Posted on 10/18/2005 1:16:30 AM PDT by LibWhacker
Houston wine lover Ron Nichely is so partial to Boeger Winery's offerings that family visits to nearby Stockton find him cramming his luggage with bottles. His "personal best": two cases of wine into one bulging suitcase.
But on Monday, Nichely tried something new. He simply called the small winery and ordered a case of its well-regarded Tempranillo for $14 a bottle, aided by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision and a change in Texas law allowing consumers to buy directly from out-of-state wineries.
"I prefer to get all my wines direct from the winery," said Nichely, an engineer in the oil industry. "That way I know how it was stored and when it was shipped."
That's what vintner Greg Boeger likes to hear.
Boeger makes as much profit in a single direct sale as he does peddling two bottles of wine through a distributor. By keeping his tasting room open late on Fridays in the summer, aggressively pitching his wine club and direct shipments, Boeger is now moving 56% of the 18,000 cases of wine he makes each year straight to consumers.
"More direct sales is what this is all about," Boeger said, describing a business model that is typical among the 700 California wineries selling 5,000 or fewer cases of wine annually.
That strategy has turned into an art form here in the Sierra foothills, an area known for its scorching summer temperatures and the abandoned gold mines and historic markers that seem to dot every other mile of Highway 49, which runs like a spine through the wine-making region that includes Amador, Calaveras and El Dorado counties. It is about the last corner of wine country where oenophiles can wander into a tasting room, meet the winemaker and sample the vintages without paying a fee.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Got me on that one. There's Deaver, Dobra Zemlja, Domaine de la Terre Rouge/Easton...D'Agostino bottled under Sobon?
Hmmm. Perhaps we should schedule a Freeper group winery tour. For educational purposes and to stock our larders for the holidays.
Research, yes that's it. And of course I meant Sobon, not Sobol. Also a fan of Young's and in El Dorado, Boeger and Lava Cap. I need to get to Fairplay!
It IS research. Consumer research. Someone must monitor these critical differences in terroir, after all.
There should be a rule. For every 500' in elevation change you must sample 12 wines.
Wow. That's a new one on me.
Chaim and Elisheva have a two-acre block set aside at “The Original Grandpère Vineyard”
These guys must be loaded if they bought into the Grandpere. The Howell Mountain root stock sounds interesting. But their vineyard is too young for your bottle to have been estate grown, so it's coming off someone else's vineyard. From the description, they've developed property off the Karly estate.
How were the tannins in that bottle?
Quite Tannic, but I am a masochist and I like the feeling when Tannins hit my mouth.
More plum/red fruit than berry. Lots of "Amador Dust" (a dry earthy characteristic, not musty) twinge of wood spice and sometimes a slight violet in the nose. Good hearty tannins, but not a tannin monster like TKC. I wonder...
OK, is Amador worth a trip in and of itself, or should I try a LONG overnight trip when I finally get to Healdsburg (home of the great Seghesio).
BTW: Right now I'm drinking a highly tannic Meritage blend (60% Merlot, 30% Cab, 10% Cab Franc) from the Okanagen Valley in Canada, where I went to the wine festival two weeks back.
I would say yes, but I'm a Sierra Foothill wine nut. If you're into Zinfandels, then yes, you really must make the trip and you'd have a hard time covering the best of Amador in one day, so you'd have to be very selective. There are GREAT BandBs in nearby Sutter's Creek and a two day excursion would be about right. Limos are available, but don't let that throw you off. The Shenandoah Valley is much more laid-back than Napa or Sonoma. Bring your checkbook 'cause you're going to be sending cases home.
I'll have to try that Lava Cap zin, too... Get a feeling for over the top fruit. I'll bet the reason people don't like it is because they've never spread it on bread along with some peanut butter. ;-)
Actually I've got a couple of bottles of Shirvington Shiraz I'm dying to open, Aussie stuff. It has a reputation for being over-the-top fruity. Just waiting for the right occasion.
Oooh. Did I mention I'm a fool for a good Aussie Shiraz?
All total we've got five cases of Aussie shiraz either in the cellar right now or pending cooler weather so we can have it delivered (and we hope to order a whole bunch more in the next few years). But most of it won't be ready to drink until next year at the earliest. Cheers! :-)
Well, OK. Just remember! :)
OK, I know that the Sierra doesn't have many people, but there has to be at least one single female conservative (but not too religious) wine lover down there.
I think that would be me! ;)
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