plus tax, $150, plus tax, shipping & handling shipping & handling shipping & handling 831-438-2809 • 831-685-8463 www.santacruzwineclub.com/thisweek DIANA GILLASPY, SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS WINE CLUB 10 www.WineCountryThisWeek.com WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK | WINE COUNTRY NEWS Over 250 Quality Wines Under $25 at Wine Garage Hidden next to a dilapidated ’40s-era former filling station on Highway 29 in Calistoga lies the Wine Garage. A unique wine shop in Napa Valley that retails all wine in the store under $25. Sound crazy? Its true. And the proprietors Todd and Joy Miller, have hit on a niche in the Valley that had been very missed by the locals there. “There are a lot of winemakers here that can’t afford to drink the wine they make” says Miller. “That’s crazy, yes, but who can afford to drink a $65 bottle with dinner every night?” Many people miss The Wine Garage on the first try upvalley, but the search is well worth it. Miller stocks wine from all of California’s wine growing regions including fifty Napa selections and 40 from Sonoma County. When he first sought out buying the initial inventory, “I enlisted a local farmer buddy and his 15-foot box van and off we went all over California hunting down the deals. I tried to seek out the small producers who didn’t have distributors so I could pass the savings on to my customers.” And Miller did just that. His store is stocked with high- quality juice all under $25 and all are unique. Most labels in the shop are unrec- ognizable – but all pass the same test; everything passes over Miller’s lips before he makes a buy. “If I don’t love it, I don’t buy it, period. Sometimes I will taste over a hundred wines in one day, load up the truck and haul it up to Calistoga, unload at the store, and maybe I will crawl in bed by 3 a.m. Needless to say my buddy bowed out of the deal after their second trip. I initially recruited him on a ‘hey lets go wine tasting in Santa Barbara’ until he realized how much work it entailed. Poor guy, he had to be at the farm at 5 in the morning.” It is all worth it. Millers’ customers love him. He has a unique ability to hear a verbal description of a customer’s favorite wine and translate that into a recom- mendation for sometimes a third of the cost. “I have people all over the country that use me as their local wine shop. I ship right to their door – and the cost of the shipping is a drop in the bucket compared to what they save on the cost of the wine. Miller gets deals on Napa wine too. “I have winemakers from small wineries stop in every week saying ‘I have something that will fit into the store,’ if they only have 15 or 25 cases of an end-of-vintage wine – I am the perfect outlet for them.” So head up to the Wine Garage and check out the best deals in the Valley at 1020 Foothill Blvd (Hwy 29), Calistoga, CA 94515. For more information, call (707) 942-5332. You can also check out the website at winegarage.net. www.WineCountryThisWeek.com 11 CALENDAR OF EVENTS | WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK NAPA VALLEY ONGOING ONGOING Friday Night Pulse Tastings Tastings at Silverado Vineyards ONGOING Acme Fine Wines, St. Helena, 5-7pm, free Napa, 707-259-6611, 800-997-1770x611, www.silveradovineyards.com Fumé Bistro & Bar Happy Hour 888-963-0440, www.acmefinewines.com • Saddleblock Vineyard Tasting, $75 Napa, Spirit & snack specials, wine & beer, 4-6pm • Library Tasting, $75 ONGOING 707-257-1999, www.fumebistro.com • Daily Tasting Room Flights, Estate/$10, Premier/$20 Buon Amici Members & Guests • Public Tours & Tasting, 10:30am & 2:30pm, $15 ONGOING WEEKENDS EXCEPT 4TH WEEKEND Benessere Vineyards, St.