Continuing the Wine Journey Along the Silverado Trail – A Small Winery, Huge Wines

Hi everybody!  We’re about to wrap our recounting of our trip to California, and when we last left you, we were still “swimming” along the Silverado Trail, having just left Steltzner, still in the pouring rain.  We were hoping to get over to Sonoma Valley that afternoon but had one last stop to make before continuing on: Lava Vine Winery in the northern part of Calistoga. 

We first stopped at Lava Vine in 2009 upon recommendation of our friend Stephanie Trotter-Zacharia from Casa Nuestra.  Upon checking out the place, we found a small and welcoming tasting room, where we met the owner, Joe Cabral.  Joe and his wife Jill initially purchased property in 2000, in the Franz Valley in Calistoga.  The Franz Valley property was unique in that it was mostly planted with Portuguese grape varietals.  In California, the majority of wineries make Port-styled wines from Zinfandel or Petite Sirah rather than the Portuguese grapes.  Joe and Jill began their winemaking journey with a Port wine, which is still produced.  In 2004 they began to also grow Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon with partner Nile Zacherle.  The Lava Vine tasting room opened in 2008 nearby on the nearby Silverado Trail, and is a very enjoyable experience.  On our visit last year, we spent some time talking to Joe and learned about their organic farming practices (the vineyard is planted to steep slopes, and organic weed control is used (the “wooly weeders” Phoebe and Francis keep things under control, and it is then the job of Joe and team to keep Phoebe and Francis under control). Last year, we purchased a bottle of the Syrah, the Port, and a bottle of their yummy olive oil.  This visit was just as successful.

The theme of this day of tasting has been the pouring rain, and apparently it was raining even harder just outside Lava Vine’s door, as we skipped across the parking lot lakes to enter the tasting room.  We were cheerfully greeted by Steve, the assistant winemaker and began our tasting with the Viognier.  (Steve is a graduate of the Fresno State wine program, and apparently there is a bit of a rivalry between Fresno and UC Davis, which produces a great many winemakers – Steve told us that there is a saying that the Davis grad can take the pump apart, but you need the Fresno grad to put it back together).

Back in the late ‘90s when we were charter members of the ABC club (Anything But Chardonnay), we were tasting some really nice Viognier.  The grape has a similar profile with round, tropical fruit flavors, but usually has more balanced acidity than many California chardonnays.  This Viognier was definitely a winner with tropical fruit, honeysuckle, and some citrus, with just a touch of vanilla.  We also tasted some crispy minerality, which along with the fruit and vanilla flavors, made this a very enjoyable wine. 

We also tried the Syrah, Petite Sirah, and the Cabernet Sauvignon. The Syrah was a hit; it had intense black cherry flavors with peppery pop that we love and is often lost in many Syrahs.  The Petite Sirah was a deep inky rich wine which comes from a small production, dry-farmed vineyard, contributing an intense earthy fruitiness that we love.  The Cabernet is made from mountain fruit with fine tannins and a dark fruit and chocolate flavor profile.  We finished up with a little taste of the port, which paired perfectly with the chocolate we were offered with the tasting.  We were once again very impressed with the wines and the care that goes into hand-crafting each one.  So we also joined the Lava Vine wine club and look forward to our quarterly shipments.

At this point we decided that we should make our way over to Sonoma by taking the road through Knights Valley up into Alexander Valley.  The drive was beautiful despite the on and off rain.  We drove along the beautifully wooded trail, along winding roads lined with trees dripping in Spanish Moss.  It was hard to believe that we were still in California.  But in just under hour we had arrived in Geyserville, ready to make our final stop of the day at Geyser Peak.