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Welcome to California Uncorked
Sierra Foothills Wine Tasting
At California-Uncorked we will bring you the latest updates on wineries in the Sierra Foothills, Fairplay, Somerset, Amador, El Dorado, Sutter creek & Murhys. Updated info including; Winery Events, New wine releases, Club Memberships, and Wine Discounts. Bringing you multiple wineries & events on one website!
You no longer have to search by county or city to see what is going on and where to go wine tasting. As we add more wineries, you will see winery events and wine discounts from wineries all over the sierra foothills and eventually as far as the coast.
Our Event page shows winery events, new releases, wines on sale and wine club news. See what's going on at the wineries this weekend. Plan a last minute wine tasting road trip to the sierra foothills! Decide what weekend you have free and see what wineries are having events or amazing sales on wines, then spend the weekend at a B&B and experience wine like you have never had before!
In the Sierra Foothills, Wine making is an art!
New Releases:
dk cellars
2010 Barbera, 2009 Short Bus Zinfandel, 2009 Reserve Zinfandel, Herbert Vineyard
Perry Creek Winery
2011 Altitude Peek Chardonnay
Saluti Cellars
This is an exciting time for Saluti Cellars! After being closed for the winter because they sold out, they will reopen again on February 1st. They are releasing their new Cab Franc, Petite Sirah and Capisce. Last year the Cab Franc was sold out in two months and the Capisce was so popular that they had to limit the wine to their wine club members after only being released for three months. According to Randy Rossi, the owner of Saluti Cellars, “The new ’08 Petite Sirah is simply the biggest, full mouth but soft Petite Sirah you will find…the best ever!”
If you have never visited Saluti Cellars, it is an upscale country paradise on 160 acres of beautiful countryside, complete with a pond, rolling hills of vineyards and a majestic Clydesdale named Norman who is always happy to see you! Located, just a short drive up Grizzly Flat Road in Somerset, CA., Randy and Tina Rossi have built the perfect environment for beauty and relaxation.
The grand, timbered main house features a tasting room on the lower level that welcomes you with rich woods, romantic lighting and highboys to sit and relax while you taste the Saluti wines. A step outside the tasting room door is a covered patio that is used for special events such as concerts, weddings and receptions. Lined with roses and candles, the patio is a perfect place to have some fun at one of their Smokin' Saturday nights during the summer. Just off the courtyard you notice two massive wooden doors that lead to their wine cave. Lined with barrels of their future releases, the cave offers a unique surprise at the end, in the form of a chandeliered dining room that gives the feel of a speakeasy, or a secret place that only the people on the inside know about. Used for weddings, special dinners and by Conspiracy Club members (the Saluti wine club) this dining room would make any event special!
Saluti Cellars is also one of the two wineries in Fair Play who offers lodging. There is a two room bed and breakfast up a private walkway on a little hill overlooking the pond. The rooms are beautifully appointed and offer a romantic getaway opportunity to anyone who has dreamed of waking up near a vineyard.
Randy and Tina hope to see you soon at their little slice of heaven, and when you visit, don’t forget to say hi to Norman the winery Clydesdale! For more information, call 530-626-0800 or visit www.saluticellars.com
Special thanks to The Wineries of Fair Play for providing this info and great wine!
Andis Winery
Ring in the New Year with Some Bubbly!
December 26th - 31st
What better way to celebrate the New Year than with
a bottle or two of delicious bubbly?
Stop by either one of our tasting rooms (Plymouth or Sutter Creek)
and get one bottle of Andis Sparkling Wine for just $1.00
when you buy 2 bottles of any Andis wine (excluding Sparkling).
To a happy and prosperous 2013!
Oakstone
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and "The World Didn't End" Sale!
Becuase we all have someting to celebrate (and because we're all still here), Oakstone will have a sale this weekend and next! Until 2013 begins, we will be offering all our wines to everyone at Wine Club pricing:
1-5 Bottles: 10% off
6-11 Bottles: 15% off
12-23 Bottles: 20% off
24+ Bottles: 25% off
These prices will be in effect on December 21-23 and 28-30, so come in and save while 2012 is still here (and so are we)!
Lot #1 will be released in 2013
The new “Phoenix Rising Red”--successor to Slug Gulch
Red!
New Releases 12/27/12
Single Leaf Winery
2008 Estate Zinfandel, 2009 Petite Sirah, 2009 Cabernet Franc, 2011 Viognier
Perry Creek Winery
2011 Altitude Chardonnay - Only $22 bottle!
Colibri Ridge Winery
2006 Mourvedre, 2007 Primitivo, 2007 Barbera
4 HOUR SALE! Saturday the 15th of December, 2012
Full case only (mixed ok)
Club members & Wine Futures buyers (past and present) receive 50% discount.
Everyone else receives
33% discount.
After many customers mentioning they really liked the last time we had a great offer,
we decided to give you a Christmas present.
A full case of wine with 50% Discount! (33% for non-members)
Only we don't want to sell out of all our wines, so this offer is for a limited time only.
To be precise a 4 hour long sale!
Saturday the 15th of December, 2012
NOON TILL 4 PM!
Where?
Van der Vijver Estate Winery, 7451 Fairplay Road Somerset CA 95684
What?
All currently released bottled wines *
(mixed case OK)
Why?
Well Christmas of course (and dad is leaving for Reno so he can't yell at us)
* While supplies last and the 2006 Reserve Barbera "Fair Play" is excluded
This is an email from BORJÓN WINERY that I would like to share. Keep in mind that I have been saying this for years! It is time for the wineries of the sierra foothills to stop losing money! Now I know there are a few out there that think this is a terrible thing and that tasting should be FREE. Well in my opinion you are the ones that want to drink for free and have no intention of buying any wine. Some people do not realize what it takes to run a winery and the amount it costs annually to pour free wine.
Let’s say a winery pours a case of wine a day for tasting. Now some pour way more than this and others may squeak by with a little less. Remember we have a lot of small wineries in the sierra foothills and some that are pretty large as well. But for now let’s do some basic math of a smaller winery.
At an average of $23.00 per bottle times twelve = $276.00 a case. Now most wineries in the sierra foothills are only open 3 to 5 days and a few are open everyday, but let’s use “4” as the average.
$276.00 times 4 days (1-case of wine a day) = $1104.00 a winery week, times 52 weeks a year = $57,408
This is only one case a day @ $57k a year. Some wineries go through 2 sometimes 3 cases a day!!
I have seen the Yelp reviews of people saying “I won’t go to a winery that charges for tasting even if they refund the difference”
GOOD! Stay home! That’s more wine for me… LOL
I was making a point somewhere… Oh yeah. The Amador wineries (most of them) are willing to apply your tasting fee to your purchase. -- This is the way it should be -- Come on up and have a great experience tasting some of the best wines you will ever have, and if you buy just one bottle of some amazing wine… you don’t pay anything for your tasting.
I would love to see the El Dorado county wineries do this. These wineries are some of the friendliest families I have ever met and they deserve to not lose 50K to 100K a year to people taking advantage of their hospitality.
Tasting fees that are applied to a purchase is not a bad thing. This is great news! Think of what these wineries can offer us when they are no longer losing this kind of money! More events, more BBQ’s and maybe even bigger discounts for club members resulting in more club members… Or some new French oak barrels!
It is not my intention to offend anyone (the ones that do not buy) because you probably never thought about it and ment no harm. Now that you are thinking, be the one to educate your friends and explain why this new tasting fee is a good thing for the Amador county wineries. Besides; there is nothing better then having a great experience at wineries and then having some bottles of your own to entertain your friends.
~ Cheers
Here is the email I was talking about.
Salud,
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. We also hope that you were all able to take advantage of our Black Friday Sale. It was one heck of a busy day! There have been many questions over the past few weeks regarding tasting fees in Amador County. We would like to take a moment to elaborate.
A reputation for premium wines and hospitable service have both contributed to an exponential growth in the areas popularity. The word is out that Amador County is a great place to visit for top notch wines that you can sample FREE OF CHARGE before making your purchase.
The unfortunate part, is that Amador's growing popularity hasn't only attracted wine "buyers". There is a sizable percentage of folks who view Amador as "free wine country". They come in groups of all sizes with no intention of purchasing wine and are committed only to taking advantage of the absence of a tasting fee.
As a community, Amador Wine Country sees the same groups time and time again. This is not to say that the folks who continuously contribute to keeping us in business by purchasing when they visit go unrecognized. Our region held out hope that ALL of our guests would eventually realize the wine we produce is our livelihood.
We rely on wine sales to keep us in business. That being said, Amador County is not looking to gauge folks with an astronomical, non-refundable, "Napa style" tasting fee. While we can't speak for the entire area, at Borjon Winery as of December 1st, we will be implementing a minimal $5 tasting fee for our house flight which will be credited towards wine purchase (one credit per person per purchase). Our wine club members will continue to taste our house flight and wine club exclusive wines free of charge for their loyalty.
Oakstone Winery will hold its 12th annual Port & Chocolate Festival in the cellar on December 8 & 9 from 11-5.
Six Obscurity Ports will be on hand for tasting, and most for sales as "stocking stuffers." The wines will be paired with a range of exotic chocolates, as well as a variety of Port-friendly cheeses.
As always, everyone is invited, and there is no charge to attend.
Oakstone Winery 6470 Irish Acres Road, Fair Play, CA 95684
New Releases!
Obscurity Cellars: 2010 Tannat and 2010 Tinta Cao
dkcellars: 2010 Semillon & 2008 Herbert Zinfandel
Mount Aukum Winery: 2009 Zinfandel Sierra Foothills & 2009 Malbec-Dorado Canyon Vineyards Fair Play, El Dorado
Sierra Oaks Estates: 2001 Estate Syrah Rose and 2008 Estate Zinfandel
Cantiga Wineworks: 2009 Estate Semillion, 2009 Barbera, 2008 Grenache-Syrah
September Wine Sale!
DKcellars tasting room sale for the month of September is the 2007 Herbert Zinfandel at $16/bottle and discounts apply! So Which for wine club members is $12/bottle! This is a great wine at a great price.
We are gearing up for harvest to start in the next couple of weeks and it is looking good! See you all soon!
Sierra Ridge Winery
A few weeks ago My sister and brother in-law came to visit us from Texas, so Allison and I decided to take them to one of our favorite wineries in Amador County “Sierra Ridge Winery”. We go there often for the quality of the wines and of course to buy our favorite wine “Aglianico”. All of their wines are really well balanced and pair wonderfully with foods, plus they have the best Aglianico in the sierra foothills! They also make a really good port that is not too syrupy and not over sweet. There are only three ports that I like, and Sierra Ridge makes one of them. More...
The Sharon Knight Trio returns to Cantiga...and tapas!
We closed the this event last time and we will be there again! This was one of the best times we have ever had at a winery! An amazing performance by Sharon Knight and wines made in the old world style! Out of every event I have ever posted, this is the one you don't want to miss!
WHEN: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
Wine bar opens 5:30; concert and Spanish tapas 6:00-8:00; bonfire and informal acoustic jam 8:00-10:00
We are excited to announce that Sharon Knight will be returning to Cantiga for the third season! Celtic singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Sharon performs on the mandola, acoustic guitar, and bodhran. Joining Sharon on acoustic guitar will be her longtime collaborator Winter - a tasteful musician who lends a dimension of bluesy rock and jazz to Knight's modal, traditional sound. Adding to the musical arrangement will be Sierra Foothills-based, multi-instrumentalist Caith Threefires, with his Irish bouzouki and mandolin. More...
Don't Miss the 3rd Annual Sample the Sierra Festival Event!
Sunday September 2nd from 1 to 5pm in South Lake Tahoe
Spend Labor Day Weekend sampling the region's best food & wine!
The festival pairs local farmers with chefs who produce tasting samples, which are then paired with the appropriate wine or brew.
The weekend is full of festivities for the whole family including farm tours, winemaker dinners, music, live entertainment and art; all culminating with a Fireworks Extravaganza over Lake Tahoe.
Allison and I poured for David Girard last year and this is one event you will not want to miss! Beautiful blue lake, some of the best wines from the Sierra Foothills and an awesome fire works show! For more information about this great event, visit www.samplethesierra.com
Cantiga Wineworks brought out their library 2006 & 2001 Barbera for club members only!
Both wines can be enjoyed now or set to rest for an aditional 20+ years. To get future special releases like this, you'll have to join the wine club. You can only get Cantiga wines from the winery and the library wines are only available to members.
DK Cellars just released their NV Cabernet Sauvignon, on your way up to Fair Play stop by Cantiga Wineworks and check out their 2008 Petite Sirah. It's OMG gooood!
The Old Sugar Mill is proud to host the Wine Cheese & Bread Faire, Saturday and Sunday, July 21st and 22nd 2012. This is the “Ultimate Gourmet Wine & Food Shopping Experience” in the Sacramento Region... More
New Event! DK Cellars is celebrating 12 years of amazing wines!! 7/14/12
Celebrating their 12th year in the wine biz! Help them party! Their longtime friend Val Dawang (Dr. VD) will be DJ for the day and we will be dancing on the newly landscaped lawn!! Their Anniversary Blend will be available... More
5 NEW releases at Van der Vijver Estate!
• Mellow Yellow Red
• Everyday Merlot
• Everyday Zinfandel
• Everyday Syrah
• Ella Rosé
Oakstone Winery burned down today 7/7/2012
It is a tragedy that Oakstone Winery (in the Sierra Foothills "Fair Play" wine country) burned down today. Thank god that no one was hurt!! Allison and I are club members, we love the wines and the wonderful events. We are so sad and our hearts go out to John, Susan and the staff we have come to love. When the time comes for a New Oakstone, we would be honored to help you with any social media advertising.
Cris Alarcon, PRpond, July 7, 2012
By 4:45 am the winery was fully engulfed and the facility, with the inventory, appears to be a complete loss. Losses that could reach upwards to $10 million dollars as the building, equipment, and storage of much of 2009, 2010, and 2011 vintages were involved.
The cause of the fire is unknown and currently under investigation. The fire started sometime before 4:30am, July 7, 2012. No one was injured.
Winery owner John Smith, who looked visibly shaken while closing the gates after the fire was put out, is well know for his indomitable spirit. Before the fire was extinguished he had updated the winery website saying, "The winery has burned down, but the oakstone still stands. We will rebuild!" More info here...
Special thanks to Placerville Newswire
Oakstones 4th of July release!
From 11-5 on July 4-8 (because no one can be sure when the 4th of July holiday weekend is this year), we invite everyone to join us in our Tasting Room for a special release and event to celebrate the Fourth of July Holiday.
We will release the long-awaited 2009 Estate De Cascabel Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Estate De Cascabel Meritage, and we'll have a special $12 sale table (with case prices of $100!) to allow stocking up for the summer. The wines will be: 2009 Malbec, 2009 Dolcetto, 2009 Cabernet Franc and 2009 Barbera.
More...
Live music this weekend!! 6/24/12
Renegade a Tribute to Styx
AND THE GREAT ROCK CLASSICS
www.renegadetributetostyx.com
JUNE 24 :
Findleton Estate & Vineyard
3500 Carson Road, Camino, CA
Check out some of the Wineries in the Sierra Foothills this Fathers Day weekend! Lots of wineries are having special events for Dad!! Fathers Day 2012
~ Cantiga Wineworks ~
Friday Night Jam & BBQ at Cantiga--RSVP Today!
This Friday June 15th
Celebrate the arrival of summer on June 15, with an exciting lineup of local music, and upscale BBQ catered by Bob & Drew! The evening will wind down with a bonfire and acoustic jam, so feel free to bring an instrument.
Music lineup will include Tamra Godey, Caith Threefires, Will Hogan, Elliot Graham of Busby Cellars, and Rich & Christine Rorden of Cantiga. Donations are gratefully accepted to benefit the Cedar Springs Waldorf School in Placerville.
Join us on our beautiful patio to relax and unwind with music and friends. Guest Chefs Bob Offerle & Drew Abbaszadeh will be offering delicious, all-natural grilled lamb & chicken skewers (Archers Meats), roasted vegetables and garlic & olive oil brushed bread. More...
Van der Vijver Estate Winery Invites ALL to join! 6/16/12
Food, Fun and Happy Father's Day.
Please join us and our club-members in celebrating... More
What's happening this weekend at Sierra Foothills Wineries 06/08/12
DK Cellars - There are only a few cases of the 08 Semillon on sale for $72/case. Get yours before it's gone!! www.dkcellars.com
Van der Vijver Estate - Summer Release Party!
June 10th, 2012
Robert will be releasing the New Ella Rosé and the New Mellow Yellow Red.
www.vdvwinery.com
Barbera Festival Pre-Release at Oakstone
~June 8, 9 & 10~
Oakstone has put together a Pre-Release of their Barbera! From 11-5 on Friday through Sunday, June 8, 9 & 10, we invite everyone to join us in our Tasting Room for a Pre-Release to celebrate the annual Barbera Festival.
www.oakstone-winery.com
Cantiga Wineworks - is running low on their 2003 Chardonnay
www.cantigawine.com
We had a great time at the Fair Play Festival yesterday and visited some amazing wineries! The best thing about the sierra foothills is the mom & pop feeling you get from the wineries.
We did come across one winery in Fair Play that produces over 20,000 cases a year and we were not impressed with the bad attitude we received from a server named "Roxie" I will not mention the name of the winery but if you find yourself in a large / commercial winery built into the side of a hill. Stay clear of the bad attuide server named Roxie. Just because a dog has fleas does not make it a bad dog... The wines there are pretty good and I am sure the other servers are more professional. The estate has a great view and the winery tunnels are really cool. They also have a really good Chardonnay on sale for 99.00 a case, a great deal!
The other wineries are exactly what you should expect from Fair Play. They make you feel invited and treat you as if you were the only one there. Today 6/3/12 is the last day of the Fair Play Festival. So you should get off the couch and enjoy the hospitality of the Sierra Foothills wineries.
Fair Play Wine festival! Today and Tomorrow 6/2/12-6/3/12
Visit 15 participating wineries, meet the winemakers, enjoy great food and music and win great prices just by visiting the wineries.
From Barbera to Zinfandel... A Safari through Fair Play's Exotic Wines!
New packaging offers wine to go for picnic season. 5/24/12
By MICHELLE LOCKE
Enjoying good wine in the great outdoors is fun, but toting glass bottles on the trail is no picnic.
Enter the new crop of alternatively packaged wines in cartons, cans and other trail-ready options.
Sure, for actual hydration you'll want to tote along water or whatever energy drink you favor. But for that moment when the hike is done, the mountain bike path conquered, or you're just relaxing and grilling a few steaks on a lazy Sunday, these wines make it easy to blend libations with explorations.
FLASQ™ wines are Great Wines. 5/24/12
Grown in great California regions, harvested at peak times and blended with the highest care. They are 100% American-made and bottled in eco-friendly, easy-to-handle, easy-to-chill aluminum bottles.
FLASQ™ wines are half bottles that conveniently serve two full glasses of wine. The packaging is portable and perfect Any Time for active, healthy lifestyles...like yours.
For more information check out...
Can California sell more wine to China? 4/30/12
U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren is in Amador County moderating a forum on the possibilities of marketing wine to that large Asian market and elsewhere. Participants will hear from representatives of federal agencies, exporters, transportation specialists and industry officials at the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Old Schoolhouse, 21601 Shenandoah School Road, in Plymouth.
Cantiga Wineworks is putting together a wind down Friday event! Fridays after work you can come by and enjoy some great wine and live music! This is all happening soon and we will keep you updated as soon as the kick off date is made public!
~Veggies ingredients~
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 zucchini (grated)
1 tomato (chopped)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 clove garlic, minced
~Meat ingredients ~
2 tablespoons bacon bits (100% pure/ soft)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon Sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
New winery review ~ DK Cellars May 6th 2012
All the wines are wonderful and we could not find one wine we didn't like,
before we knew it we were talking up a storm. Two hours had passed and it was already after closing time.
Dave & Kim made us feel like part of their family and wanting to come back and visit with them again. Read more...
Napa Valley Cab Franc Competition
Recently in the Napa Valley an open Cab Franc competition was held, with a blind tasting of 35 - 40 local Cab Franc wines.
Congratulations to Findleton Estate (Tom) as his 2007 Cab Franc took first place and his 2009 took second place! It is a very special wine not to be missed, but will be gone soon,
so be sure to pick one up during your next visit. Findleton Estate Winery
Mother's Day concert for members and guests! May 13th
Treat mom to a day she will remember, stop by Findleton Estate for wine by the glass or discounted bottles of your favorite wine. Garratt Wilkin and the Parrotheads are opening the summer concert series on May 13, Mothers Day on the pine tree stage! More...
Wineries of Fair Play Mobile App
I came across this great app the other day that lists the Wineries of Fairplay: Their events, varietal list, maps and lodging. This is a app you will want to have when you go wine tasting in the Sierra Foothills / Fair Play area. This app will help you find some amazing wineries like DK Cellars, Van der Vijver Estate , Cantiga Wineworks and more!
You can download it here or just scan the QR code below!
Joe's Zin-Chili paired with Cantiga Wineworks Zinfandel.
~Recipe can be cut in half~
Ingredients: Organic and free range if you can.
2 pounds beef chuck (Chili grind)
1 pound ground mild Italian sausage
1 (15 ounce) can spicy black beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 15 ounce) can regular black beans, drained
1 15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 med sized green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 tablespoon 100% real bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
2 cups Jammy Zinfandel Wine...
Findleton Estate Winery
For the F.E.W members and friends ~ TGIF Come on up to the Sierra Foot Hills!
Tomorrow Friday, April 6 Findleton will be staying open until 7pm for those planning on picking up their wine club shipments and any others needing a Friday "wine down"!.
The best part is Garratt Wilkin will be playing in the tasting room from 3pm - ? , tomorrow! So, please stop by tomorrow and sing a song with Garratt and Tom and try their amazing new releases! Wine tasting and live music on a Friday is the perfect way to start your weekend.
Read more about Findleton Estate.
New Winery Review ~ Fleur de Lys is located in Fair Play, Ca (Sierra Foothills). It sits on the top of a hill and has a gorgeous view of the surrounding vineyards and foothills. When we visited this small family winery we instantly fell in love with the wines. This was one of the first places we found that pairs their wine with food on a daily basis.
The Estate Viognier is by far the best Viognier I have ever had and is also Robert’s favorite. You may see him with a glass in his hand as he is tending to his vineyards. We visited Fleur de Lys many times during our first year of discovering the winery because the prices were very reasonable and the Library Wines are remarkably in expensive for well aged wines.
Today we went to Serafina Winery in Amador (Sierra Foothills) for a Wine Club / Food Pairing event. We had a great time just hanging out on the back patio drinking wine by the glass and smoking cigars. They had live music and lots of food. The band was great and the food paired well with the wines.
We paired the Dancing Grape table wine with their Brick Oven Pizzette, this fruit forward wine went extremely well. The next time you have a weekend burger BBQ or Pizza party, pick up a bottle of this wine. Your guests will love it…
For the main course we had Salad, Lasagna and garlic bread. I paired their Barbara and Zinfandel with this dish. The Zinfandel like most went well with the rich sauce but the Barbara complemented the dish the best. Serafina Cellars put on a great event and only charged $5.00, free to club members.
Charging $5.00 for an event like this is just unheard of in the winery industry. Serafina is about good wine, good friends and family, so I was not surprised.
We will definitely keep an eye on future Serafina events and keep our @Calif_Uncorked followers posted.
We decided to put a "Old European Style" food wine to the test… So why not go to one place where you can pair all kinds of dishes to one wine.
Last weekend we went to a great restaurant in South Lake Tahoe called “Fire+Ice”. Fire+Ice is an all you can eat grill, cooked & seasoned the way you want or you can use the tips they have posted. You can also have the Chefs do their special seasoning thing (They have really cool seasoning techniques they do for many different foods). Here is a small portion of their foods you put in a bowl and give to the Chef to cook for you. FYI 90% of all the food is uncooked.
They have three or four different kinds of Pastas, all kinds of greens, onions, roasted garlic cloves, tofo, eggplant, cilantro, peppers etc… The sea food is more than enough to choose from: Shrimp, Mussels Salmon, Halibut, and Scallops. The meats: Sirloin, Pork, Pulled Pork, BBQ pork, Chicken, Cajun chicken, Lamb, Lamb meat balls, Sausage, Sausage meatballs etc... Then the sauces: 20+different sauces that are designed to go with anything you create, from spicy to mild to sweet.
BTW they cook it on a large round grill and do tricks as you watch. Pretty darn cool, and the food is just amazing. So now that you have an idea about the food, let’s talk about wine!
Cantiga Wineworks ~ Wine club release: 07-Estate Shiraz, 07-Estate Syrah & a special pre-release of 07-"La Petite Suite" Estate Petite Sirah.
This was an extremely limited release of the 07-Estate Shiraz, 07-Estate Syrah for the wine club only and this one shipment will deplete the vintage. These wines are made in an identical winemaking style (clean, non-ML, unblended and well aged in natural oak allowing for pure varietal character) and come from the same soil and vintage.
Syrah & Shiraz Paring: Consider paring these wines with Middle Eastern dishes or Indian appetizers ~ hummus, dhal, babaganoush, grilled eggplant and zucchini, lamb skewers.
Join Cantiga's "Merry Monks Club" and you won't be left out of the limited releases. Or just swing by and try some of the best food pairing wines in the Sierra Foothills.
The question is, should I drink them now or wait 20 years and be the only one that has some?
~ Cheers
Wine tasting tips to enhance your wine tasting experience
1. Swirl:
Observe, color, legs body & structure.
2. Smell, Swirl, Smell again:
Your sense of smell can detect thousands of aromas and is far more informative than your sense of taste...
Common aromas in red wine may be cherries, strawberries, plums, raspberries, blueberries, pepper, spice, mint, tobacco, caramel, vanilla, chocolate.
Common aromas in white wine may be apples, pineapple, melons, citrus, lemon,
vanilla, oak & various herbs.
3. Sip:
Put your nose in the glass.. smell... then sip... swoosh and breathe in through your mouth.
After swallowing the wine breath in through your mouth and exhale through your nose to put a finish on the wine.
Don't judge the 1st taste which can be tart or bitter due to acidity and tannins in the wine...
4. Visit only three to four wineries a day:
Don't visit too many wineries in one day, the more you visit the better they taste. After drinking too much wine, your palate is gone! You will find yourself buying wine you don't like or not buying the wine you would normally like.
5. The cost of wine tasting:
Wineries pour thousands of dollars of free wine a year in their tasting room. Providing you liked the wines you just tasted, help fund the wine that is being poured by buying at least one bottle of wine.
6. Don't drink and drive!
More on the way ~ Check back soon
Bringing you News, events & wine specials from the amazing Amador County Wineries, El Dorado County Wineries and Calaverse County Wineries.
Wine Tasting and What all wineries expect:
After tasting the wines at a winery, we discuss what wine we liked the best. If we liked any of their wines, we buy at least one bottle to show our appreciation and to help fund the free wine they are pouring that day.
Almost all of the wineries in Northern California - Shenandoah Valley & Sierra Foothills. Amador county*, Plymouth*, El Dorado county, Fair Play & Somerset, do not charge to taste their wines.
Please help keep it this way by buying at least one bottle or more if you liked some of their wines.
Remember, the wineries in the sierra foothills have great wines that are made with food pairing in mind. So limit your tasting to no more then three wineries a day if you plan on drinking what you taste.
Please check out the wineries we've uncorked and feel free to visit their websites from our review page
Wine tasting tips to enhance your wine tasting experience!
1. Swirl:
Observe, color, legs body & structure.
2. Smell, Swirl, Smell again:
Your sense of smell can detect thousands of aromas and is far more informative than your sense of taste...
Common aromas in red wine may be cherries, strawberries, plums, raspberries, blueberries, pepper, spice, mint, tobacco, caramel, vanilla, chocolate.
Common aromas in white wine may be apples, pineapple, melons, citrus, lemon,
vanilla, oak & various herbs.
3. Sip:
Put your nose in the glass.. smell... then sip... swoosh and breathe in through your mouth.
After swallowing the wine breath in through your mouth and exhale through your nose to put a finish on the wine.
Don't judge the 1st taste which can be tart or bitter due to acidity and tannins in the wine...
4. Visit only three to four wineries a day:
Don't visit too many wineries in one day, the more you visit the better they taste. After drinking too much wine, your palate is gone! You will find yourself buying wine you don't like or not buying the wine you would normally like.
5. The cost of wine tasting:
Wineries pour thousands of dollars of free wine a year in their tasting room. Providing you liked the wines you just tasted, help fund the wine that is being poured by buying at least one bottle of wine.
6. Don't drink and drive!
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