Wine Tasting in Temecula #2... Palumbo

Having worked in Temecula for five years and writing a monthly column on wineries each month for Inland Empire Magazine has payed off. For our Flame the Vines weekend I was able to organize private tastings with the winemakers at three different wineries. Each one with a different focus.

So on Friday morning the ride arrived...

Limo Monster Truck

I was shocked when I saw this massive thing pull up to the house. I thought we'd be swimming in all this space...

Come on in!

But Ironically, we were quite cozy...

11 happy Flamers!

Off we go to first stop... Palumbo Family Estate.

Nick Palumbo is arguably one of the most respected wine makers in Temecula and his winery has a VERY loyal following of serious wine lovers who know good wine. Nick makes all his wines from his estate, or from a small handful of vineyards that he contracts for his winery! His passion is Bordeaux varietals - Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and he does a Viognier, a Sangiovese, Syrah and a Port. His benchmark wine is a Meritage blend - Tre Fratelli, it was sold out!

And now the story behind the pictures...

L-R, David, Robert, Phil, Brian, Casey, Nick Palumbo, Jim, Dan

This picture captures the beginning of our tasting day. Clearly everyone is still void of any wine, and not sure what to expect.

Let me help with their thoughts:

David: Hmmm, I sure hope I taste at least one decent Cabernet today.
Robert: I wonder if David is going to taste at least one decent Cabernet today?
Phil: Is that the door to the bathroom?
Brian: When is he going to pour us some wine.... Jeesh!
Casey: Oh wait, he's texting, probably doesn't even know we are at the winery yet.
Jim: Are we seriously going to start drinking wine? I'm still trying to recover from last night!
Dan: Stern solid stance, sorta secret agent looking... I told you, you don't want to mess with him!

But right after Nick's welcome introduction, it was off to the tasting room for the first pour...

Let's get this party started!

And the tasting begins...

Hmmm, are you sure this if from Temecula?

Casey and Tom...

Is that black berries, or black cherries? Do I detect a hint of chili infused chocolate?

And these two mischief makers...

Oh really!

Nick only makes one white wine...

Viognier

He explained that each year he lets the fruit tell him if he should use some oak on this wine or not. This vintage has no oak, but his upcoming one does. It is a beautiful, aromatic, fresh, dry wine loaded with apricots! I could drink this everyday!

After a round of tasting in the tasting room, we all adjourned to his barrel room where we tasted several barrel samples and he gave us a cool education on barrels...

Barrels notated with chalk

The notations mean this is a 2010 vintage, the clone is #877 and it's a Syrah. We tasted this exact wine from two different barrels from two different coopers (cooper is the term for barrel maker). 

Nick and his barrels

Nick explained the differences between American and European Oak, how the toasting levels can be different, and how the forests are managed.

One of the romantic things about wine is getting to taste straight from the barrel... this is called thieving...

Nick with his thief

It was fun to watch everyone react to the two different barrel samples of the exact same wine... it radically changed the taste of each wine and a lively discussion was had...

Yep, I think we're winning David over!

Palumbo is a quaint, charming winery with a very authentic wine country feel. Nick sits on the wine association board and is actively working towards controls that mandate wineries actually make the wine being sold... something that's not always done...

Looking toward tasting room from Barrel room entrance

This is the flight we tasted before our trip to the barrel room...

Tasting notes

And as you can see, the wine is working its magic... we now have a happy Dan (CIA man is gone) and of course Robert, LOL...

Dan and Robert

And back in the tasting room Jim is trying to pace himself, I guess he's still in recovery mode... I think his dumping the wine came as a SHOCK to poor Tom...

What? You're dumping your wine???

So this concludes our first stop. What a great way to start the day...

Palumbo Vineyards

Tomorrow we take a quick look at our Vitagliano lunch stop. STAY-TUNED!