On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Paul in Jacksonville
I worked for a San Francisco based wine marketing company as the Southeast Regional Manager from 1998-2008. The company represented one family owned winery from the various appellations in the state. Approximately once each quarter, I would host a small group of people by leading a tour of these properties. The wineries were located from Santa Barbara County in the south to the Anderson Valley, a couple of hours north of San Francisco. It involved lots of windshield time.The Pacific Coast Highway was used in every tour I guided.
Andy Quadys winery is in Madera, California, which he described as “10 miles east of the middle of nowhere.” Andy was a chemical engineer and former bomb builder who decided that he wanted a different lifestyle. He went to the University of California-Davis, which is the primary university for all aspects of the wine business. He also wanted to create a niche, so he decided to specialize in dessert wines.
Entrance to the Tasting Room. Madera is in the central valley, so it’s the flat part of the state.
Electra is his best selling wine. It’s made from Orange Muscat. The fermentation is closely monitored, and when it reaches about 5% alcohol, the process is stopped. The wine is lightly effervescent, and sweet.
On this visit, the winery was bottling the Electra.
Andy makes port style wines from Portuguese grape varieties, and they are barrel aged several months before being bottled.
JUSTIN Vineyards and Winery, Paso Robles. Justin Baldwin was an investment banker before he founded his winery in1981. His flagship wine, ISOSCELES, is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet franc. They have accommodations available at the JUST INN.
Justin sold the winery in 2010 to The Wonderful Company
At the time, this building was the tasting room, retail sales store, and the guest check in for the small inn. The 3 rooms were on the second floor.
One of the bedrooms at the Inn.
Cellar temperature.
Dangerman
Paso Robles. Home Country. Record temp for me? 116F. After 110F, it’s just fucking hot.
My favorite tasting in the area actually isn’t wine; it’s Pasolivo Olive Oil.
Limiting it to wine? Hmmm. Sign me up for Adelaida.
Strangest menu? Excluding Madonna Inn. This will be appreciated here. BTW, Zorro’s has the best Salsa I’ve ever tasted.
Almost 3a local. Bedtime
ETA: This I did not know. Ordering tomorrow (see bedtime).
eclare
Interesting! Looks like a fun job, although I’m sure the travel/hosting was tiring. About hosting, a coworker once told me, “It’s hard to be darlin’.”
BretH
Wine, business, hosting… Somehow I feel there are more stories waiting to be told about late nights sampling the port. It’s cool to see the professions people were in before deciding to become winemakers.
stinger
Fascinating! I’ve never been on a wine tour, would love to do one.
Almost Retired
@Dangerman: Adelaida is the best! My youngest son went to college in San Luis Obispo. We went up to SLO and Paso at least 20 times while he was there. Sometimes we even visited him.
Albatrossity
Too many Paso wineries to list, but Brecon, Kaime, and Halter Ranch are among the finest. My son and daughter-in-law live in Paso Robles, and are discerning oenophiles, so a visit there is always memorable.
Justin got into some trouble when they bulldozed a lot of old oak trees (Paso Robles = Pass of the Oaks, so they are an iconic part of that region). Lots of Paso restaurants dropped their wines from the wine list. I was a member of their wine club at the time, but dropped my subscription then. But yes, their Isoceles blend was pretty fine!
BigJimSlade
Very nice!
Personally, I think most people drink red wine too warm. I always stick in the freezer for 15 minutes (though this can make it tougher to uncork) to get it closer to that cellar temperature shown above.
way2blue
My palate isn’t sophisticated enough to merit a wine tour. Nonetheless, our family is friends with one of the former co-owners of Ridge Vineyards. We spent a fair amount of time up on the ridge picking grapes during harvest time. Those were the days…
Paul in Jacksonville
@Albatrossity: When you own The Wonderful Company, you neither ask for permission or apologize. You grumble, pay the fine, and move on.
Paul in Jacksonville
@BigJimSlade: Spot on. Pull the cork, put it back in the bottle about half way, and then chill it to the proper temperatures.
Paul in Jacksonville
@way2blue: You don’t need a sophisticated palate. You just need decide if the wine tastes good, and if you’re good with the price you paid. That is how simple wine is. The (usually really old white) guys with the ashtray around their neck? Ha, ha, ha. Ridge Winery is on the San Andreas Fault, which is very visible from their porch.
Two rabbits
Thanks for the photos and info.
That low alcohol Quady Electra sounds interesting.
I was reading a newspaper article last month that the California wine grape growers are in a serious contraction. Something like 400 tons of grapes unpicked last year. Cheap bulk wine imported (< $1/gal) to compensate. I think it said blended wine can be 70% imported and still be labeled US grown.
Anyway, lots of small growers going out of business, fire sales, etc. Not too hopeful for turnarounds.
Paul in Jacksonville
@Two rabbits: Harvesting grapes is hard work. Not many people are interested in that type of manual labor.
dnfree
Did you ever visit my brother’s winery just outside Sonoma? It’s a fairly small operation.
https://www.homewoodwinery.com
Dan B
I remember Essensia an Orange Muscat wine from Quady. Sweet wines are challenging to be appealing so Sauternes and sweet German wines, plus wines like Quady’s are a revelation.
Paul in Jacksonville
@dnfree: I have not visited that winery. How up to date is their web site? I ask because the vintages of the wines they are offering don’t seem to be current vintages. For example, the retail store I work at in Jax has primarily 2021 and 2022 vintages as current releases from California. Unless his philosophy for making wine is to hold it until it’s ready to drink.
dnfree
@Paul in Jacksonville: They keep their website up to date as to wine availability and prices. I think it’s been harder to get grapes the last couple of years—even with long-term agreements with some vineyards. He’s relatively small-scale compared to some. He used to have varieties that he can’t get now. I know he does age in barrels.
Paul in Jacksonville
@dnfree: I have heard that if you want to make a small fortune in the wine business, you should start with a large one. I’m sure your brother would relate to that!