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Sierra Vista Winery and Vineyards sits in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a few miles southeast of Placerville. Owned by John and Barbara MacCready, Sierra Vista is currently making some of the best zinfandels and Rhône style wines in California, especially when you look at the prices. Production levels run about 7,500 cases per year, with plans to increase to about 10,000. Barrel selection ranges from new American and French Oak to a plethora of used barrels to steel drums. Winemaking is far from high tech (see the accompanying pictures), with minimal intervention to allow the grapes to show their best. The whites include Viognier, Fume' Blanc and two Chardonnays. A blush wine made from Grenache, Cinsault and occasionally Mourvedre is also made. Sometime in the not-too-distant future, Roussanne production will also start up. In the red category, the list is even longer with three Zinfandels, a Cabernet Sauvignon, four Syrahs, an occasional Merlot and two Rhône style blends. An interesting side note, the Syrah vines come from Chapoutier in Taine', France via a vineyard in Australia and the Estrella River vineyard. Following is our tasting notes from our recent "home invasion." Please note, being the wine pigs that we are, that we took full advantage of their kind generosity (and a nice trade discount). John MacCready was generous enough to send us off with a bottle of the '91 Syrah, which we happily guzzled with dinner. Whites and blush: '97 Viognier ($20): The first thing that hits you is the powerful peach and apricot aromas. The palate is fresh and clean with plenty of peach and apricot flavors to make this an excellent example of what California can do if Viognier is treated right. Good juice. NV Black Oak Chardonnay ($7.50): A second label wine, also known as "Chateau Cash Flow" this is an inexpensive quaffer. Plenty of toasted oak on the nose. Less predominant on the palate, the oak is still present. The fruit does, however, show through. If you're looking for an inexpensive Chardonnay, and like the oaky style, buy it up. '97 Chardonnay ($16): Barrel fermented, this is a good wine in a buttery, oaky style. Good fruit and very well made but the not quite what the Stupids look for in a Chardonnay. If this style is to your liking, definitely search this out and give it a try. You sure can't beat the price. '97 Fume' Blanc ($8.50): Big fig and melon aromas. Figs, melons and a floral note on the palate in a light to medium body friendly style. Slightly sweet on the finish. A Fume' of this quality for $8.50 is hard to beat. Buy it up, suck it up. We did. '97 Belle Rose ($10): A rose made up of Mourvedre', Cinsault and Grenache. Lean, spicy aromas and flavors with some red fruit. The varietals don't seem to have gelled yet. Not a great wine but if you're a fan of rose's, then it's worth giving this a try. '96 Sante ($4): A blush blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet, this is Sierra Vistas "white zin." This is the only major misstep in the entire line. The quality of the rest of the wines notwithstanding, we must apologize to the MacCreadys. This wine sucks. Sulfur and sweatsocks on the nose. The palate follows. We also had the opportunity to taste a Late Harvest Viognier that has not yet been labeled and therefore is not yet for sale. We hesitate to even tell you about this wine mainly because we haven't gotten ours yet. Noticeably thick when poured into the glass, the nose and palate is full of intense peach, honey and apricots. The floral edge and hint of vanilla makes one think of Muscat Beaume de Venise. A truly outstanding dessert wine. Our motto is "we drink white wines until the red wines are opened." Well, here they are: NV "Lynelle" Seventh Cuvee' ($8.50): The name is a combination the first names of the two MacCready daughters, Lynn and Michelle. Not made every year, this is the seventh cuvee', hence the name. A blend of aged cabernet, with new vintage Grenache, Mourvedre', Cinsault and a dash of zin. This is a near term table wine, made to drink tonight. The varietals and the older cabernet make this an odd duck. The varietals seem to be fighting for dominance, with no clear winner at this point. Try it with pizza. '96 "Herbert Vineyard" Zinfandel ($15): The Herbert Vineyard sits on decomposed granite. The wine has good red fruit on the nose with a touch of briar and sage. The palate is full of sweet fruit, a touch of plums, with a thin frame of spice and oak in a medium bodied style. Moderate tannins and a decent finish. Weighing in at only 14.3% alcohol this is nice juice. '96 "Reeve's Vineyard" Zinfandel ($15): With vines growing in volcanic ash, in a slightly different area, the difference in terroir' is quite noticeable. A dark wine with big, black fruit on the nose and plenty of spice. The palate follows with the addition of a modicum of smoky new oak. Moderate tannins. This is better than most of the other '96 zins we've had and 40-50% cheaper. Also at 14.3% alcohol. Sierra Vista also makes an inexpensive zinfandel (how's $9.50 sound?) that is a blend of the two single vineyards plus some other purchased grapes. Not tasted on this day, we've had it in the past and can highly recommend it as an everyday Zinfandel that will make you wonder why all those well known zin producers are charging such ridiculous prices for their wines. '96 Cabernet Sauvignon ($16): Plums, cassis with a dose of toasty new oak. Plenty of sweet fruit with a touch of herbs and toasted oak on the palate. Big tannins warrant a few years in the cellar. Not being major fans of foothill cabernet, this one adds points to the "plus" column. Decent juice at a decent price. '97 Fleur de Montagne ($14): "Flower of the Mountain," this is a Chateauneuf du Pape style blend, inspired by the wines of Chateau Rayas. The grapes are Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre' and Cinsault. Although it won't be confused with the great wines of Rayas, it is nevertheless a nice bottle of wine. At this point, the Grenache aromas are predominant. The wine is medium bodied with red fruit, dusty asian spice and a slight green edge. Give it a year or so to allow the wine to meld and to allow the moderate tannins to mellow. '96 "Red Rock Ridge" Syrah ($18): Damn. Big blueberries with a dash of black pepper. Plenty of blueberry fruit and pepper in the palate in a medium-full body style. The tannin level warrants time in the bottle. This is damned good juice that we will happily get stupid on any time. How much is Sean Thackery charging for their top of the line Syrah these days? '97 "Herbert Vineyard" Syrah ($18): Just bottled recently, this still has "barrel sample" characteristics on the nose. Blueberries and raspberries on the palate, this is a little sweeter than the "Red Rock Ridge." There is plenty of sweet oak still showing at this stage. Great finish on this one, the tannins are medium-full. Give it a few years. '91 Syrah ($20.50): The benefit of seven years of age clearly showed in this bottle of wine. Sweet, mature fruit poured out of the glass with a dash of leathery spice. Thick and rich in the mouth with enough tannins to give us the opinion that this has many years ahead of it. Unabashedly Californian, THIS is what people should be asking for in a domestic Syrah. A wine of this quality and age for just over 20 bucks? What, are you kidding? We sucked this bad boy down with dinner and made plans to have a bunch set aside for us. Get yours before we take the rest. There is also a "Five Star" Syrah that we did not taste on this day but in the past has almost always been excellent. We were able to taste three barrel samples. The first was a blend of Grenache (95%) and Zinfandel (5%). Sweet Grenache red fruit with a dash of Zinfandel spice on the nose. Round, sweet red fruit flavors. Following this was a taste of the '97 "Five Star" Syrah. Rich fruit with a touch of oak. Destined to be a very good wine, this hardly seemed like a barrel sample. Following this was a '97 Syrah which was the opposite end of the spectrum from the "Five Star." Red fruit, tart and tannic, it has a ways to go. Based on the above wines and happy experiences with wines from previous years, it is quite obvious that Sierra Vista is doing things right. When John MacCready decides to slow down, his daughter Michelle will take the winemaking helm. Based on her comments, we are happy to report that Sierra Vista should be making very good to excellent wines at decent prices for many years to come. More information on Sierra Vista Winery and Vineyards. After our afternoon of sipping and slurping, we tucked into dinner at a local haunt by the name of Zachary Jacques. Holding a Wine Spectator award for their wine list, in addition to being recommended by the MacCreadys, we were curious to see what the place had to offer. The wine list, although not a tome full of classified first growth verticals, is well thought out with plenty of excellent values to pique ones interest. Local wine are, of course, its strength. Markup is a modest, intelligent, 40-50% above retail. Glassware is cheap but quite serviceable with several different sizes and shapes. Before even looking at a menu, we knew that this was going to be an enjoyable evening. A bottle of '95 Bredif' Vouvray ($30) went quite well with JD's onion and leek tart appetizer and Stuarts salad with goat cheese croutons. Stuart had some kind of mixed veggie thing for a main course while JD sensibly tucked into a plate of roasted red deer with a green peppercorn sauce. Both went very well with the bottle of '91 Sierra Vista Syrah that John MacCready had given us. The cheese plate was decent, if not very imaginative. The sliced Granvenstein apple that accompanied the cheese was crisp and sweet. Dinner for two including the tax, tip and a $30 bottle of wine ran $55 per person. Three Michelin Stars? Not even one. But if you're in the area and you want an enjoyable, low key evening with good food and a good, well priced wine list, by all means give it a try. |
