Vineyard Diary

We've just returned from an amazing camping trip. Five days on the outskirts of the San Antonio Valley, tucked into the Santa Lucia Mountains on the bank of the Nacimiento River.

After setting up camp under a shade tree we spent days swimming and hiking through some of the most dramatic canyons I've ever seen. Massive boulders pushed downstream by winter rains had created deep swimming lagoons, lots of swirling wading pools and beautiful fishing holes filled with spotted bass.

Our evenings were spent sitting around a roaring campfire, BBQing, stargazing and enjoying great conversation and wine. I brought along a bottle of our '02 Merlot to share. We decided to store our wines in the river to keep them cool and away from direct sunlight. Our Merlot lay nestled among shady rushes, cooled by the river for 2 days, then we pulled it out to enjoy with dinner, and wow, delicious! Perfect serving temperature!

This wine is really starting to come into its own now with plenty of black cherry and ripe strawberry flavors and a lovely creamy, almost mint-chocolate finish. It was a great match with our tri-tip, grilled medium rare over an open oakwood pit.

Funnily enough, there's been some info in the news lately about underwater cellarage being the latest thing. Take a look at Alder's blog over at Vinography. He mentions some of the wineries and restaurants employing this method, as well as current research being done in France. Our riverbank experiment, though not at all scientific, was certainly a success.

(Photograph courtesy of Stephany La Mascus.)

Elsbeth
Escafeld Vineyards