Toogood Winery is too good to Resist

For months I’ve been hearing how Fairplay is the new Napa. And you know what? I checked it out this week and is – except it’s much cheaper and cuter. I know you are saying that's impossible as Napa is pretty darn cute...plus, it's famous.

I say Napa, Schnapa...If you are looking for an intimate wine experience, then I definitely suggest taking a drive to the Fairfield/Somerset area. It’s about an hour away from Sacramento and hidden in the midst of rolling hills. In fact, the drive there is kind of nice and relaxing. I took this winding route from Buckeye Flat (yes, it really is called that) to Diamond Springs, and then onto Mount Aukum Road. It’s scenic, fun to drive and a nice change from the generic highway stuff you see if going to Napa or Sonoma.

But here’s the thing…because it’s so scenic you might start feeling that you’re lost. At least, I did. There are no signs that grapes and wine would even be growing in the area as it all trees and hills. I wasn’t even sure I was going in the right direction until I was two miles from my destination – which was the amazing Toogood Winery.

TOO GOOD WINE IS TOO GOOD TO RESIST

I found out about the Toogood winery from the News Director at News10. Tim Geraghty has been talking about this place for months and because I know he has good taste in wine (and food), I had to check it out. And I wasn’t disappointed.

I went on a Monday afternoon and had the entire place to myself, which is the way I like it because then I can chat up everyone and get a really good tour of the place. And you may want to do this too, because for your $5 tasting fee, you get to taste about six different types of bottled wine, two barrel tastings and a couple of their ports – from the barrel and from the bottle. Plus you get to keep your tasting glass as a souvenir. Bonus!

Sadly even though I love the stuff, I'm a wine lightweight and had to do the sip and spit thing towards the end.  There were just so many wines to taste for me. Yes, it's embarrassing, but I'm sure you'll do better than I did and won't waste a drop.

Oh and did I mention that this particular winery is located inside a cave? Yup, Toogood Winery is cool figuratively and literally.

“The cave keeps the barrels at an optimal temperature naturally. There is no air conditioning in here. The earth keeps it consistent,” said Joel, my wine guide.

BARREL TASTING IS FUN…AND WEIRD

Now I’ve been to a lot of vineyards in the US, Canada, France, Germany…and well, the list can go on. I love wine, I love the whole experience of seeing where it comes from and I love talking to the wine makers. It’s like talking artists about their work and sharing a common passion.

But, in all these years of visiting vineyards, I’ve never had a barrel tasting and wasn’t even sure what it was. It turns out a barrel tasting is exactly what it sounds like – you drink from the barrel. The thing is wine from a barrel tastes completely different from drinking from a bottle.

First of all, the wine is not quite done – so it can taste a little of what I like to call “green”. You get a sense of what it may taste like when it's done a few months from now, but it’s not quite as smooth as the finished product.

“The wines you’ll be sampling will be bottled in late August/early September,” said Joel. “You’ll also sample a couple of our ports that will ready in late November.”

Tasting the wine from the barrel was interesting and if you are wine lover I recommend you give it a try. It's almost like you get to experience how the master winemaker monitors the wine as it matures. In fact, you may even notice that the nuances of the wine are a little more pronounced. Depending on the wine, you may actually taste the fruity flavors, the peppery tastes and the other flavors those famous wine guys always talk about. One of the wines I tasted definitely had a green pepper after taste which was kind of interesting, but my absolute favorite tastings were the ports.

Toogood is currently aging this citrus port that would make an excellent addition to holiday dinners and their traditional tawny port had this caramel after taste that was to die for. Yum!!

Also, there is another bonus to the checking out the barrel wines and ports. If you like them and order them now, you can get them at a discounted rate when they actually mature.  The catch is you have to order six or twelve bottles. Tempting. Very tempting.

AND THEN THERE WAS DINNER

Needless to say, my wine experience was fabulous, but if you go to Fairplay, you must go on Monday and you must go to Bocconato’s.

You see, Monday is their no menu and no corkage night, and for $20 you get two courses of incredible Italian food. Don’t worry if you are a picky eater, they let you choose from a bunch of different things, but I recommend experimenting.

I had risotto with a mascarpone cheese sauce as my appetizer, followed by this scrumptious blueberry lasagna. Who would have thought blueberries would go with lasagna, but believe me, when I tell you it was excellent. In fact, I would drive all the way there again just for this Monday night meal.

But while the food was worth the drive, what makes Monday nights really special is the company. Many of the vineyard owners and wine lovers in the area show up and sit at the community table (so sit there). They each bring their own bottles of wine and the conversation begins.

You know how I love to talk to vineyard owners and farmers about their work? Well, sharing a bottle of vino with them is even more fun. Now you don’t get that if you go to Napa.

So what vineyards do the locals recommend I try on my next trip? Charles Mitchell, Oakstone and Sierra Oaks were a few that came up.  But really, they said you can't go wrong at any of them.

So am I banning Napa forever? Not exactly.  I still like checking out that region and will still bring my out-out-town guests there if they want to go. But for the times when I want a more intimate experience, I'll take the drive to Fairplay.

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