Located in Amador county, these two wineries are owned by Leon and Shirley Sobon and family.  The tasting room staff in both places consists of some of the friendliest and nicest people you will encounter.  This is a testament to the enjoyment of working for people like the Sobons, and the fact that these folks love interacting with the visitors and talking about the wine.  We never miss stopping to see them and taste the latest offerings.

Posted: Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Filed under: Winery Adventures
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This post begins our series of visits to wineries in California this year.

We never miss at least a few stops in the Sierra Foothills, about 45 minutes from Sacramento.  Several very fine wines and some very good friends always await us in this area.  The Sierra Foothills consists of 3 counties, Amador, Calaveras, and El Dorado.

Our first stop is at Boeger Winery www.boegerwines.com.  Boeger Winery is located in El Dorado county and, as mentioned in my blog from last year’s visit, is a family owned operation with Greg Boeger, the founder, now retired from making the wine, and son, Justin, taking over as winemaker, second generation.

Posted: Sunday, June 21st, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Filed under: Winery Adventures
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Most of the years that I have judged the California State Wine Competition, I have been assigned the Chardonnay category.  I have been judging since 1992.  I assume they give me that category because I really like Chardonnay, unlike some of the other judges.

This year was a nice surprise as I was assigned to one of the Zinfandel and Petite Sirah panels.  We judged 2005 and 2007 Zinfandel and 2006 Petite Sirah.
Of course, this is a double blind judging so we don’t have any clue as to who the producer is or in what region the wine was produced.  My panel was especially good this year.  It is amazing to see how consistent 4 judges can be when judging, say, 34 wines at a time.  When we got done judging in silence and turned toward our panel clerk to give our scores, we consistently gave medals to the same wines.

Posted: Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Filed under: Judging
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This is the first of a series of posts regarding our latest trip to California.  They will include  judging, visiting wineries, and any other great information I want to pass on.
The day prior to judging the California State Wine Competition, there is always some manner of educational program for the judges.  This always takes place the evening before the judging begins.  This year, it was a rather unusual program regarding the influence of music on wine consumption.

Posted: Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Filed under: Winery Adventures
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It’s that time of year again.  I will be off to judge at the California State Competition.  As we usually try to do, we are taking a few extra days to visit some wineries.

Look for my posts regarding any new finds, tasting notes, and other information regarding our travels.  We expect to taste some great wine and meet some wonderful people.

Geez, I love this business!

Posted: Monday, June 8th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Filed under: Winery Adventures
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