A few months ago, the JCC had a wine tasting featuring local Santa Cruz Mountain wineries. It was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, but, as I recall, there were no wine sales that day, only chocolates and other goodies. We did, however, sign up for some email lists — and one of those wineries, Silver Mountain Vineyards, had a tasting today. The weather was lovely, so after services and lunch, we left Jeff at home with his homework and headed into the hills.

We decided to skip the Chardonnay and the Rose of Pinot Noir, so the first wine we had was the 2004 Miller Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir. I’m not sure it was the ideal wine to start with — it was chewy, with lots of mouth feel and a very long finish. It went well with the Beemster XO Gouda they were serving, but by itself, it was rather overpowering.

The next wine on offer was the 2004 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir. That was a different story — lots of fruit (plum, in particular), good by itself or with the munchies on hand, and very good with 52% cocoa dark chocolate slivers.

After that, we sampled two of their Bordeaux-style blends: Oscar’s Wild Red, which didn’t impress either of us very strongly, and the 2002 Alloy, which was pleasantly spicy, with a medium finish.

More cheese, crackers, and cashews were called for, and then it was time to hit the Zins. They had two available, both from the same vineyard in Lodi, the 2001, which was light and fruity, and the 2000, which was tarter and had some definite clove flavors.

More munchies followed, and then, despite our general disinterest in Chardonnay, we were persuaded to try the 2004 Chardonnay (I could hear John Cleese’s voice from Wine for the Confused suggesting it was not a good idea to tar all wines made from a particular grape with the same brush). I’m glad we did, because it was a very pleasant wine — slightly minerally, very soft, and nicely fruity.

We left with a mixed case (Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir, the Alloy, both Zins, and four bottles of the 04 Chardonnay), and memberships in both their wine clubs. Fortunately, IBM’s alcohol policy has changed over the years, and I can have them ship the wine to work instead of having to drive up into the mountains to get it (the last mile, on Miller Cut-Off, was unnerving for someone who lives in the flatlands) — but if the release happens during good weather, there are worse ways to save a few bucks on shipping.

We probably shouldn’t visit too many more wineries for a while. But it sure is a nice way to spend a weekend afternoon!

The Northern California chapter of the Rensselaer Alumni Association sponsored a lunch and wine tasting at Tesla Vintners in Livermore. I tweeted mini-reviews via iPhone as I tasted:

• started with “singing winemaker” Sherzando – nice and sweet, would be better with dessert than as the first sip of the day
• Red Skye Sauvignon Blanc – nice, lots of body, long finish
• Singing Winemaker Raspberry Sparkling – I could easily drink too much of this!

Then it was time for lunch. All I could eat was the pasta in Alfredo sauce and the bread, since everything else had pork, which was a shame, because there was a lovely garlic aroma that wasn’t in my food. But the wine and the tweets kept flowing:

• Patty’s Passion goes well with pasta
• Red Skye Chardonnay – good for a Chardonnay, unoaked, but not gonna make me a fan
• Red Skye Zinfandel – smoky, would go nicely with beef. Long finish, nicely tannic.
• Patty’s Passion is good without pasta, too – I think the trunk is going to be loaded on the way home. I’ll have to wait to be sure I’m not!
• Singing Winemaker Framboise – good by itself, but even better with the chocolate tasting cup.
• The “serving size” on the chocolate cups is 2 cups, but I’ll restrain myself

After the raffle (we didn’t win anything), we adjourned to the tasting room, the cash register, and home:

• Con Amore port – tawny, 4 years barrel-aged, being released on the 19th…we shall return!
• Home again, with a case of yummy wine (1 Raspberry Sparkling, 2 Sauvignon Blanc, 2 Sherzando, 2 Zinfandel, 4 Patty’s Passion, 1 Framboise)

Definitely a nice way to spend the day, and writing my notes via Twitter meant I didn’t have to worry about losing them! (Though I’m not sure they got posted in exactly the order I sent them, which is odd)