Wine Tasting in the Santa Clara Valley

The winegrowing region of Santa Clara Valley is located south of San Jose, California. The valley served an important role in the early history of California wine making and was home to the pioneer winemakers Paul Masson and Charles Lefranc. By the 1850s, Santa Clara had more acres of vineyards than any other county in California. However, over-expansion and phylloxera took a heavy toll and by 1910 over half the wineries had disappeared.  The growth of the technology sector in the region saw the area christened as Silicon Valley, and older Almaden Valley vineyards were uprooted to make way for urban sprawl. Today the majority of the remaining vineyards are found between the Diablo Mountains in Contra Costa and the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Jose near Morgan Hill and Gilroy, with some in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains near Saratoga. A collaboration between the cities of Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and Santa Clara County, along with the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley, formed the "Santa Clara Valley Wine Trail" to connect the many wineries and aid in agritourism.

The Santa Clara Valley itself, with its scenic beauty, mild climate, and thousands of acres of blooming fruit trees was known as "The Valley of Heart's Delight."  We could see this as we drove on Saturday, March 5, 2016, west from Los Banos over the Diablo Range into the valley:

Our first stop was Leal Vineyards in Hollister.  We were welcomed by a bucolic estate worthy of Temecula, Napa, Sonoma, or even the wine-growing regions in Italy:

We knew before walking into the tasting room that these wines would be expensive, because someone has to pay for that landscaping.  While the wines were good, the average price per bottle was $45, so, after tasting them, we elected to purchase one bottle of their excellent port wine.

Our second stop was Aimee June Winery, located in the quaint, artsy tourist town of San Juan Bautista.  The tasting room is tucked away in a Spanish courtyard off Third Street:

The winery is owned by a husband and wife, and the wife was our host.  She spent a great deal of time with our tasting, offering us helpful information about their wines and the vineyard operation. We appreciated the time she took.  We also liked the wine, and purchased a bottle each of their Temperanillo, Merlot and Sangiovese.  The Temperanillo, which we have opened, is quite flavorful, having been aged 5 years in oak barrels.

After tasting the wine, we walked down Third Street to look for lunch.  San Juan Bautista is noted as the location of the historic Mission San Juan Bautista, built in 1797 by the Franciscan Order as one of the original Spanish missions in California.  Barracks for the soldiers, a nunnery, the Jose Castro House, and other buildings were constructed around a large grassy plaza in front of the church and can be seen today in their original form.

Here is one of the oldest buildings in San Juan Bautista, Casa Juan de Anza Adobe, built in 1799, just two years after the Mission was founded:

Casa Juan de Anza Adobe is one of the oldest buildings in San Juan Bautista’s Third Street Historic District. The building is an example of a Spanish Colonial style dwelling built during the Mexican era of California’s history. The adobe material used to construct these buildings was readily available and inexpensive. Most commonly built between 1600 and 1840, Spanish Colonial dwellings generally have sun-dried adobe brick exterior walls covered with a whitewashed lime plaster coating that helped protect them from the regional weather extremes. The thick adobe walls helped to insulate the houses -- keeping them cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The typical Spanish Colonial dwellings throughout this region were one-story and had a basic rectangular shape.

Having digested (appropriately enough) a lunch of superb Mexican food, we set out to find our final winery - Lightheart Cellars.  We found it tucked away in a rural neighborhood.  We paused before seeking out the tasting area behind the winery building when Kathy found some little goats to kid around with.  While she was socializing, a neighborhood cat - perhaps from the winery - wandered by, eyeing Kathy suspiciously:

Not to be deterred by a cat crossing our path, we embarked on our tasting.  The winery has announced that it is due to close April 2, 2016, but nevertheless served us up some tasty samples.  We enjoyed them so much that we bought a bottle each of their Cab Franc, their Pinot Noirs (a Dijon Clone and a Martini Clone), and their 2011 Delight (a 'Merlot with a Cab Franc edge," as they say). The winery farms approximately 16 acres of its own and others' land, and boasts some beautiful vineyards:

We're sorry to hear that they are closing, but glad that we stumbled on them before the did.

Our drive back from Santa Clara Valley was about a half hour back over the Diablo Range, but the scenery was just as spectacular as it seemed when we drove west.  The rainy season is here and we can't get enough of these soft, round, grassy, green hills.  Now we have some local wines to savor as well!