is Spain as good as this?
Last Sunday some of the weirdcombos tasting crew headed back to Trentadue in Alexander Valley for a second visit. We had been there a few months ago, met Miro the wine maker, and basically had a blast! I bought a case of their reserve Zinfandel on super-sale and Carey joined the wine club that day.
This time, Carey scheduled us to take the vineyard tour on the tractor-driven tram! Randy drove us around the vineyard. He gave the traditional history of the place and the family while making PG-13 wise cracks about drinking, sex and other “adult topics.” He let us taste three of their wines: the 2006 merlot, the 2005 zinfandel and the popular 2005 Old Patch Red. It was an all-you-can-drink affair, which made us act silly but we were really happy. This is so much better than Benziger! Randy picked bunches of grapes from all over the place. We had muscat, some red and green table grapes, sangiovese, merlot and one that remained unidentified. We tested Miro on the grapes back in the tasting room. He correctly named them all but the one on sight alone! At $5 per person with a minimum of six, the tram is a must-do experience!
beautiful trentadue vineyard
We had more tasting back at Trentadue tasting headquarters. I was already a bit tipsy so only tried the 2006 Côte del Leone, Alexander Valley that everyone else was oh-ing and ah-ing about. This is 60% petite sirah, 18% syrah, 16% zinfandel and 6% carignane. It’s dark purple with a full body offering notes of tobacco, chocolate and leather. It reminded me a little of Brian Benson syrah or perhaps of an Italian super-Tuscan. The wine was on sale and Carey gets a club discount. So I ordered a case 😉 for about $15 a bottle. I hope that “Ziggy” likes it, too!
peace on the tram, lubricated with red wine
We brought a picnic lunch which we ate on the beautiful grounds of the winery. The weather was simply perfect in the mid-seventies and clear. I made broccoli rabe with orecchiette, which I thought that I’d blogged on but haven’t yet (next time!) and brought some leftover corn-quinoa salad and edamame miso dip that we made the night before. Carey and Wendy brought cheese, olive bread, some cured meats for the others and tiny Swiss chocolate bars. We had the grapes from the tour. We also had a bottle of the Trentadue reserve wine, called simply “32.” This wine was cherry red with bold berry flavors that matched the lunch well.
Wine country offers so much! Having a picnic with friends after a fun tour at a familiar winery can be magical. We weren’t too focused on the specifics of the wine simply because we were there to enjoy ourselves and have the complete sensuous experience. You don’t need to be a member of Trentadue to take the vineyard tour. Call ahead though. So go have some innocent fun!
fall grapevines, WOW!
Wendy and Carey enjoying the ride and the company
trentadue vines heavy with fruit
selection of grapes right off the vine
resting after the wine tour
See more pics from beautiful Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys in Sonoma.
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The photos are fabulous….I’m so jealous! Definitely will call for a tram tour…