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Ironstone Vineyards located in Gold Rush territory

By Tom Marquardt and Patrick Darr
The Wine Guys

We recently had the opportunity to meet with Stephen Kautz, president of Ironstone Vineyards of Murphy’s, California.

Located at 2,400 feet in the Sierra Foothills wine region in Calaveras County, this is historic Gold Rush territory where the days are warm but the nearby mountains provide cooling breezes at night.

The winery is really an all-encompassing entertainment complex with a 6,500-seat amphitheater that hosts popular summertime concerts such as Bryan Adams, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Vince Gill. You will also find landscaped gardens, a heritage museum that houses the world’s largest single example of crystalline gold, a 44-pound specimen that was discovered a few miles from the winery.

The Kautz family operates all of the facilities and provides all of the food and beverage needs for the facilities as well including the 50 or so weddings that they host per year.

We had met Stephen about six years ago and remember fondly the Ironstone Obsession white wine . Made from the symphony grape — a cross between grenache gris and muscat of Alexandria. This off-dry wine is an incredible value and is pretty much guaranteed to please everyone. It has peach and tropical fruit flavors with some spiciness that reminds you a bit of gewürztraminer.

The purpose of our meeting was to taste the new line of Christine Andrew wines that have just been released. The name comes from two of the members of the fourth generation of the Kautz family, which is currently one of the top 10 wine-growing families in the U.S.

Stephen was “proud they are varietally correct” and believes that practicing “sustainable viticulture winegrowing” are paying off with better quality wine grapes.

Our favorites of the Christine Andrew wines were the Petite Sirah Lodi 2004 , which exhibited a baked fruit pie nose, and hints of herbs and leather with nice plumy fruit.

We also enjoyed the Malbec Lodi 2004 which is not commonly grown in California . Very ripe blueberry and cherry fruit with a hint of earth create a very easy to drink harmonious wine.
Our favorite was the Tempranillo Lodi 2005 . We loved the complexity of this wine made from a grape, which is more commonly found in Spain. Medium bodied, with wild cherry and plum fruit flavors that finish with nice creamy vanillin oak. This is a highly recommended wine and worth seeking out.

We also enjoyed the Ironstone Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Sierra Foothills 2003. Classy cassis, cherry nose. Big in style, but still in balance, with lots of layers of flavors and complexity. Ready to drink now.

In addition, we liked the Ironstone Vineyards Reserve Meritage Calaveras County 2004 . This is a much bigger wine than the others we tasted with bigger tannins, that will take time to resolve, and good palate-cleansing acidity. Hints of olive in the nose with a black cherry nose and flavors in the mouth, and layers of flavors and complexity make this a wine that you could drink now with a well-marbled steak or hold for 3-5 years.

參考網址:http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/features/local_story_297115612.html