Recently in the Smithsonian Magazine in the “Off The Road” section there was a mention about America’s Oldest Documented Zinfandel Vineyard located in Amador County, “Vineyard 1869″. More Brews and Booze from Around the Globe.
This is a vineyard I purchased in 1984. I was the fourth owner of the vineyard since it came into existence during California’s Gold Rush Era. The land the vineyard is on was originally settled by the Upton family as a gold mining claim. The Upton family along with the neighboring Ruff family planted a zinfandel vineyard that spanned across both their mining claims. Many vineyards were planted during this time to supply the thirsty miners of the thriving gold camps. A few still exist to this day. Some may be older and some younger, but Vineyard 1869 is the only one that has documentation proving its age. That is why we call it “America’s Oldest Documented Zinfandel Vineyard.” [click to continue…]
Back in 1975 I finished the program at the wine making and viticultural school in Neustatdt, Germany. In Germany the class goes through the course of study as one group. We all are in the same class and the teachers come around to us rather than each of us going from class to class, like here. You can imagine that the bonds between me and my class mates become very strong. Upon graduation, all of us along with our Professors did a 10 day bus trip through the wine regions of France. To this day, they get together at least once a year. They also schedule a big trip each year. Over the years my class has gone to Alps skiing, visited New Zealand winemaking regions, etc. Often when I go back to Germany they will schedule a class gathering. Now everyone comes with their families and the gatherings can be quite large and fun. It seems in Europe, friendships are slow to be made, but once made are for life. I’m very fortunate for the ongoing class friendships I have. This year we will be employing the son of one of my class mates (Weingut Kurt Wolf from Grosskarlbach in the Rheinland Pfalz) as an apprentice to work in our California winery much the same as I did in Germany 37 years ago. [click to continue…]
You get a deal on corkage – one of the most expensive things while you’re cruising is the alcohol (besides the internet). With ZAP, wines are sent ahead and you can enjoy them in your cabin or take to dinner for a reduced corkage.
Education – the more you know about a topic, the more you enthusiastic you become. There are numerous seminars to enhance your enjoyment.
Several intimate dinners with the winemakers to learn more about winemaking and their passion–with no corkage and as much wine as you want.
Develop wonderful new friendships with people of similar interests in the love of food and wine.
Dave viewing an amazing selection of zinfandels at the receptionTaking room stock after the wine dinnerWinemaker dinner at Jacques Restaurant
Scott had a wonderful opportunity to be a speaker on the Oceania Marina , a new 1250 passenger ship, with ZAP—a zinfandel organization based in CA. We cruised the Mediterranean and visited five countries—Italy, Monaco, Greece, Montenegro, and Croatia in 10 days. The best part is you can unpack and your hotel travels through the night. You wake up in a totally different environment—language, culture, even weather. This was Scott’s first cruise and one in the Mediterranean will be hard to beat.
Not only was the enjoyment of good food and wine a priority, but education was a major factor. Seminars on the merits of Zinfandel were given by not only Scott Harvey of Scott Harvey Wines, but Bill Grant from Four Vines and Janell Dusi from J Dusi Vineyards—both from Paso Robles. It was a nice intimate group of 36.
Discussing the merits of Zinfandel
The ship was ideal to showcase our wines with four different specialty cuisine restaurants in addition to the main dining room. There was Red Ginger (Asian), Toscana (Italian), Polo (Steak & Seafood) and the wonderful french Jacques named for Jacques Pepin where we had our group winemaker dinner. The food was excellent under the guidance of Executive Chef, Kathryn Kelly who is a graduate of the C.I.A.
Janell and Jana
The cabins were spacious with a veranda so no claustrophobia. Our bathroom even had a bathtub!
With so many sights to see (and of course, the seminars) I only wished I had the time to take advantage of the hands on cooking classes. I did manage to take a couple of photography classes by the enthusiastic David Smith who was truly inspirational and I saw my pictures get more interesting as the trip ensued.
March 24, my birthday, we spent at Schloss Johannisberg for the annual board of directors meeting for the International Riesling Foundation. This year it was hosted by Schloss Johannisberg in Germany's famous Rheingau wine region. Schloss Johannisberg sits atop a mountain along the picturesque Rhein river. The meeting started out with a glass of Schloss Johannisberg Sekt (Sekt is the name for Sparkling wine produced in Germany) and went up hill from there. The meeting lasted until Lunch. Lunch was at the Schloss Johannisberg's own restaurant. The wine was a beautilful troken Kabinett Riesling paired with trout or schnitzel. Lunch was wonderful matching the wine wonderfully and the view over looking the Rhein was great.
After lunch we had a tour of the Estate with a walk through the narrow planted mountain side vineyards, culminating in wine caves dating back to the 13th century.
After the tour we went through an extensive Riesling wine tasting. First wines tasted were all the wines from the participating members and Board of directors. Among the Scott Harvey Mendocino Riesling were wines from South Africa, Canada, France, Austria and Australia. We each explained our wines as they were tasted. Next came an extensive tasting of Rheingau Rieslings, also each being presented by the producer. What a wonderful opportunity to get to know the Rieslings of the Rheingau and the world.
After the tasting we barely had time to check into our accommodations at Cloister Johannisberg before we had to get back for big dinner again at Schloss Johannisberg. This time all the stops were taken out when it came to trying great Rieslings. The oldest Riesling we had was from 1966, proving that Riesling is the white wine that ages well.
Needless to say it is a birthday I'll always remember.
Jana and I just got back from Europe. We showed our wines at Prowein in Dusseldorf. Prowein is the largest wine show in the world. Our Zinfandels were featured at the ZAP booth along with many other great California Zinfandels. Our Riesling was also featured at the International Riesling Foundation booth. The show is three days long with 7 large halls each having 200 plus booths. Anyone that wants to start a winery needs to first go to Prowein to see what type of competition and the multitude of wineries that are out there trying to sell wine into international markets. It definitely is daunting. We gave seminars about California Zinfandels on subjects from Old Vine to regional diversity and also on the regional diversity of American Rieslings. With so many wineries represented at Prowein all competing for attention, our seminars were well attended, both for Zinfandel and American Rieslings. I think, Zinfandel has a better chance being exported into the European market because it is not grown there and there is a real interest by the wine knowledgeable consumer. The Europeans were impressed with the high quality and distinctive character of all the wines we presented. Building a market in Europe is a long slow process and will undoubtedly take many years.
From Prowein we went on to attend a board meeting for the International Riesling Foundation held at Schloss Johannesberg in the Rheingau, then on to visit my German mother and schoolmates in the Rheinland Pfalz and ended our trip spending 5 days in Berlin to see the city. Stay tuned, these will all be featured on up coming blogs.
Blogging from the beautiful Red Rocks of Sedona, Arizona. Jana and I have been here for the last week for some post harvest R&R. This is our 8th time here since we were engaged here 12 years ago at the top of Cathedral Rock. Of course we made our pilgrimage to the top with some sandwiches and [...]
The Grand Opening of the new Scott Harvey Tasting room location at 79 Main St. culminated with Sutter Creek's Holiday Open House. The town was filled with people enjoying an old-fashioned Christmas–and our Tasting room was no exception. We looked forward to the inauguration of Music & Wine in the Alley on Sunday with the [...]
