The bright yellow sun glared overhead. Rolling hills flowed, one to the next. As far as the eye could see, green vines
snaked up and down these slopes. Long
and neat rows created a vibrant canvas that met the crystal-blue sky.
This was California wine country. Sonoma.
Dry Creek Valley to be exact.
Whether a wine lover or not, this is a special region. This natural beauty entices even novice wine
lovers to drink from its fountain of plenty.
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| Beautiful view of the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County. |
On this beautiful June day, my sister did just that. The wine stars aligned, and she was able to
experience a myriad of wine adventures most won’t enjoy even over an extended
period of time.
Wine experience one—Bottling line: The two of us pulled into Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves after a glorious ride into northern Sonoma County. In the outside production area sat a mobile
bottling unit. The owner of the company
was kind enough to invite us inside the large trailer, where we saw the gas
pumped into the bottle before the glorious red liquid flowed inside. Then the cork was popped in, the foil was
pushed on, and the bottle was moved down the line. This was so awesome for Mariah to witness how the wine
makes it to the bottle…literally.
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| Bella's production area and the mobile bottling line. |
Wine experience two—Wine caves: Our choice of Bella as our first destination
of the day was a purposeful one; I wanted Mariah to see a wine cave. We tasted in Bella’s cave and heard how it
was drilled into the ground under eighty year old zinfandel vines. Though we couldn’t tour the back area of the
caves at the time, the overall concept was quite evident. The idea of a natural way to keep wines at
the perfect temperature and protected from the elements of the environment
became clear while in the darkness of the cave, sipping the wines aged near us.
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| Inside Bella's wine cave. |
Wine experience three—Barrel tasting: As we continued our journey through the
dusty back roads of Dry Creek Valley, we saw a sign that said “Barrel Tasting”
and turned in to the parking lot of Zichichi Wines. Zichichi only tastes out of barrel because
they sell their wines as futures, meaning that a buyer signs up for the wines
that are in the barrel right now, as the wines gently age until they are ready for
release. At the magical moment the
winemaker thinks the vino is perfect, it is shipped to the buyers. The tasting room attendant happily dipped her
wine thief in to the barrels of wines, filling our glasses. Any extra we didn’t want to consume went
straight to the drain on the barrel room floor.
This level of involvement in the wine is not an everyday occasion for
the average consumer. Mariah will
especially enjoy her Old Vine Zin when it arrives in 2016, pleasantly remembering
our tasting day.
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| Production area and barrel tasting at Zichichi. |
Wine experience four—Understanding terroir: Many wine consumers have heard the word
terroir, and maybe even use it now and again, but they don’t have a true
understanding of what it means. My
sister got the down and dirty—pun intended—of what makes up the soil component
of this illusive wine term. At Papapietro Perry, as part of the wonderful patio tasting (with amazing Sonoma
vineyard views), we saw jars of soil from three different pinot noir growing
areas. All three pinots were produced in
the same exact way: same yeast inoculation,
same barrels for aging, same time in barrel, same production facility. However, Mariah understood the difference
area, region, and soil can make in a wine by sipping the pinots grown in
different places.
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| Experiencing the "dirt" behind good wine at Papapietro Perry. |
Wine experience five—A special vineyard: Already with her head—and palate—full of new
wine knowledge, we made our way to Healdsburg to visit a favorite producer of
mine, Cartograph Wines. I knew the wines
here were great, and I knew Serena and Alan were amazing. However, I knew one more thing. I had one wine trick up my sleeve. I knew Cartograph had an amazing pinot
noir from the Mariah Vineyard, spelled just like my sister’s name, as well as
having the same namesake—the song “They Call the Wind Mariah” which our mother
loved.
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| Mariah with the Mariah Vineyard Pinot Noir by Cartograph. |
The green vineyards seemed to streak up and down the hills
in uniform waves, leading to the blue sky above, as we meandered through the back
country roads to our Sonoma County rental at the end of the day.
I truly was amazed
at what my new-to-wine-loving sister was able to experience, all on her first time
in a truly beautiful area. This
special region rolled out the red carpet for Mariah on this trip. It taught her lessons most wait years to
discover. It wanted to impress her with
its beauty.
And it did.
