Tag Archives: Windwalker

Another Concert on the Green; Another Rosé

A great thing that’s happened in the last few years, in the small towns of the Bay Area, is adding casual concerts to weeknight farmers’ markets. In our area, our town of Windsor does this, as does Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Santa Rosa and probably others that I don’t know about and haven’t had time to explore yet.

Summer concert on the Windsor Green

Summer concert on the Windsor Green

For us, the Windsor Green is about a 5 minute drive. It takes more time to find a parking space for the Thursday evening market/concert than to drive there. Most recently, we went and heard a swing band, which had the audience dancing in the square. Swing dancing is not in my skill set, or Lori’s, but we enjoyed listening, and watching the dancers. We also enjoyed the food available from the market, plus there was paella available from Castañeda’s Market, a local market owned by our new neighbors. (To be clear, we’re the new ones in the neighborhood; they’ve been there for a number of years.) If you want paella catered for your event, you should check out their Paella Guy website.

Windwalker 2012 Grenache Rosé

Windwalker 2012 Grenache Rosé

We also enjoyed the bottle of Windwalker Vineyard 2012 Grenache Rosé, from El Dorado County in the Sierra Foothills. We visited Windwalker a few years back. Loved the winery grounds; just beautiful setting in the foothills and excellent event facilities. We thought most of their wines were good but not great; however we really liked the rosé. So we purchased a few bottles. A good rosé, one where the grapes are picked specifically for the rosé and not just made from juice bled off the red wine, can last a few years in the bottle and be excellent for a Spring/Summer picnic (or a Summer concert!). (If you’re interested, I’ve written about rosés before in this space, just go use the search function on the right side of the page.)

This was just such a wine. Grenache is most often used for rosé’s in France, as it has just enough flavor and body to make a good light wine, plus if picked right has the acid to go with foods. This wine reminded me of a lunch Lori and I had at a sidewalk café in Nice, France, somewhere around 2001, which featured a nice bottle of rosé. A great memory from that trip, but also a great new memory made of music, food and wine close to home.

L’Chaim,

Larry

More Pink, Now For Summer

I talked about rosés before, using them as a sign of Spring. Well, rosés are equally good, if not better, for Summer. Good rosés are cold, crisp, light, flavorful; everything I want on a warm day sitting outside. It might not be what you drink with your barbequed meal, but it’s what you drink until the meal is ready.

Here are a few that we’ve had recently that we really liked:

Bonny Doon Vineyard, 2014 Vin Gris de Cigare, 35% grenache, 18% mourvèdre, 16% grenache blanc, 12.5% roussanne, 8% carignane, 8% cinsaut, 1.5% marsanne, 1% counoise
Dragonette Cellars, 2013 Rosé, Happy Canyon (Santa Barbara County), 70% grenache, 25% mourvèdre, 5% syrah
Windwalker Vineyard, 2012 Grenache Rosé, El Dorado County (Sierra Foothills)

No accident that these are all made from Rhône grapes. These grapes typically have the fruit, the acid and the body to not get washed out in a light rosé. These are the grapes traditionally used for rosés in France.

The Bonny Doon was brought over to our friends’ house for a recent barbeque get together. Appetizers served that afternoon included salsa and guacamole, and grilled shrimp. Bonny Doon has been making Rhône varietal wines since the beginning, and Randall Grahm is one of the Rhône pioneers in California. This was delicious.

2013 Dragonette Cellars Rosé

2013 Dragonette Cellars Rosé


The Dragonette was opened at my parents’ house a few weeks ago, just as an afternoon drinking wine. I had never had it before, and now I’m looking forward to visiting the Dragonette tasting room in Los Olivos (Santa Ynez Valley) when Lori and I vacation there later this month.

Windwalker Vineyard 2012 Grenache Rosé, El Dorado County

Windwalker Vineyard 2012 Grenache Rosé, El Dorado County

The Windwalker we picked up on a wine tasting run through the Sierra Foothills while visiting Lori’s mother, who lives in the area. (Winery visits are not the only reason I visit my mother-in-law. Really.) Another Grenache based rose, with about 70% of that varietal as the base. Again just opened as an afternoon drinking wine, and hit all the right points.

L’Chaim,

Larry