SacWineRegion Save Mart Supermarkets

I stopped by WineStyles in Granite Bay today to visit Julie, a good friend of mine, (the owner) and as we were talking Hugh Heringer of Heringer Estates brought by two wines from his own label, Twisted Rivers.  I knew very little about these wines so it was quite fun to taste them without any pre-conceived notions.  If you've not heard about them, check out the Heringer Estates website at www.heringerestates.com.  This website gives a great background on the family who has farmed the same land in Clarksburg for 140 years.  Pretty interesting stuff especially for local wine and history buffs.  Twisted Rivers has a website to but it's basically just a photo of the wines with the contact info, www.twistedrivers.com.

To the wine...

Twisted River Petite Sirah (correct spelling from label)

After I tasted it, I asked Hugh to describe what he tasted in the wine to me.  His response was, "soft tannins, big-blackberry flavors, forward fruit with spice and a small chew through the center".  I agree with most of his comments, however, what I liked most about the wine was that even though it had ripe, forward fruit, I wouldn't consider it a "fruit bomb."  Personally, I don't like fruit bombs.  If I want pure fruit, I prefer to eat it in a grape, peach, pear, apple, etc.  I like my wines to have some substance and this one did.  But not too much substance...I don't like hot, ripe wines (kind of already said that...).  The alcohol in this wine is only 14.5 percent.  Twenty-years ago, when I first started writing about wine, if I had to qualify wine alcohol with "only" before 14.5%, people would have gasped.  In other words, in our day and age, 14.5% is low.  And, I LIKE MY WINE ALCOHOLS LOW.  I want my wines to go with food not over power them.  Frankly, I liked this wine.

Local places you can find it:

Ruth Chris

Roxie's

L Bar

The Lounge On 20^th

Piatti's (on Douglas, Roseville)

California Café

Riverside

Biba's

and soon, WineStyles in Granite Bay.  By the way, if you haven't been in there yet, stop by.  You get personal service and great wines.  Ask to see the wines in the cellar!