There are over 100 wine regions
in California. With so many, it’s easy
for a California wine region to get lost in the shuffle, especially in Northern
California. The Livermore Valley is one
of California’s oldest wine regions and Livermore’s wineries range from small,
family-owned operations to historic wineries that have been around for over a
century. Wine tasting in Livermore is to
taste California’s wine history.
Livermore is a Northern
California city located in the Tri-Valley area east of San Francisco and
Oakland. Livermore’s wineries are within
easy driving distance of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. Visitors to the Livermore wine region have
over 40 wineries to choose from, small and large. Unlike those in some of Northern California’s
other wine regions, Livermore wineries are less crowded, less expensive, and
provide a more intimate and educational wine tasting experience. Tasting fees are usually waived with purchase
and bottles of wine are many times within the $20 to $40 range.
During a recent visit to
Tri-Valley, we went wine tasting at four Livermore wineries: Charles R
Vineyards, Big White House Winery and John Evan Cellars, Nottingham Cellars,
and Wente Vineyards. These wineries
illustrate the varied nature of Livermore’s wineries. Some are small, some are big, some are in the
midst of the vineyards of Livermore Valley, some are in business parks, some
are new, and some have been around since the beginning.
Charles R Vineyards
As we approached the Charles R
Vineyards tasting room it felt like we were going wine tasting in someone’s
home. The tasting room is nestled in
amongst the tall trees at the end of a short dirt road. Charles R Vineyards is owned and operated by
the Bartlett Family and has been a part of the Livermore Valley wine region
since 2002. It isn’t unusual to see Mr.
Bartlett in the tasting room. Visitors
to the winery can sample Charles R’s wines in the wine tasting room or enjoy
them on the porch or the large back patio.
All of Charles R Vineyards’ wines
are made with Livermore Valley grapes sourced from local growers. Their lineup includes Sauvignon Blanc,
Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Port, and
four of those are SF Chronicle award winners.
We enjoyed all of Charles R’s wines, but some of them had some unique
features. The Chardonnay is aged in
different barrels, half in French oak and half in America oak, and then blended
after aging. The Cabernet Sauvignon
grapes are grown in an organic vineyard.
The gold medal winning Zinfandel had something I had never seen before,
wine diamonds. Wine diamonds are caused
by acid from the wine crystalizing on the cork.
I thought we had ended our wine tasting and had chosen two bottles to
purchase when we were offered a tasting of the Port. A small brownie is provided with the Port
tasting. The trick is to taste the Port,
take a bite of rich chocolate brownie, and then taste the Port again. I was sold and a third bottle of Charles R
wine came home with us.
For more about Charles R
Vineyards, including tasting room hours, visit their website.
Big White House Winery and John Evan Cellars
Big White House Winery and John
Evan Cellars is a father-son winemaking operation. John Marion has been making wine in his home,
the Big White House, for over 20 years.
His son John Evan joined the family wine business when he was 21-years-old
with John Evan Cellars. The tasting room
is a large, informal barn type structure with wine tasting in the front and
barrels in the back. The walls are
covered in portraits which are original oil paintings by John Evan’s sister
Laura Marion. These portraits are also
featured on the wine labels. During the
holiday season the tasting room also features an upside down Christmas tree
hanging from the ceiling.
Our tasting flight included 10
wines, seven from Big White House and three from John Evan Cellars. The Big White House wines included
Chardonnay, Viognier, Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Zinfandel, and a Bordeaux
blend of Cabernet and Merlot. The John
Evan Cellars wines included a Bordeaux blend, Cabernet, and late harvest
Syrah. My favorite was the 2011 Chateau
Marion Bordeaux Blend with cherry from the Cabernet and spices from the Merlot. I love that Merlot is making its way back
into wineries after its assassination in Sideways. A unique part of the wine tasting at Big
White House Winery and John Evan Cellars is the barrel samples of wine that
hasn’t been bottled yet.
More information about Big White
House Winery and John Evan Cellars can be found on Facebook.
Nottingham Cellars
Livermore went through a few name
changes before it became Livermore, named in honor of Robert Livermore who
first began planting vineyards in the valley 20 years previously. Livermore’s first name was Nottingham, named
for the local Nottingham Post Office.
Nottingham Cellars is named as a tribute to the rich history of the
Livermore Wine Valley. Nottingham
Cellars is a family-owned winery started by Jeff Cranor. Jeff’s son Collin Cranor is now Nottingham
Cellars’ winemaker. Unlike the other wineries
we visited, Nottingham Cellars’ tasting room is located in an industrial park
rather than in the midst of vineyards, though the vineyards are very close by.
Nottingham Cellars works with
five different varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot,
and Petit Verdot. My favorite of
Nottingham Cellars wines was Ralphi’s Red Blend, so named because Collin looked
like Ralphie from A Christmas Story
when he was little. Ralphi’s Red Blend
is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (yay for Merlot
again!).
For more about Nottingham
Cellars, including tasting room hours, visit their website.
Wente Vineyards
Wente Vineyards is one of the big
guys of the Livermore Valley. Wente
Vineyards is the oldest continuously operating family-owned winery in America,
established in 1883. The first wine
grapes were planted in Livermore Valley in 1840 and it became an important wine
region in California with over 50 wineries.
But then Prohibition came, putting an end to wine production. The only original wineries that survived
Prohibition were Wente and Concannon, as they were allowed to remain for the
purpose of making sacramental wine. One
of the great things about Livermore’s wine industry is the camaraderie between
wineries and the desire for all to succeed, no matter their size. Wente is a big part of encouraging the little
guys and helping them to prosper.
I was introduced to a wine that
was new to me at Wente’s tasting room, Counoise. The Counoise is a small lot hand-crafted
wine. The Small Lot wines are made from
vineyards which are sustainably grown and hand-harvested. Every step of the winemaking process is
overseen by Karl Wente. We also tasted
the Small Lot Zinfandel, the Syrenity (a blend of Counoise and Syrah), and the
Nth Degree Cabernet Sauvignon. The Nth
Degree line is also a line of small lot hand-crafted wines designed to reflect the
terroir of the Wente vineyards. We
enjoyed Wente’s wines, but what we really loved was taking the wineblending class in Wente's Winemakers Studio.
For more about Wente Vineyards,
including tasting room hours, visit their website.
Livermore Valley wine country
provides tasting rooms and wines to satisfy all tastes. Livermore is reclaiming its spot as an
important piece of California’s wine history and legacy and is waiting to be
discovered by more travelers.
Thank you to Visit Tri-Valley for hosting our visit to Tri-Valley and making this post
possible. As always, all opinions are my
own.
