Probably the best kept secret about Sacramento is that there are flourishing vineyards basically in your backyard.  Many people are surprised to find out that all along the Delta are amazing wineries.  The biggest of them all is Bogle Winery (www.boglewinery.com) however there are many that line the delta that are much smaller.  My favorite place to take out of town guests is The Old Sugar Mill (www.oldsugarmill.com).  Located in Clarksburg County, The Old Sugar Mill is just that – an old sugar mill converted into 6 tasting rooms for the little guys around here.   I am a member of the Heringer Estates Wine Club (www.heringerestates.com) and had the pleasure of attending their first ever Eco Cask Wine Blending Event at The Old Sugar Mill.

As a Closetnista, a wine blending party is right up my ally.  It was important that my outfit matched the event and so I chose to wear a silk black spaghetti strap maxi dress by Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent paired with an ivory scarf that was beaded on the trim.  I added a long chain necklace that was two toned and simple Tory Burch black sandals.  Simple but classy and yet still understated…just like the wine community!

An Eco Cask is their jug of table wine that holds 2.5 bottles of wine.  About 60 of us gathered to help decide what their next Eco Cask wine would be.   We started out with 3 wines – 09′Syrah, 09′ Cabernet Franc, and the 09′ Petite Verdot.  First we had to each taste and write a description for ourselves what each one was like.  I was literally trying to think of all the buzz wine words you use but then you realize that everyone’s palate is different.  It’s amazing how different our opinions were of each wine.

As a table, we came up with 3 blends.  We agreed on different percentages of each wine for each blend.  Then we picked our favorite and adjusted those percentages to come up with 3 more blends.  By the end there were 7 tables each with 6 different blends.  Each table collectively agreed on one blend to send to the other tables for tasting.  Ours was 20% Syrah, 20% Cabernet Franc and 60% Petite Verdot.  It was our first blend and our favorite one of the 6.

Now, you would think this would be super easy.  But as the night went on, your palate gets confused and what you once thought tasted amazing was now too spicy or vice versa.  My brain could not think of any more adjectives to keep all the wines separated in my head.  But to be honest, they all tasted pretty good so I wasn’t too particular which one would win.

 At the end, we all voted on the best of each table.  Our table came in 2nd place and surprisingly none of us voted for ours in the finale.  That just shows you how hard it is to recognize all the different blends.  It was such a great event and I look forward to next years.  Maybe in a years time, I will have developed my palate so that I can keep all the wines separated and distinct in my head!

To a Fabulous Closet,