Guest Author - Jim Fortune

Year: 2006
Winery: Fetzer Vineyards Valley Oaks
Region/Country: Mendocino County, CA USA
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
ALC: 13.5%

I don’t know how many of my readers have ever been to a winery before. It is a great experience. It is not just that you see all of the wine sitting in either wooden barrels or in shiny stainless steel, or both, but the smell in the air. If you breathe deep, and close your eyes, it has a smell that is yummy.

I went to a winery in southern Colorado, in September a few years ago. The local TV station had done a story on it and we jumped into the car two weeks after that story, around the time I got my pay check, to make a visit. We got there on the weekend after they had completed the grape harvest, and the grapes had just been sorted with stems removed and were waiting to go into the press.

I had never witnessed this before and was fascinated with the amount of grapes and the press operation. Maybe it was because it was the beginning of fall and the air had turned, making the senses come sharply alive. There were apples and pears on the tree waiting their turn to be harvested. But being there with the grapes being crushed and turned into grape concentrate, was very exciting.

How do you put the above three paragraphs into one or two words to describe a smell that you get when you take a sniff of the wine in your glass? There was a slight mint fragrance in the nose of this Sauvignon Blanc with a hint of apple on the palate. The apple was very faint and, frankly did not come to me in a burst with the first sip, but over a period of time of gentle sips.

Yes it was crisp and clean, but I noticed, or didn’t notice, any acid. Some of the Sauvignon Blanc I had last year were crisp and clean, but they had acid on the palate during the “taste” and it lingered on afterwards. There was no acid here that I could discern. It was a really pleasant bottle of wine.

One of the things I like about Fetzer Vineyards is that the wines are consistent and they have a nice selection of whites and reds. I have a few more whites to taste and then I will start on the Fetzer reds to give readers an idea of how versatile this winemaker is. Oh – the price is between $8.99 and $9.49 for a 750 ml bottle. You can visit the winery web site here: Fetzer Winery

Until next time, let me know what is on your mind, and how you are doing, O.K.?

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Jim Fortune - Bella Online Wine Guy