Edna Valley (SLO) and Templeton

[Meadini]

We took a trip to Palisade Co. yesterday. It’s probably better known for peaches but there are several vineyards in the area as well. I was only able to stop at one, Bookcliff Vineyards. I tasted four of their reds, and they were all good but the Cadenza, a Merlot/Syrah blend was really nice. There was very little green on the vines since it’s so early in the season at altitude. I only snapped a couple pics since I was driving and dealing with a couple Helions.

 

[user 38734]

Beautiful countryside around Boulder - thank you!

 

[Cynewulf]

While not directly related to wine making technique, I have always been interested in and made contacts with the local growing / making community. If anyone has any pictures of their local situations, I would be interested in seeing and learning about that.

So here’s one on the local winemaking community side, one that @Booty Juice or @balatonwine may relate to. Again, I’ll apologize in advance for the lousy photo quality. About ten years ago I had a trip to eastern Slovakia near Michalovce and not too far from the border with Hungary in February. One of our local friends/colleagues was Hungarian but living on the Slovak side of the border and after work one evening he arranged to take us to his girlfriend’s father’s wine cave. As we drove up the hill to our destination, we started seeing little doorways into the side of the mountain.



At the end of the road there was a clearing ringed by a dozen of these little structures built into the mountainside, with our host’s at the end.





Inside he had a wood stove going for us and his neighbor, a butcher, had spread the table with fresh made sausages.



He had a custom made metal door leading to the cave he’d had dug into the hillside where his wine was aging.



After we’d tasted and eaten for a while in his cave, the neighbor insisted we walk a few doors down to his own cave and try his wine. I loved their setups with their comfortable little tasting/dining rooms, their proper caves, and just the whole idea that there is this community of home winemakers that all have their personal family wine caves together in the side of this mountain. To this day I look back fondly on that evening and how cool and interesting it all was and dream of my wife letting me dig a hole in our backyard.

 

[user 38734]

Don't apologize, these pictures are great. Absolutely love this. This could be half my relatives and friends in Slovenia - very common and typical. While the quality of either the wine cellar or cave varies from "primitive" to "host the Pope", many have one - and they are in constant use either tending to wine or socializing. I can taste those sausages, pickled vegetables, and homemade wines. This gentleman has a very nice set up.

Thank you @Cynewulf !!

 

[balatonwine]

just the whole idea that there is this community of home winemakers that all have their personal family wine caves together in the side of this mountain.

Agree. One of the reasons I moved here.

But.... Sighs.... Times change.

Today, due to speculation, property prices where I live have gone through the roof, and many smaller land owners are selling out to large commercial interests. Fewer and fewer small wine makers exist now here. The small wine maker community is fading away, and will soon pass into history. Use to love seeing all the little Trabants and Skodas. Now more and more I only see fat and wide** BMW and Mercedes cars and SUVs driving around.

** Also describes the occupants....