El Dorado Passport weekend: Best picks from Auriga Cellars

Sometimes working at a news station totally rocks.  This weekend I had the chance to visit a bunch of wineries in Pleasant Valley and talk to the vineyard owners about their vintages. Of course, I did do a bunch of sipping and spitting along the way because there really is no way to write about wine without actually tasting some of it.

If you've been following my adventures, then you already know that I LOVE wine, vineyards and the whole winemaking experience -- but even though I do taste a lot of vintages, I'm not exactly a professional. I know what I like, but I don't always know why I like it.  Soooo...to help me on my wine adventure and to avoid reviews like "that one made my tongue wrinkle" I dragged along a sommelier.  So if you don't agree with his picks, don't blame me. Blame him. Just kidding.

SLIDESHOW: El Dorado Passport weekend

We visited five wineries on Saturday so I'll try to feature one in my blog each day.

Our first stop was Auriga Cellars. Auriga Cellars' is a cute little winery and this was their second year participating in the El Dorado Passport weekend. Oh and here's something about the weekend that I didn't know -- your ticket not only includes the cost of all your tastings to all 26 wineries, but each wineries also serve food to go with their wine. Really good food.



Richard Stading from Auriga Wines

 Anyway, last year Auriga Cellars brought people to Ireland by serving a traditional Irish stew, but this year, winery owners Richard and Diane Stading treated guests to their version of Italy.

"We have our Sangiovese and Barbera, and we're serving Italian foods like focaccia and minestrone" said Diane Stading.

The Stadings starting making wine 1982, but they didn't go commercial with Auriga Wines until 2002. Diane says initially they were only going to be growers, but then they got bit by the winemaking bug.

"You get into the whole wine making thing and you start entering contests and competitions. We took home a few gold medals from the State Fair for home wine making. That's when we starting to think about going commercial," Diane said.

They only had one problem. Back then they only had one wine -- Shiraz. If they were going to make it as a winery, they needed to expand their selection and they needed to do it quickly. They did this by buying fruit from neighboring vineyards including Smokey Ridge Ranch, Quarter Hill and Sumu Kaw Vineyard. They still make their signature Shiraz from their estate fruit, but also bottle Zinfandel, Merlot, Marsanne, Sangiovese, Barbera and a few others.

"We get our Zinfandel fruit from 35-year-old vines from Suma Kaw Vineyard which is about five miles down the road," Richard said. "Their entire vineyard is only 25 acres and we have upper block which is about five acres. It's under exclusive contract to us."

Richard says Zinfandels and Shiraz are their specialty. The sommelier I brought with me, Sandford Wragg, agrees and recommends their estate grown Shiraz as your best pick if visiting the vineyard.

"Their Shiraz is the most balanced wine of their portfolio. It has structure and it is varietally correct. You get mint and high tone on the nose which is traditional in Shiraz," said Wragg. "You get a good amount of fruit but you also get a little bit of tanic structure so it's not just a throw away wine. There is something there."

When it comes to their Zinfandels, he says they have plenty of options to please the Zinfandel drinker, but wine-lovers should also check out their Merlot.

"It has a lot of pleasant fruit, but is a little more interesting than what we've come to think of in Merlot. It's one of those bottles that is a crowd pleaser but also has something interesting to offer," Wragg said.

So that's the inside scoop on Auriga. Best picks from other vineyards to come later this week:

-- Miraflores
-- Sierra Vista
-- Holly's Hill
-- Narrow Gate