Tagged: Scheid

Celebrating 4 Years of Decanting Monterey!

Today marks the 4th Anniversary of Decanting Monterey, A Central Coast Wine Blog! I am still pursuing my passion to expose others to the depth and quality of our Monterey/Central Coast wines, often under-appreciated by wine snobs.  I like to champion our vintners and their wines out purely as a hobby, not for profit. And I appreciate each and every one of you who are reading my stories!

A BRIEF RECAP OF THE LAST 4 YEARS:

Year 1: Deep in the unvaccinated period of the pandemic in July 2020, Decanting Monterey initially was focused on wines from our own collection sampled at home, with or without our neighboring friends and our daughters, who quickly became known as the COVID Wine Pod. It was 2 posts per week and, mostly, one wine at a time. Back then, some wineries had just reopened with their COVID procedures and we still weren’t venturing out much. I also established the @decantingmonterey Facebook page.

During Year 2, as we became fully vaccinated and boosted – and double boosted, we were able to get out to more local wineries at a more deliberate pace. And the COVID Wine Pod was renamed the Decanting Monterey Wine Pod! I also moved to a single post per week and presented a single wine class to my old DC wine group. Most of the posts were based on event-driven or winery tastings and fewer individual, cellar-driven posts.  And I started the @decanting_monterey Instagram feed.

During Year 3, I was able to get recognition as an entity with some stature behind it. Our local Monterey Chapter of the American Wine Society invited me to join them as a Board Advisor. As a result, I arranged 8 of their monthly events. I presented our Monterey wines to 3 classes: in Washington DC, in Northern Virginia, and to the Carmel Rotary! I covered 2 local wine events: the Santa Lucia Highlands Sun, Wind & Wine Festival and the Monterey Winemakers Celebration.

During Year 4, my exposure and stature grew significantly:

  • Decanting Monterey was nominated for Best Local Blog in the Monterey County Weekly’s 2023 “Best of” competition and for Best Monterey Wine Blog for the LUXLife Hospitality Award 2024.

I have some high-level stats to share with you about Year Four of Decanting Monterey!

  • www.decantingmonterey.com surpassed the 15,000 “views” mark! This statistic is very important to me.  If you are seeing my blog on social media or via email, please be sure to click the link and open it!
  • 376 wines were presented on Decanting Monterey for the first time.

  • 292 red wines were presented, as well as 111 whites, 31 rosés, and a few oranges – including 12 sparkling wines. Yes, this is the real math – it includes some wines presented before.
  • Wines from 9 California counties are represented, with 284 from Monterey, 38 from San Luis Obispo (Paso Robles wine country!), 20 from San Benito, 12 from Santa Cruz, and 4 from Santa Clara, and a few from Napa and Sonoma. 

  • In addition, 16 wines carried the Central Coast designation, plus 4 labeled as California wines.
  • Finally, there were 36 wines from Croatia, 6from Spain, and 5 from Oregon!
  • Wines from 8 of the 10 Monterey American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) were covered, with the most from the Santa Lucia Highlands and Carmel Valley.

  • Thanks to the larger tasting events, I presented many, many wineries for the first time and also visited the Austin Harlow and Comanche Cellars tasting rooms for the first time.
Austin Harlow/Mid Life Crisis Wines
Comanche Cellars

If you are an avid reader, then you know I love to read the crop reports.  According to the recently-released 2023 Monterey County Crop Report:

  • Grapes went up in ranking from 7th place from 2022 to 5th place in 2023, behind strawberries, broccoli, and leaf and head lettuces.
  • Acreage of planted grapes declined from 41,480 in 2022 to 40,200 in 2023.
  • Grape crop value increased from $173,789,000 in 2022 to $194,642,000 in 2023. Woohoo!!

While I have some posts already queued up for Year 5, let me ask my mighty readers:  Where should I visit next?  Please leave me a comment on this post and let me know what some of your favorite, local places are to wine taste that I should not miss in Year 3! I have a list of not-yet-covered wine tasting rooms and other wine venues to check out – happy to add to it.  I don’t know what I don’t know. 

And, if you have not signed up for my free, weekly blog email, I encourage you to do so – the subscription button is on the right-hand side of each page of the Decanting Monterey website. I judge how well I am doing by how many views, subscribers, and comments I receive.  Please help me spread the word and please feel free to comment on my posts! And follow my Facebook (@DecantingMonterey) and Instagram (@decanting_monterey) sites.

I don’t want to leave today’s post without expressing my gratitude to those vintners who have comped me wine tastings, given me discounts, and especially those who have donated bottles of wine! I am grateful to Bernardus, Corral Wine Co., McIntyre Vineyards, Parsonage, Rombi and Scheid for their generosity this year in donated wines or steep discounts. Also grateful to Kim Stemler and the Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association for their support – what a great resource! And to Erin O’Reilly of tèr·ra·ve·nos for her partnership and advice as we navigate this world of wine.  And, of course, the Decanting Monterey Wine Pod who make this all tons of fun!

So, here we go – Year 5!  I’m not sure I can top Year 4, but I am excited for the upcoming 31st Annual Monterey Winemakers Celebration! Hope to see you there!

And, to all my readers, thanks for your support to me on this crazy journey.

© Decanting Monterey 2024

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Scheid Vineyards: Innovative Twist on an Austrian Classic

When my DC wine class suggested we do a Grüner Veltliner a few weeks ago, my reaction was “A what?”  It was explained to me that it is an Austrian varietal.  I replied, “I’ll never find an Austrian wine here.”  One of my friends suggested that this grape is probably grown in California.  Lo and behold!  100 acres are planted right here in Monterey County!  I learned Scheid is one of the growers and a quick check of their web page confirmed a current release!  I placed my order over the phone and picked up the order at their Carmel-By-The-Sea tasting room. 

The Beautiful Scheid Tasting Room in Carmel-By-The-Sea

We’ve been acquainted with Scheid wines for some time.  You can’t drive down 101 through the Salinas Valley without seeing acre after acre of Scheid grapes – all the way down to the San Luis Obispo border (at least that’s what it seems!). In fact, according to their website, they own “12 estate vineyards located along a 70-mile stretch of the Salinas Valley.”

Condensed from Scheid Vineyards:  Al Scheid was a pioneer in the Monterey wine industry, planting vineyards back in 1972.  With investment partners and known as the Monterey Farming Corporation, they sold 100% of their grapes.  In the early 1990s, they decided to replant and produce wines under their own label. 

Scheid 2018 Grüner Veltliner, Monterey AVA, 14.5% ABV, $24 (Outbreak Wine #130)                      

From Scheid Vineyards “Grüner Veltliner accounts for approximately one-third of all the wine grapes grown in Austria, and is widely planted in the Czech Republic and Slovakia as well, but just under 100 acres are estimated to be planted in California. We planted our first Grüner vines in 2010 because, truthfully, our winemaking team wanted it. See, they’re wine geeks. And wine geeks love Grüner because it has a wonderful spicy minerality combined with pop rock acidity, it’s über aromatic, and it’s a great wine to pair with food. So their wish was granted (they are a hard team to say ‘no’ to) and 2018 marks our sixth vintage of this delicious varietal…” 

Satisfying the curiosity of Scheid’s wine geeks results in a Monterey-style Grüner Veltliner.

The winemaking: “The handpicked grapes were whole cluster pressed and the juice was then lightly pressed. The juice was then cold settled to remove the excess pulp, which prevents the yeast from being stressed and allows for a clean fermentation. The juice was slowly fermented entirely in stainless steel at a very cold temperature to enhance the fruit esters and preserve the varietal aromatics. It was aged in 100% stainless steel for 3 months. The result is a refreshing, fruit-packed wine with a medium-bodied finish bursting with citrus and lively acidity.” 139 cases.

The label says: “The cool climate of our Riverview Vineyard allows for slow ripening and preserves the intense fruit flavors and loads of bright citrus with tropical fruit and honey notes that lead into a clean, crisp finish.” 88 points, Vinous

My Review:  The Scheid version of this varietal is reminiscent to me of a Viognier.  Magnolia on the nose, honey and lemony/grapefruit on the palate, with a slight lime zest finish.  This wine is both sweet and tart.  The 14.5% alcohol means this is a bigger, sweeter version of a Grüner Veltliner than you would ever find in Austria.  August 2020

You can order Scheid wines directly from their webpage.  Their tasting rooms have been open daily for outdoor tasting.  Please be sure to call them to confirm.   You can make a reservation and get more info here:  Visit Scheid

© Decanting Monterey 2020

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