Nevada City Winery hits gold
Winery started as white wine makers
Date Published: November 2007
Wine Cellar
[Eric Moreland/Special to the Granite Bay View]
Vince Cardinale and Rod Byers serve it up at Nevada City Winery.
[Eric Moreland/Special to the Granite Bay View]
Nevada City Winery is located inside an historic garage.
[Eric Moreland/Special to the Granite Bay View]
The sign says it all.
There is a renaissance going on in Nevada County. In 1980 there was only one small vineyard producing wine grapes in the county, today there are more than 300 acres harvested, and more being planted every year.
This rebirth and renewed interest in wine making is due, in a large part, to the efforts of the Nevada City Winery.
There was a winery in historic Nevada City more than a century ago, located about two blocks from the current incarnation of the winery.
The current winery (no relation to its predecessor) was started in a garage on the outskirts of town in 1980 and focused mainly on white wines. They moved to their current location on Spring Street in 1982, which turned out to be a larger garage.
Back in the early '80s white wines were the largest part of the winery's business, mainly stainless steel aged in large 1,000-gallon tanks and brought to market much more quickly than reds could be. They only used oak barrels for a small portion of their annual production.
In 1991, the television program "60 Minutes" reported on what they called the "French Paradox" where red wines were said to have health benefits. After the program aired, the demand for red wine soared - at that time Nevada City Winery only owned four wine barrels.
The issue was the local city ordinance that the historic downtown district could only renovate the existing buildings, not add to them or remodel in a modern style.
Another difficulty for the winery was that they used gravity in their wine making process; they didn't pump the juice around. This made barrels full of wine very difficult to move around their small facility and nearly impossible to stack.
After years of slow growth and searching for a solution to their space problem, the winery was finally allowed to take the foundation and existing stone-work from the abandoned structure next door and incorporate it into their facility. In 2000, this new space was added and now houses their main barrel storage room and tasting room upstairs.
The winery now produces mainly red wine with only a few white selections.
The Nevada City Winery is looking to support the local vineyards as much as possible, but also sources grapes from neighboring counties as well.
With the proliferation of vineyards in the county in recent years, the winery is now able to source grapes from within Nevada County for several of its wines. They also have selections with grapes from Lodi, Alexander Valley and Madera County.
The winery currently boasts 12 wines that are all available to taste and for purchase at their tasting bar/gift shop. They have two white wine selections, one rose, eight reds and one dessert (Malvasia Bianca).
The 2005 Chardonnay has been made in the popular California style with plenty of ageing in oak barrels. It offers delightful aromas of pear, green apple and pineapple balanced with the rich and creamy flavors of toasted vanillin oak.
Their 2005 Zinfandel is a full-bodied, elegantly styled red with flavors of raspberries, blackberries and black pepper. Medium weight with solid structure and medium-soft tannins, this spicy Zinfandel offers delicious flavors now, but cellaring for two to five years will offer even greater rewards.
The 2005 Syrah is loaded with smoky aromas of toasted oak, juicy blackberry and blueberry aromas, counter-balanced with varietal characteristics of smoked meat and bacon. It is richly flavored and full-bodied with plenty of stuffing and body, balanced nicely with ample but very smooth tannins.
The 2004 Claret is a blend of classic Bordeaux varieties. This is a boldly flavored, complex wine with flavors of dark plums, blueberries, toasted oak and spice. Rich and full-bodied, it is well balanced with smoothly integrated tannins.
The winery is located at 321 Spring Street and on the Web at www.ncwinery.com. They also offer winery tours Saturday starting at 1:30 p.m. sharp.
Eric Moreland is the owner of WineStyles in Granite Bay. He can be reached at emoreland@winestyles.net.
This rebirth and renewed interest in wine making is due, in a large part, to the efforts of the Nevada City Winery.
There was a winery in historic Nevada City more than a century ago, located about two blocks from the current incarnation of the winery.
The current winery (no relation to its predecessor) was started in a garage on the outskirts of town in 1980 and focused mainly on white wines. They moved to their current location on Spring Street in 1982, which turned out to be a larger garage.
Back in the early '80s white wines were the largest part of the winery's business, mainly stainless steel aged in large 1,000-gallon tanks and brought to market much more quickly than reds could be. They only used oak barrels for a small portion of their annual production.
In 1991, the television program "60 Minutes" reported on what they called the "French Paradox" where red wines were said to have health benefits. After the program aired, the demand for red wine soared - at that time Nevada City Winery only owned four wine barrels.
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"We needed to grow to be able to accommodate all of the barrels we needed for the red wines - we simply didn't have the space," says Sales and Marketing Director Rod Byers.The issue was the local city ordinance that the historic downtown district could only renovate the existing buildings, not add to them or remodel in a modern style.
Another difficulty for the winery was that they used gravity in their wine making process; they didn't pump the juice around. This made barrels full of wine very difficult to move around their small facility and nearly impossible to stack.
After years of slow growth and searching for a solution to their space problem, the winery was finally allowed to take the foundation and existing stone-work from the abandoned structure next door and incorporate it into their facility. In 2000, this new space was added and now houses their main barrel storage room and tasting room upstairs.
The winery now produces mainly red wine with only a few white selections.
The Nevada City Winery is looking to support the local vineyards as much as possible, but also sources grapes from neighboring counties as well.
With the proliferation of vineyards in the county in recent years, the winery is now able to source grapes from within Nevada County for several of its wines. They also have selections with grapes from Lodi, Alexander Valley and Madera County.
The winery currently boasts 12 wines that are all available to taste and for purchase at their tasting bar/gift shop. They have two white wine selections, one rose, eight reds and one dessert (Malvasia Bianca).
The 2005 Chardonnay has been made in the popular California style with plenty of ageing in oak barrels. It offers delightful aromas of pear, green apple and pineapple balanced with the rich and creamy flavors of toasted vanillin oak.
Their 2005 Zinfandel is a full-bodied, elegantly styled red with flavors of raspberries, blackberries and black pepper. Medium weight with solid structure and medium-soft tannins, this spicy Zinfandel offers delicious flavors now, but cellaring for two to five years will offer even greater rewards.
The 2005 Syrah is loaded with smoky aromas of toasted oak, juicy blackberry and blueberry aromas, counter-balanced with varietal characteristics of smoked meat and bacon. It is richly flavored and full-bodied with plenty of stuffing and body, balanced nicely with ample but very smooth tannins.
The 2004 Claret is a blend of classic Bordeaux varieties. This is a boldly flavored, complex wine with flavors of dark plums, blueberries, toasted oak and spice. Rich and full-bodied, it is well balanced with smoothly integrated tannins.
The winery is located at 321 Spring Street and on the Web at www.ncwinery.com. They also offer winery tours Saturday starting at 1:30 p.m. sharp.
Eric Moreland is the owner of WineStyles in Granite Bay. He can be reached at emoreland@winestyles.net.
Eric Moreland is the owner of WineStyles in Granite Bay. He can be reached at emorland@winestyles.net.
