We waited in line to bottle some wine. With the annual grape
harvest complete, Guglielmo Winery
’s “cork-equity” gala served as a lively celebration of this
fall’s successful South Valley grape harvest.
We waited in line to bottle some wine.
With the annual grape harvest complete, Guglielmo Winery’s “cork-equity” gala served as a lively celebration of this fall’s successful South Valley grape harvest.
More than 300 people came to the beautiful Tuscan-style winery to sample rich red wine, cheeses and freshly grilled Italian sausage.
A wine-fanatical friend told me about this family-style wine party where customers bottle their own vino – some even designing personalized labels to create an extra special gift for the holidays. At $5 for a standard-size bottle of wine, or $10 for a 1.5 liter bottle, who could go wrong? I signed up for two 1.5 liters of the Petite Sirah and queued up with other wine lovers.
While we waited, we listened to the sweet-stringed Italian songs of mandolin player Carmelo Sarconi. He flew up from San Diego for the one-day event.
With Sarconi’s lilting music in the background, I chatted with the couple ahead. Kevin and Cynthia McKinley, encouraged by their Morgan Hill pal Kristine Alvarez, told me they’d driven down from San Jose for the day’s wine celebration.
“Gigs like this are great,” Kevin said, holding a glass of red in his hand. He eagerly admitted he was a connoisseur of fine wine.
And his opinion of the Guglielmo wine served that day? He took a small taste and gave his verdict: “Fairly strong in the tannic. That’ll make it go fairly well with beef.”
The McKinley couple planned to fill up 18 bottles at the event, Cynthia told me.
“They’re going to make great Christmas gifts,” she said.
Alvarez planned to serve her self-bottled wine during holiday dinners.
The line moved forward into the winery’s barrel storage room. The distinct sweet-must odor of fermenting grapes filled the almost chilly atmosphere.
I turned to the woman behind me. Marian Ealey flew all the way from Keokuk, Iowa, (population 4,000) to help Sheila Ealey, her Morgan Hill daughter-in-law, fill up 40 bottles of cork equity wine for holiday gifts. Well, OK. Marian also came to celebrate the wedding anniversary of Sheila and her son Paul Ealey that weekend.
“It’s fun,” Marian said, gazing at the buzz of busy bottlers around the warehouse. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s so nice.”
We inched forward in the line. At a nearby table, people carefully stuck ornately decorated labels on the curved glass. One man’s bottle started tumbling out of his hand. I winced as glass and Petite Sirah exploded across the concrete floor.
“Adios, vino,” I muttered sadly, staring at the liquid loss.
The McKinleys and Alvarez now started their wine bottling process. Alvarez inserted the open end of one of her bottles into a straw-shaped metal spigot. The wine automatically started filling inside.
“Whoever came up with this idea was really thinking,” Alvarez said enthusiastically. “This is not their premium wine, but it’s good wine. And for $5 a bottle, you can’t beat the price.”
Soon my turn came to fill my two bottles. It was so easy a child could do it. And at a spigot nearby, I noticed a child filling a bottle: Marian Ealey’s 5-year-old great-grandson Ryan Fleming.
When my bottles were full, I placed them on a table next to the corking contraption where winery co-owner Gary Guglielmo diligently worked. His happy face beamed in a grin, and his hands flew at an assembly-line pace as bottles passed through the machine to received their stoppage. We chatted briefly about the autumn grape harvest, and he encouraged me to talk to his brother, wine-maker George Guglielmo for more specific details.
After my two bottles were corked, I laid them gently on a table and soon had them proudly labeled (one label accidentally placed upside down): Calvacade, Central Coast Cellar Red, Red Table Wine.
Outside the warehouse at the cheese and sausage tasting table, I chatted with several wine lovers. Jack and Leslie Collins told me they’d traveled that morning from Grass Valley in the Sierra foothills just to be at the event.
“We left at 6 o’clock this morning to get here,” Leslie said. “And I feel like I’m in Italy – it’s so beautiful here.”
The couple had filled 30 bottles of the wine, Jack said. They had personalized them with a label reading: ‘Merry Christmas from the Collins.’
Their inspiration for coming? Last year, their friend, Morgan Hill artist Susan Gagnier sent them a gift wine bottle with a label she had created.
Later I talked with George Guglielmo. He informed me 720 gallons of wine were sold at Saturday’s cork equity event.
“The yield was down a little bit, but the quality is very good,” he told me about his overall harvest. “But overall, the quality of the wine is exceptional.”
Guglielmo said he was particularly proud of this year’s Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. They’ll be ready for purchase in two years, he said.
In phone interviews, other South Valley winemakers also gave their various verdicts of this autumn’s harvest.
Gino Fortino, owner and winemaker at Hecker Pass’s Fortino Winery said, “The crop came in lighter this year, but it’s a pretty nice quality.”
His Merlot wines will be exceptional this year, Fortino said.
At the Solis Winery in Gilroy, winemaker David Vanni said October’s rain had little effect on his grape quality. About 90 percent of the crop came in before the storms hit.
The rain did make a mess during the picking.
“It made a real mud hole for us,” Vanni said. “We played in a lot of mud.”
Before Thanksgiving, Solis will bring out some of its 2004 wines priced between $10 and $14. These include Muscats, Rieslings and Vino Roseo (blush wines).
“These are sweeter wines. They’re nicer for people who don’t like reds,” Vanni said. ‘’They work well with turkey.”
San Benito County Wine also turned out very fine. Vineyard owner and winemaker Joseph Gimelli at the Pietra Santa Winery – in Cienaga Valley south of Hollister – said this year’s yields were lower than normal, but that’s because he cut back the fruit on the vine during the summer. This concentrated the sugars in the grapes.
“The quality (of wine) is one of the greatest years ever,” he said enthusiastically.
He expects to make about 30,000 cases of wine including Merlot, Cabernet, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and old vine Zinfandel.
And if you’re curious about the two bottles of red wine I filled at the Guglielmo Winery last Saturday, those were shared with friends on Thanksgiving Day. We lifted our glasses above the turkey and I gave a toast attributed to wine connoisseur Benjamin Franklin: “God made wine to gladden the heart of man.”
In the South Valley during harvest time it’s truly obvious: Wine is a sign Mother Nature wishes for us the happiness of life.
Guglielmo Winery’s cork equity event is held quarterly. The next one is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 19. For more details, call (408) 779-2145.
