September 22, 2004
Harvest CrunchAll the fruit is ripening at once. The Labor Day weekend hot spell brought all those grape sugars up. And wineries-big and small-are crushing grapes around the clock. During the recent hot spell, Los Alamos temperatures were actually higher than temps in the Santa Ynez Valley. And when daytime highs hit the 90s in both Santa Maria and Santa Barbara, you know it’s hot!
I wish to share the following essay with you. It was written by Brad Brown, a friend from the Los Angeles area who does my website, and somebody whom I have known since the early 90s. I think the first time we ever met, I was selling wine, and sent him and his wife to the Casmalia Hitching Post for the restaurant’s ribs and fries. The rest has been history--
Small Wineries, Big Experiences
Good wine comes from a confluence of factors! If you have a head cold, forget wine, the smell (‘nose’) is half the experience (along with the growing, tending to and bottling). There’s a ‘third half,’ however, that can be just as much a part of the experience of good wine as anything else-the events surrounding the purchase and consumption of the wine. My wife and I will never forget the first case of ‘fine wine’ we purchased when we had only recently met, or the final bottle we drank from that case many years later.
Buying from small wineries can provide similar experiences. In these tasting rooms, often you are met by the owner/winemakers themselves, people who take particular pride in their wine. When there is a choice between two ‘equal’ wines one might choose that from the small producer with whom you have met and enjoyed their company over a wine from a more or less faceless, large producer.
A good example is the Fratelli Perata Winery in Paso Robles. This small, family run vineyard & winery has been growing grapes since 1980. Searching states along the entire U.S. west coast, the Perata Brothers (‘Fratelli Perata’ in Italian) found a hilltop site with a perfect sunny climate, cooled by Pacific breezes. Just right not just for the grapes but also as it was very much like the ancestral winemaking home in Italy. At the time there were few vineyards anywhere in San Luis Obispo County (the prescient Perata’s are now surrounded by grapes and wineries). Each vine was planted by a family member and has been guided through the years by owner/winemaker/vineyard manager Gino Perata.
Known for their award-winning long-lived, big red wines, intended to be paired and consumed with food, you are likely to be met upon arrival by Carol Perata, Gino’s wife (or in the summer, by Cathy, their middle daughter, currently attending U.C. Davis studying winemaking) who is more likely than not carrying cheese, sausages or other hors d'oeuvres to match the wines. Carol might spend an hour pouring, talking about foods that show off her Zinfandel, Cabernet, Sangiovese, French-styled Merlot, and Super-Tuscan and Bordeaux-style blends (among others). When you leave you might just think you are one of the family, in keeping with the Perata’s motto: ‘friends, family and wine.’
The experience of the very small winery is one often not forgotten amidst the huge producers and large tasting rooms. I highly recommend searching them out! And a word of advice: many of these wineries ask that you ‘call for an appointment’ (mostly because somebody needs to be around to pour). Don’t be bashful! They really do want you to drop by.
Fratelli Perata Winery is located at 1595 Arbor Road, off Highway 46 West in Paso Robles. And yes, it’s a good idea to call first: (805) 238-2809.
Salud!
Wine lover and Santa Maria Times Wine columnist, Bob Senn, lives in the bucolic Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium. Brad Brown has been the webmaster for the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium since 1996.
