El Dorado Hills: Grace Patriot Wines, Apple Hill

Front

Tasting List

History

Pretty entrance

We set up camp last night next to the river, shared beer with new campfire friends and woke up to a good breakfast! Now, we are all ready for a day of wine tasting!


First stop, everyone is excited, we arrived at Lewis Grace's Grace Patriot Wines in Apple Hill. This place as name suggest is full of history, the family has ancestry in the revolutionary war. Modern tasting room facing the vineyards and nice patio sitting outside.

Barrels in the back room

Viognier 2009
This tasted like a standard Viognier, although it did not have much nose, which is disappointing because it is something to look forward to when tasting a Viognier as they are known to be floral and wonderful scenting. It was overall decent tasting but not smooth. $22 OO

Hip Hip Rose
Made from a blend of Pinot Gris and Syrah, this had an interesting rubber scent and nose of strawberries. Plenty of residual sugar with notes of refreshing watermelon and strawberries. $18 OOO

Pinot Noir 2009
Standard Pinot with cabbage, vegetal smell, this was simple with good acidity, a little on the tannic side. The fruit was slightly overwhelmed by the tannins. $24 OOo

Syrah 2006
Smokey nose with hints of dark cherries and spice, this was very fruity with notes of berries, oak, smoke and obvious tannins. Flat bland finish. $25 OOO

Patriotic Wines

5pm 2006
A blend of Tempranillo, Syrah and what they call "secret sauce". Toasty nose, this fruit forward wine had obvious tannins with notes of dark fruits, toasty nuts and spice. :) OOOo

Tempranillo 2006
The rubbery nose is back! This was very tannic overwhelming the fruit. Hints of leather. OO

What we tasted!

Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
This was a surprise. For some reason, we did not think Cabernet would not do well here but we were proven wrong with this one! Good Cabernet with an interesting strong nose, which I am not sure about. Well balanced wine with good layered tannins with notes of berries and oak, very enjoyable complex wine that could age to soften the tannins. Nice lingering finish. OOOO

Vitis Vinifera

Decent wines, much better than I expected! Steve Grace, the great grand child of Lewis Grace (who served in the revolutionary war in Virginia), was pouring and talked about the history of the vineyard and his family. He showed me the back room where they had the oak barrels and talked through old pictures on the wall. Very friendly people, fascinating history and good wines! Will definitely visit again!

Next stop, Lava Cap Winery!

Healthy Cabernet Sauvignon

The group