Sacramento is famous for two things: gold and wine. Whereas the gold rush died out 70 years ago, the wine rush is still in full flow. The hills on all sides of Sacramento still pump out quality wine by the bottle and we decided it was time to taste what all the fuss was about.
Unfortunately, we chose the ’slowest month of the year’ according to Paul, the owner of Madrona Winery, in Apple Hill. But that didn’t stop him giving us an exclusive tour of his base, complete with complimentary tastes of wines which weren’t yet on sale.
We chose the Apple Hill region, about an hour east of Sacramento, because it is rarely visited compared to it’s counterpart Napa Valley, on the other side of the city. And we were treated to deserted rolling hills of vineyards, no tourists, and the chance to ask lots of questions to the winery propriators.
While Chris seemed more at ease with the water and the crackers on offer, the rest of us soon became fond of the rich, fruity reds on offer and quickly fell in love with the Syrah port.
Because we visited off season, many of the wineries (and the information centre) were well and truly closed, but we managed to find a couple that were open year-round. Highlight of the day was a visiter at Madrona winery who, when asked by the lady behind the bar, what he thought of the 2006 Cabernet Franc, said: “Me? Oh, no, I’m not really a wine person.”
We rounded off the day by filling a box full of our favourites and driving them home, tired and swishing with reds and whites in our bellies, but happy we’d ventured east.
