Best picks from the Miraflores Winery

Victor Alvarez from Miraflores Winery

After checking out Auriga Cellars I dragged my sommelier to the next winery. It was Miraflores Winery and it was my favorite. Not only did I like some of the wines, but the owner Victor Alvarez is a fantastic storyteller.  In fact he kind of reminded me of my grandfather, except instead of having a thick French accent, he had a Spanish one.

"In this area, 11 wines are rated 11 points and six are ours. All are Zins," said Vic Alvarez, while pouring our wine. "Our Zinfandels are all varietal. They don't have sugar. The noses for all of them are very good."

Along with a number of other wines, Alvarez was pouring his 2006, 2007 and 2008 Zinfandels for the El Dorado Passport Weekend. He says his 2006 Zinfandel probably has the best nose out of the ones he has and even though it's older than the other two, it is only just becoming complex.

But the 2007 is not to be shunned. It is the highest rated Zinfandel in the area. And then there's his 2008 Zinfandel. It was this one that caught the attention of Sandford Wragg, my wine expert.

"This one has a pretty nose. It has the high-toned powdered candy smell that I associate with Piedmont," Wragg said.

I thought all the Zinfandels smelled pretty good, but the 2007 was my favorite. But Zins were only the beginning. There were many more wines to taste afer this one.

Miraflores Winery planted their first vines 11 years ago and all of their wines except for the Pinot Grigio are made from estate fruit. Alvarez says his secrets are planting higher to get more sun exposure, the grapes he has chosen and checking the fruit himself.

"I picked the grapes; they did not pick me. Whatever the grapes are become the flavor of the wine," Alvarez said. "I check the grapes myself and I'm also constantly dropping grapes. At the end, when I think the flavor is good enough, I'll tell them 'this one' and then we pick."

Alvarez says he doesn't schedule his harvests. Instead he reacts to what's going with the fruit. And while he's fond of all his vintages, there are a few that are his current favorites.

"Smell this thing," he said, as he poured a glass of Barbera. "I fell in love with the nose before I put it in the bottle. Right now it still has the acidity of the grape itself, but it's going to be a beautiful wine."

The particular vintage is not on the list yet as he just put it in the bottle a few days ago, but let me tell you that this wine did smell fabulous.  It had a delicate floral character to it. It was beautiful and had the makings of a good wine. I'm definitely going back to get it when he's ready to sell that vintage.

Another vintage that had both Wragg and Alvarez talking is the winery's Mouvedre. It's still in the barrel, but they will let you taste it (and buy it) as part of their futures.

"This is not a French wine. We are not going to be anything French. We are going to be what these grapes are. The Mouvedre here is light and it is a wonderful little wine," Alvarez said.

Another very tasty future they have to offer is their Cabernet Sauvignon. It's planted at an elevation of 2960 feet which Alvarez says is the highest Cabernet in the country. In fact, the vines in that area get three more hours of sun compared to the rest of his property: one extra hour at dawn and two hours more before the sun sets.

"It has magnificent exposure. It is our best lot. I have 250 acres here and those are the best acres of the entire property," Alvarez said. "This is a French high altitude Cabernet. We spent two years looking for it before we planted."

After tasting the cabernet from the barrel, the sommelier was surprised at how smooth the wine was compared to its age.

"It doesn't have that green taste a wine this age usually has. I'm excited to see how this one be when it matures," Wragg said.

While the Zinfandels, Barbera and the futures are all worth trying, it was Miraflores' sweet wines that were most memorable. It may because Alvarez tries to stay true to the wine by using traditional grapes or it could because of the passion his winemaker has for sweet wines. In either case, the wines were impressive.

"Marco is the probably the best sweet winemaker in the country and he loves them," Alvarez said.

The first one we tried was their 2008 Botricelli which was a Sauterne model and an 80/20 Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Alvarez makes only 240 cases a year of this wine. But OMG...this wine was soooo good.  I ended up taking a bottle home with me and wish I bought more. It's like drinking a little piece of heaven.

"It spends three years in a French barrel. It's not quite 100 percent because there is a little bit of Hungarian. The reason we do that is because we want to distance ourselves from others doing this wine," Alvarez said.

The next wine was the Black Muscat, which smelled like violets. It was smooth, with a long incredible finish. This one was also fantastic.  I loved the violet smell and it tasted really good.  I almost bought this one too, but held back.  Now I'm regretting the decision and may have to go back for it.

"This fruit is bought from a guy who has only one acre of this grape and we buy his entire production. This is a wine that we make as a port-style. When the sugar reaches 11, we pick it up with brandy up to 18 percent alcohol," Alvarez said.

Then there was the port. Port is made with the two main sources of port in Portugal: Tinta Cao and Touriga Nacional. Alvarez has made sure that his port uses those fruits.

"I don't want to do Mickey Mouse stuff. We're going to do good Zinfandels and good sweet wines. We are not going to make a Zinfandel with a sweet wine," Alvarez said.

Wragg agrees that using the traditional grapes could be working in Alvarez's favor. The Botricelli, Black Muscat and port were three wines that he says winelovers should try when visiting Miraflores.

"It's cool that he is trying to make port with the real grapes. Some people make port from Zinfandel so it is Zinfandel port, but he's actually bringing in the Portuguese fruit. He has gone out of his way. There is probably no one else in this area growing Touriga Nacional," Wragg said.

So in addition to the sweet wines, what were Wragg's other picks?

"The Zinfandels had really nice bouquets and aromas that aren't average. There were pretty, delicate bouquets on the wines we tasted that would please the Zinfandel lover," Wragg said. "But I'm also excited about their futures. I'd like to check out the Mouvedre and Cab again when they're ready. They should be interesting."

The next winery was Sierra Vista. Hoping to have blog ready for you tomorrow.