The leaves are changing color in Vacaville. I think we’ll have more vibrant colors as we get closer to winter.
I’m looking forward to a consistent schedule as my newsroom heads into November Sweeps. As soon as I get over my sore feet from my 1st 5-mile run, I plan on repeating that run in the coming weeks. I also look forward to my 2-day weekends. Thanks to vacations and sick leaves, I had to squeeze in a work shift in the middle of some of my weekends.
Plus, I’m working on new writing projects as I wait to hear back from a couple of magazines and online zines. Apparently, many editors take 1-3 months to respond to (aka reject) a story. So far, I’ve wrote (on average) around 700-1000 words on my weekend.
We’ll see how that goes.
Let’s go back to the weather. Fall is beautiful in California. Sunny skies, 80 Degrees and a bit of a breeze. That adds up to the perfect weather for a wine tasting weekend.
Earlier this month, we checked out the wine country in Amador County. We attended this year’s Big Crush Festival. This is an awesome opportunity to tour the vineyards in Plymouth and nearby towns. The $40 ticket is an all-access-pass for wine tasting and the tasty nibbles. After 2 vineyard visits, I was full on sausage, pork bbq crostini and other appetizers.
Amador County is in competition with Lodi as the Zin Capital of Northern California. One winemaker said both areas had the soil suited to the Zinfandel grape and weather played a big factor in who’s getting the better wine harvest.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the quality of these grapes. Many of the wines we tasted were delightfully full, complex and yummy. My favorite reds were at Nine Gables. The winemaker poured two of his top vintages: Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon (Vinter’s Reserve). Both were smooth, had a sophisticated body plus a touch of spice to finish it off. I also did some “Barrel Tasting” at this vineyard. This gives wine fans a sneak preview of the new vintages before they finish aging in the barrel. One of the red wines I tasted had some potential after I let it open up for about 10 minutes.
Overall, Amador County is a friendly, down-to-earth wine tasting experience. Like Lodi, many of these wine operations are family affairs and everyone is quite knowledgeable about their grapes without sounding like snobs. Sure, there were plenty of award-winning bottles to sample, but I think people were more interested in what tasted good on his or her personal palates. I’m sure vino novices and veteran vineyard hoppers will find something to enjoy in Amador County.