Courtesy Halter Ranch
Every so often, it doesn’t hurt to remember that wine is, ultimately, an agricultural product and that you get grapes by farming them. Fortunately, when Mitch Wyss came in to grow grapes for Halter Ranch Winery owner Hansjorg Wyss, he came in as a farmer. However, one with not much experience growing wine grapes.
“It was a real trial by fire,” said Leslie Wyss, Mitch’s wife. But Mitch is still there and it’s not because of a family connection. He and Hansjorg are not related. Leslie explained that Mitch is of Swiss
Continue reading Halter Ranch – Growing the Good Stuff
Of the flight of several wines that Elaine Villamin was pouring when we stumbled onto her at one of our local wine stores, Red Carpet Wines in Glendale, CA, this one was easily the best of the flight. It’s made from 100 percent estate grown cabernet. That is, Villamin made the wine from grapes her father grew on his property – and the care they took shows. It has a deep ruby color, in fact, it’s almost black. There is some grassiness in the nose – which a classic trait found in cabernet sauvignon grapes grown in the cooler
Continue reading Eden Canyon 2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
It was just a fluke that we happened upon Elaine Villamin, of Eden Canyon Vineyards, when we stopped in at Red Carpet Wine in Glendale, California. We were trying to kill time before our dinner reservation and had no intention of doing any tasting. But Villamin was not only there with a nice selection of her winery’s offerings, she spent some significant time with us, telling us her story.
In 1996, her father, Danny Villemin, suddenly decided to grow grapes on his 10 acres near San Luis Obispo. He wasn’t even a wine drinker, but being
Continue reading Eden Canyon – Small and Interesting
