by Frank Mangio
As I write this column, today is National Wine Day. No one that I know has the day off, there are no big celebrations or advertising going on. The only interesting story I see is that Millenials (the 21 to 35 year olds) now account for 42% of all wine purchased in the U.S. That is very bullish for wine sales.
San Diego wines are on their way to stardom and a key event recently gave them the juice in the right direction. A Food & Wine Festival was recently staged at Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernardo with over 30 wine and food booths generously pouring at least twice as many of their top wines.
Linda McWilliams is the President of the San Diego County Vintners Associations. She is also the owner of San Pasqual Winery, with a tasting room and winery in La Mesa and a tasting room in downtown San Diego at Seaport Village. She gets her wine grapes in the San Pasqual Valley, as do many other wineries in this county due to lush soil properties and proximity to the coast. She features Bordeaux Blend, Italian, Rhone Valley and Spanish varietals. “There are 116 commercial wineries in two AVA’s, Ramona and San Pasqual Valley in San Diego County ,” she revealed. “We have maps with links to all our member wineries for easy direction.” Visit SanDiegoWineries.org, and SanPasqualWinery.com.
A fascinating wine with strong Italian links was the Principe Di Tricase Winery and its Aglianico varietal, found in Campania , near Naples. Spokesman Alberto Sepe said “Naples has a climate similar to San Diego. The grapes love heat, producing higher sugar. We keep our production of wine simple and straightforward… no rocket science.”
Veteran winemaker Jim Hart and his wife Christine, after years of making wine at his father’s winery in Temecula and time spent making wine at nearby Milargo Farm, now has his own winery, Volcan Mountain near Julian. He was pouring a 2015 Apple Sparkling wine, a 2015 Viognier and a 2014 Old Vine Zinfandel. His 10 acres have many Julian apple trees on the property. Visit at volcanmountainwinery.com.
San Diego was California ’s first wine producing area back in the days of Spanish missionaries and is just now showing up in a few large international competitions. It just might be the next great wine country in California .
Visit a Little Bit of Tuscany at Tuscandido
San Diego wineries are popping up like corks at a New Years Eve party. My e mail messages are full of them. One such e mail stood out a few weeks ago, from Tuscandido in Escondido. Was I going to pass this one up? I grabbed my Italian vineyard farmer friend Leonard Ciarmoli, and we visited the owner, Jim Tondelli. He had just won 3 Silver medals at the San Francisco Chronicle tasting for his Sangiovese, Syrah and Barbera.
Tondelli began planting Italian vines in 2010. His 2013 bottles are now released and with “hard work and experience” Tuscandido wines are starting to make their way into the wine market. “Oh yes, the name,” after I asked him about it. “I just sat on a rock on my 5 ½ acre property and thought it was the same view as some I’d seen in Tuscany , and we went for it.”
Tuscandido is all natural in its vineyard management. It is fertilized by two active Alpaca and mushroom mulch. No pesticides or herbicides are used. “We harvest by hand, getting rid of any small, unwanted grapes and thinning out clusters early,” he said. Two of the San Francisco award winners are my favorites: 2012 Sangiovese with a Brunello clone from Montalcino Italy ($45.) and the 2013 Barbera with 10% Merlot ($22.). Nearby restaurants Vintana and Stone both have the brand on their wine lists. Learn more at tuscandidowinery.com.
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