Saddleback Cellars
Oakville, CA
The last two weeks we talked about wineries that were new
to us. This week we’ll talk about a
winery that we have been to a couple of times and really liked but we had just
not been there in the last couple of years so our recent knowledge just was not
there to review in detail. This day of
wine tasting began with a tasting at Titus, then on to Long Meadow Ranch (see 7-13-12
posting), then lunch/snacks and a little bit of wine at the Clif Family Winery back
yard area as we are members (see 6-29-12 posting), then to Hunnicutt and
finishing at Saddleback. Our last
tasting was at Saddleback as it is the most southern winery of the group and
closest to Napa and from previous experiences is the most ‘laid back’ winery of
the group. Honestly doing four tastings
in a day (plus the bottle the four of us shared at Clif) is pretty
aggressive. The first tastes of the day
are always the ones you remember most so there may be something to the notion
that alcohol affects your senses, memory and occasionally judgment. I think we’ll just agree for this job (casual
reviews of wine tasting experiences) four in a day will be the limit.
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| Nils Venge |
I think Saddleback is a winery that has great notoriety
but is not generally known by most of the public. Its driveway is right across from the
entrance to Silver Oak and my guess is that Silver Oak gets 10 or 20 times the
traffic. Yet, the owner of Saddleback is
known as the King of Cabernet and while winemaker at Groth, just down the
street, their 1985 Cabernet received the first perfect score ever from Robert
Parker Jr. given to a California wine.
Nils Venge is the owner of Saddleback Cellars. His history in the valley goes back to
1970. Nils was ahead of the crowd and
had graduated from Davis in 1967 focusing in viticulture and enology. Nils began working in the vineyard in
1970. By the mid 70’s he was managing
and making wine for Villa Mount Eden and making Cabernets that are
legendary. In 1976 the property where
Saddleback sits today was purchased. The
first Saddleback label was released in 1983.
Today Nils is involved in Saddleback, Venge Winery, Envy Winery and
consults for other wineries. We have
seen Nils at various San Francisco tasting events presenting his wines.
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| Tasting room at Saddleback |
The tasting experience at Saddleback is best experienced in
good weather. Really the only way to do
it right is to be sitting at one of the picnic tables or plastic chairs set up
next to the vineyard. There is a tasting
room that has a bit of character of its own but it may not be for everyone. The tastings can be very personalized. Reservations are required so they have a spot
set up for you when you arrive. I
remember one tasting at Saddleback where the host did not leave our picnic
table for the whole duration of the hour plus tasting. There can be a lot of wines to taste. Although Nils may be known as the King of
Cab, and most of the estate property is Cabernet, there are many other
varietals to taste. Whites include a
Sauv Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio and a Viognier. The reds include several Cabs, Syrah, Petite
Sirah, Charbono, Merlot and Zinfandel.
My guess is that Cabernet makes up a pretty fair amount of the
production of five to six thousand cases so the production on many of the wines
is probably pretty small and much of it probably goes to wine club
members. They do take good care of those
paying the $20.00 tasting fee as many of the wines were poured for us including
some bonus pours.
Our tasting included a Pinot Grigio and a Chardonnay as well
as a Syrah, Merlot, Zinfandel and the 2007 (a bonus pour) and 2008
Cabernets. All wines were good and my
two favorites were the 2008 Cabernet and the 2010 Zinfandel. Although we did not have designated host, the
two individuals taking care of us were very knowledgeable about the wines. There were three or four other groups,
including a group of cyclists, so it was busy but the tasting was completely
relaxed. This is a winery without the
bells and whistles and this is on purpose.
When you are done tasting, you go inside and settle up. I am a collector of Two for One tasting
coupons and had saved a coupon that I had received several years ago and it was
honored for the four of us in the group.
I think if this had been our first or second tasting of the day we would
still have a bigger buzz/memory of the experience but following two 10 out of
10 tastings earlier in the day, it was still a very satisfying experience.
What we liked- We are fans of the picnic table tasting
experience and this is one of the best.
At Saddleback you are tasting great wines in a winery where success has
not gone to anyone’s head.
What we bought- Zinfandel
Vitals-
Saddleback Cellars
7802 Mowry
Oakville, CA 94562
(707) 944-1305
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