Livermore AVA

My status as someone who had never been to the Livermore had started to become a blemish on my reputation as a wine-o. I travel around the world in search of great wine but had never gone to an AVA (est. 1982) located just an hour from my house. So when a group of coworkers decided to plan an excursion, I quickly raised my hand.

Background

I prepared for my visit by reading as much information on the AVA as I could find. I was shocked to learn that the first grapes were first planted here by Robert Livermore in the 1840s and that Wente and Concannon Wineries have been in existence since 1883–through prohibition! In the early 1960s, Livermore had as much area under vine as Napa Valley but it never took off in popularity the way Napa and Sonoma did.

In terms of terroir, the most unique feature seems to be that the valley runs east to west, which makes it a wind tunnel by later afternoon. High winds can actually shut down a vine and result in a longer growing period and temperatures can drop by a full 50° at night thanks to the cooling breezes of the Bay.

As I pulled off the highway into Livermore I must admit my first impression was bot the best. “Holy Suburbia Batman!” I screamed. There’s an In’n’Out and a Chic-fil-A and even an outlet mall. But as I meandered farther from the city center I was presented with beautiful rolling hills covered with vines.

McGrail Vineyards

McGrail Vineyards was probably the most commercial of the venues we visited that day. It’s certainly set up for entertainment with a large front lawn, a bocce court, and reservable cabanas.

We started with the Peyton Paige Sauvignon Blanc, which was crisp and refreshing as we made our way to the covered patio. We chose the Elevated Tasting which included five different cabernets and basically a crash course in the effects of different types of oak on wine. We started with the reserve which uses three different types of oak, then we went through three cabs which used each type of oak (Patriot = American, Jo Elete = Hungarian, James Vincent = French) and finally returned to the Clone 30 which used all three.

When I asked about the aging process I think my jaw hit the floor. 30-35 months in new oak. I couldn’t have heard right. No, 30 months. Yes, it’s new. Are you using tun-sized? Nope… the “regular size” pointing to barriques. Oh my. That can’t be true.

McGrail was hosting a Bubbles and Beats party so we opted to add on a bottle of the Gracie Dry Brut. Fun trivia: Gracie and Peyton and Paige are all grandchildren. There are eight in total, which explains the name of the Lucky 8 vineyard.

Steven Kent

McGrail Vineyards used to sell their grapes to Steven Kent, so it seemed a natural extension of our wine tasting journey. The winey is owned by Steven Mirassou, a 6th generation wine maker, whose name you might recognize from the Gallo roster. Don’t be confused like us and try to walk in the front door, the tasting room is located in the (ver much unfinished) garage.

We started our tasting with a splash of sparkling wine made from 100% Pinot Noir while we were shown to our table. (Some people like that barnyard bouquet I guess).

We opted for the Allocation Flight ($60pp) which consisted of four pours nicely set out with a slightly too small label placemat. Of the four pours we had two “premier” cabernets sauvignons (2019 & 2020), one Lineage, and one l’Autre Côte. Now when someone says “right bank blend,” I normally think Merlot but this was 75% Cabernet Franc and the rest Cab Sauvignon. IT was herbaceous, with green bell pepper on the nose, red fruit(cherry!) and tobacco on the palate. Sadly I felt it was missing the back end.

My favorite was easily the Lineage this was almost entirely Cabernet Sauvignon mixed with other borders varietals (minus Malbec). It smelled of smoked paprika on the nose, and had a spicy palette with red fruit, some tobacco, and a touch cocoa. Sadly, it was incredibly overpriced at $185.

Cuda Ridge Wines

Our last stop of the day was at Cuda Ridge Wines. Founded in 2007 by Larry and Margie Dino legend has it that the winery was named after the owners’ barracuda!

We chose the standard indoor tasting. I much would have preferred to sit outside on the patio say the intense heat as the acoustics in the “gallery room” were HORRENDOUS. It was almost too loud to enjoy our wine. …Almost ;)

I was impressed by the Malbec (90pts from WE). Grown in the foothills, it spends 18 months in 32% new American oak. It was extremely purple color, had lovely anise notes on the nose and a smokey red fruit mid palate.

Next, our delightful server, David allowed us to do a fun side-by-side of two of their Cabernet Sauvignon’s. It was so fun to see which people in our groups preferred the big, bold New World style versus the more restrained Old World. I opted for the BDX (short for Bordeaux) which smelled of oregano, black pepper, and thyme and had tons of blackberry on the palate. Although I don’t think ti could handle a steak, it did have a full story and would go lovely with lamb.

We finished up with the Petit Verdot, you could wee where it had leant its qualities to improve the Bordeaux blend But I found it as a solitary varietal to be too dry with no backend. (There’s a reason it’s primarily a blending grape!)

Range Life

We finished our day back in downtown Livermore with an early dinner at Range Life, chosen from the 2022 MICHELIN Guide California Bib Gourmand list. The restaurant does not have parking but we easily found some across the street at an unpaved lot. Our group sat in the quiet backyard area which was lovely and shaded from the sun.

We chose a variety of dishes: oysters, salads, pork belly, halibut. You name it, it was perfectly made and the service was impeccable. The one drawback were all the flies which seemed equally interested in our tempting dishes. Also of note, the Reserve Cabernet at McGrail was $48 and only $49 at Range Life. I was also delighted see our old friend Bucklin’s wine on the bottle list!

DYK Livermore Trivia

-Wente’s Clone 4 is the most widely-planted Chardonnay clone in California.

-The first bottling of Petite Sarah in the US was in Livermore.