Cookaholics Bulletin Board

All (especially Wino),

What are your favorite small-and-relatively-unknown wineries? Especially ones which may be a bargain compared to higher-profile labels?

I'll start off with two:

David Caffaro (Sonoma, CA) is heavily into blending wines and does not try to make a profit off his winery (he made his money in the music biz). As such, he tries to sell out every bottling as futures, for as little as $12/bottle. Sometimes you can find half-bottles by him for a real bargain at $7 to $9 each.

Vincent Arroyo (Napa, CA) is on the very Northern edge of Napa valley, near Chateau Ste. Michelle. As a tiny, estate-only winery he's largely unknown outside NorCal, which means that his wines sell for 30-40% less than comparable other Napa wines. Not everything he does is great though; best choices are the Meritage (table wine), Reserve Merlot (French-style, lots of oak) and Syrah.

Paradise Ridge in Santa Rosa....love their wines (which are not available in Colorado) and love their tasting room in Santa Rosa. Very old buildling built by the first owner in the early years of CA wines (from Japan). Current owners (a family)have restored the building and have added a sculpture garden to house their large collection.
Wines are lovely, but the output is very small, so just not available most places outside of California.
If you get a chance to visit them Fuzzy, enjoy it all.
ilene

Like carrion to a vulture, I couldn't resist. There are literally hundreds of wineries stuck away just in the Pacific Northwest, across America it is becoming downright silly - an infestation, if you will. Combine this growth with plummeting prices, skyrocketing supply, and increasing quality and you have to wonder why we bother with the chewing of food at all; just grab a straw.

One of the best sources of great wine at great prices is a free newsletter, Wine Press Northwest, re: the Pacific northwest is [http://www.winepressnw.com/]. It highlights wonderful finds, operates one of the best annual competitions for the best of the best wherein only winners of gold in other competions can be entered, has a great web site with interviews, demonstrations, etc., and features highly respected columnists.

Hope this helps, if it doesn't, you're really not serious about wine

Wino,

Thanks!

That reminds me ... in the unlikely event that anyone stops in Medford Oregon, there is a excellent wine club within a long walk of the airport, the Pacific Wine Club.

Adding another one:

Praeger's is the only vintner in California entitled to call itself a "portery" and its wines "port", because the Praeger family was producing before the DOC laws went into effect. They also make fantastic port, easily on a par with Portuguese ports causting $100 or more. This includes a "white port", something I'd never seen before. They also have the oldest web site in the wine business (link).

Sorry for the slow response - been away since the 4th watching my wife do a charity marathon for arthritis in Barbados and then tanning and drinking beer

Franciscan Winery in California makes a lovely port and has for many years http://www.franciscan.com/2005_Franciscan_Port_375ml It seems every winery has some claim to fame about being the specific particular abnormality from everyone else (exactly like every scotch maker). I am unaware of the who was first and the laws you mentioned but I do know what I like. If it is as good as the $100 ports in my cellar, I'll be buying a case real soon!!