Tom Kruse moved to California and started his winery west of Gilroy in the southern Santa Clara Valley in 1972.  I first tasted his wines in the tasting room in 1974.  Somehow he recruited volunteers for his first harvest and that has been in his business model ever since. This past harvest we were waiting to volunteer for his Cab harvest but he was over-subscribed before we knew the date and we missed the party.

Tom’s winery is now east of Gilroy.  You taste in the working winery and the tasting “bar” is often staffed by volunteers on the weekends. Tom is usually wandering around and often has time for impromptu tours.

Katya learns Merlot harvesting from Tom Kruse.

This is about as close to a do-it-yourself winery as there is. You can help with harvest, crush, and bottling.  The BYOB event with food and music is always popular.  Bring your own bottles or buy them there and fill a case.

We believe Tom’s full-bodied wines are some of the best we’ve had anywhere. His unoaked Chard is bright and fresh.   His Cabs are robust from the nose to the finish but the tannins won’t burn your throat.  His Zin is consistently full of fruit and dry.  Merlot tends to have a little more body and flavor than most Merlots and we taste lots of them.

Prices for Tom’s wines are some of the lowest in the state.  Case specials as low as $5 a bottle aren’t rare.  The best deals are buying a case or more of course but even the bottle purchases won’t hurt.

For an old-time winery adventure stop by and see Tom.

- jim

Recently we drove to Livermore for a photo-shoot at Tenuta’s winery, a favorite.  Since we were in the area we decided to explore Deer Ridge Vineyards, a newer winery with nice Tuscan architecture.

Deer Ridge winery, tasting room, and events area.

Besides the pleasent ambiance and very friendly staff they have a nice choice of wines available.  In the last few days we’ve worked over their 2004 Livermore Valley Cab and a killer “Chocolate Silk” Port from Madera grapes. Their Port is VERY addicting

Their Cabs work for us. We like decent nose, full body, and a long finish. Wines have been softened so much for the broader market that we struggle to find interesting reds.

We enjoyed all of their wines but especially the Cabs, Merlot, Zin, and a Pinot with great aroma.  The selection should please most tasters.

The staff is friendly and talkative.  The tasting bar is curved and comfortable.  There is a little art gallery in the hall and sometimes in the meeting hall during events.  Outside is a patio with a nice view of the mountains.

Adjacent to the winery is an early California style  2 bedroom guest house.  It is new, beautiful, has a great view, and a large oak shelters it.  $375 for the first night is probably competitive. We would love to hang out there for a week – with a good stock of Deer Ridge wine.

- jim

Little Satori Cellars is a new winery north-east of Gilroy in the southern Santa Clara Valley.  They are only open the 3rd weekend of the month now but intend to be open on all weekends starting in July 2010.  Please visit their WineQuesters.com profile for much more information.

We were driving along a back road after visiting the Tom Kruse Winery when I decided to drop by Satori to see if they were open on a Sunday afternoon.  We stumbled into a winery event.  We were handed a string of beads to exchange for glasses of wine.  There were a lot more beads on our string than our ability to drink wine.

The lawn area was surrounded by crafts booths and a band played at the far end.  I pretty much focused on the wines and BS’ing with the locals, including a Gallo. This event was more social than many I’ve attended in the Gilroy area.

We came home with their attractively labeled Oh-So Zin, Cabernet Sauvignon of the Blue Hand, and Estate Merlot of the Violet Flame – all 2006.  These are quality wines with good structure and moderate nose, body, and finish.   We will definitely drop by and purchase more of their wine.  Maybe we can exchange some nice glass beads for wine.

- jim

While I’m primarily focused on wine tasting road trips I like to mention special wines that I pick up along the trails.  One of those is Chateau Christina Cab from the Pedregal Vineyard in San Benito County near Salinas, CA.

This vineyard sits on the famous San Andreas Fault and the soil has been churned for millions of years.  I’m finding a very dry Cab with noticeable tannins that is a bit different than the mainsteam Cabs. On day 2 of tasting it holds up great and becomes more interesting.

This wine is available in the Joyce Vineyards tasting room in the Village of Carmel Valley in Monterey County.

You may want to play with this one. Much more fun than most.

- jim