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Carneros Vineyards

jeffperez62

By jeffperez62
in Wine

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ludja

ludja

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Three of my favorite Carneros wineries:

Schug Winery in the Sonoma Carneros. A small to medium sized winery with a nice selection of crisp, less oaked whites to my memory. I've always been impressed with many of the wines there but can't recall more about their reds.

Acacia Vineyards is about halfway between Napa and Sonoma; not sure of it's official designation. You have to make an appointment for tasting here but it is well worth it. Very nice Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. The landscape around the winery is stunning with endless hills of grapes and a view of the bay.

Artesa Winery is located in the Napa Carneros. This is a large winery in a stunning modern building with artwork set up on a hill with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. They have a lot of nice wines. Merlot sticks in my head as being above average but we have a tasted many of their wines and been impressed.

I haven't been to Cline Cellars in awhile. They are in Sonoma Carneros just down the street from Schug. They have a large panel of different Zinfandels and some interesting Rhone varietals as well. The tasting room is in a lovely old wooden buliding and there are nice grounds around as well.

Events may be listed on their individual sites if there is something in particular going on. I think there is also a Carneros AVA website that one could look at for event info.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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ludja

ludja

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Go see the reborn Bouchaine and don't forget Saintsbury.

Wow, thanks for the updated information re: Acacia and Bouchaine... I guess it's been about ~ 3 years since I've been to Acacia. I think we have been to Bouchaine back then but did not have an extremely memorable experience. I hope Acacia doesn't continue down the road you described b/c it seems like thay have some nice grapes...

(quote from Craig's blog linked above)

Bouchaine is a winery that seemed always to be around, but was never exciting. While one of the founders of Carneros as a top pinot noir region, Bouchaine always remained in the shadow of its neighbors Acacia and Saintsbury. While some good wines were made at Bouchaine, other wineries rode the Carneros wave to the top.

Now things are turned around and the same thing that took Acacia to the top is now powering Bouchaine, which has finally taken its place on the “A” team of Carneros producers. What made the wines of Acacia compelling was the talent, intelligence and passion of winemaker Mike Richmond, who has now taken his considerable talents to Bouchaine.

Meanwhile the once revered Acacia winery has been turned into an industrial production line of plonk pinot by alcoholic beverage super-giant Diageo and now Acacia is involved in hand-to-hand combat with Sanford Winery and other corporate pinot noir producers to see who can sell the most boxes of indistinguishable pinot noir.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Craig Camp

Craig Camp

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Go see the reborn Bouchaine and don't forget Saintsbury.

Wow, thanks for the updated information re: Acacia and Bouchaine... I guess it's been about ~ 3 years since I've been to Acacia. I think we have been to Bouchaine back then but did not have an extremely memorable experience. I hope Acacia doesn't continue down the road you described b/c it seems like thay have some nice grapes...

(quote from Craig's blog linked above)

Bouchaine is a winery that seemed always to be around, but was never exciting. While one of the founders of Carneros as a top pinot noir region, Bouchaine always remained in the shadow of its neighbors Acacia and Saintsbury. While some good wines were made at Bouchaine, other wineries rode the Carneros wave to the top.

Now things are turned around and the same thing that took Acacia to the top is now powering Bouchaine, which has finally taken its place on the “A” team of Carneros producers. What made the wines of Acacia compelling was the talent, intelligence and passion of winemaker Mike Richmond, who has now taken his considerable talents to Bouchaine.

Meanwhile the once revered Acacia winery has been turned into an industrial production line of plonk pinot by alcoholic beverage super-giant Diageo and now Acacia is involved in hand-to-hand combat with Sanford Winery and other corporate pinot noir producers to see who can sell the most boxes of indistinguishable pinot noir.

Can you think of one top quality small producer that was purchased by a beverage conglomerate and continued to produce anything but industrial plonk? I can't and certainly don't hold any hope for the Acacia label.

Craig Camp

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ludja

ludja

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Posted (edited)
...

Can you think of one top quality small producer that was purchased by a beverage conglomerate and continued to produce anything but industrial plonk? I can't and certainly don't hold any hope for the Acacia label.

No, but I have to admit that while I get tidbits here and there I'm not as consistently plugged into this type of information in the wine scene. From your writing, I guess Sanford has also been bought by a large conglomerate. As an aside, I went to Acacia's website and didn't find any information there in the published "history" of the winery to know about the acquisition... I guess it isn't something they are advertising.

Looking at Bouchaine's website it looks like Mike Richmond has been there since 2002. I look forward to checking out Bouchaine again the next time I'm up in Carneros. Thanks again for the information!

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Craig Camp

Craig Camp

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Posted
...

Can you think of one top quality small producer that was purchased by a beverage conglomerate and continued to produce anything but industrial plonk? I can't and certainly don't hold any hope for the Acacia label.

No, but I have to admit that while I get tidbits here and there I'm not as consistently plugged into this type of information in the wine scene. From your writing, I guess Sanford has also been bought by a large conglomerate. As an aside, I went to Acacia's website and didn't find any information there in the published "history" of the winery to know about the acquisition... I guess it isn't something they are advertising.

Looking at Bouchaine's website it looks like Mike Richmond has been there since 2002. I look forward to checking out Bouchaine again the next time I'm up in Carneros. Thanks again for the information!

Yes, Sanford has been turned into a more marketable beverage too.

If you were a beverage giant and gobbled up small wineries so you could look like you had serious labels to sell, would you advertise the fact that you had ingested them?

Craig Camp

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KatieLoeb

KatieLoeb

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If you were a beverage giant and gobbled up small wineries so you could look like you had serious labels to sell, would you advertise the fact that you had ingested them?

That's valid.

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

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CtznCane

CtznCane

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A favorite of ours in the Carneros region is Gloria Ferrer. Usually with Gloria Ferrer you see some of there lower end sparkling wine in supermarkets. Their upper end sparklers are extremely nice. What you typically won't see outside of the winery is their pinot noirs. Their pinot noirs are stellar and will hold their own with other top California Pinots. In addition to the wines it is a beautiful winery offering a nice view of the southern part of the Carneros region. You're lucky in your timing, or should be, as the end of September and early October is traditionally our best weather here in NorCal.

Charles a food and wine addict - "Just as magic can be black or white, so can addictions be good, bad or neither. As long as a habit enslaves it makes the grade, it need not be sinful as well." - Victor Mollo

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rancho_gordo

rancho_gordo

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A favorite of ours in the Carneros region is Gloria Ferrer.  Usually with Gloria Ferrer you see some of there lower end sparkling wine in supermarkets.  Their upper end sparklers are extremely nice.  What you typically won't see outside of the winery is their pinot noirs.  Their pinot noirs are stellar and will hold their own with other top California Pinots.  In addition to the wines it is a beautiful winery offering a nice view of the southern part of the Carneros region.  You're lucky in your timing, or should be, as the end of September and early October is traditionally our best weather here in NorCal.

I'm always afraid to mention this name because I often get my head bit off but what a room and what a view and I enjoy the wine!

Visit beautiful Rancho Gordo!

Twitter @RanchoGordo

"How do you say 'Yum-o' in Swedish? Or is it Swiss? What do they speak in Switzerland?"- Rachel Ray

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