Greetings,
I often think that I have one of the most exciting and fun jobs here at Vinesse, as I get to scour the planet for the wines that we feature in our wine programs. While I was recently on a Vinesse Wine buying trip in San Luis Obispo, CA, I stopped by and spent a few hours in the barrel room with Mike Sinor of Sinor-LaVallee Winery / Bassi Vineyard fame. While the green tea was brewing I suggested that we put some Junior Brown music on the play list. I knew that our members would love to hear a bit directly from Mike, the owner and proprietor of Sinor-LaVallee Winery, so I spent some time chatting with him about his wine adventures.
Here are some excerpts from the conversation with my name twin, Mike Sinor.
Cheers,
Mike Gwin, Wine Buyer
One of Mike’s Most Exciting Travel Adventures
“Something fun recently for Cheri and I was we took a group of our wine clubbers up the Douro River in Portugal and Spain on a luxury boat cruise with AmaWaterways. Highlights were the tapas bars and getting to visit a fighting bull farm where they raise Spanish fighting bulls. Something you don’t see all the time. It was a blast to have our wines on the boat and to compare them to the wines of Spain and Portugal.”
Excitement in the Paso Robles Area
“We would love to invite Vinesse members to enjoy a walk or bike ride on our local outdoor favorite the Bob Jones “City to Sea” trail. The trail starts 3 miles inland from Avila Beach pretty close to our Bassi Estate Vineyard. It is a paved, county maintained trail that is closed to motor vehicles. The best part is that as the trail comes into the town of Avila Beach our tasting room is located on the left at 550 First St. Avila Beach, Ca. Open 12-6:00 p.m., 7 days a week.”
Something Fun at Sinor-LaValle Winery
“As far as new and exciting releases, our Ancestrale has been winning a lot of fans. It is 100% Pinot Noir made using the old/new technique of Methode Ancestrale. We pick very early in the season (17-18 brix) and tank ferment it until its almost dry. We bottle it with just a small amount of natural sugar from the grape and let that finish in the bottle and create the carbonation (known as being bottle conditioned in the beer world). It drinks closer to a cider then it does a California sparkling wine.”
Keep enjoying the good life.
