The Slow Wine 2020 guide shows 21 new wineries that received our Snail Award! A Snail winery is one “…that we particularly like for the way it interprets Slow Food values (sensory perceptions, territory, environment, identity).” Their wines represent the terroir, have a good quality-price ratio considering the environment they are produced in and represent …
Villa Creek Cellars – Snail prize PASO ROBLES 5995 Peachy Canyon Road tel. (805) 238-7145 www.villacreek.com wine@villacreek.com 60 ac – 30,000 bt ‘‘When Cris and JoAnn Cherry began planting grapes on their 60-acre property, they decided to never farm with chemicals” PEOPLE Cris and JoAnn Cherry are restaurateurs turned winemakers. In 1996 they …
Vesper Vineyards – Snail prize ESCONDIDO 298 Enterprise St. tel. (760) 749-1300 www.vespervineyards.com info@vespervineyards.com 0 ac – 20,000 bt ‘‘Broomell has been a leading proponent of dry farming in the area, where most growers have favored irrigated vineyards in the past” PEOPLE Grower and winemaker Chris Broomell’s family has been farming in the San …
Solminer – Snail prize LOS OLIVOS 2890 Grand Ave. tel. (805) 691-9195 www.solminer.com 5ac-9,600bt ‘‘David and Anna deLaski’s holistic approach to farming and winemaking is evident in their wines, which are among the best in the Santa Ynez Valley” PEOPLE David and Anna escaped from Los Angeles to find their pastoral paradise in …
Skinner Vineyard and Winery – Snail Prize SOMERSET 8054 Fairplay Rd. tel. (530) 620-2220 www.skinnervineyards.com 35 ac – 77,000 bt ‘‘After discovering an ancestral connection to a Gold Rush-era miner, rancher, and wine grower named James Skinner, Mike and Carey Skinner purchased property in the El Dorado Hills, along with a century-old stone cellar …
Piedrasassi – Snail Prize LOMPOC 1501 E. Chestnut Ave. tel. (805) 736-6784 www.piedrasassi.com melissa@piedrasassi.com 0 ac-18,000 bt ‘‘Sashi Moorman does not call himself a “natural’ winemaker.” He simply “makes wine naturally.” That means an awareness that goes beyond mere organic practices. Perhaps it is his holistic approach that has made Moorman such a sought-after, wildly …
Palmina Winery – Snail Prize LOMPOC 1520 E. Chestnut Ct. tel. (805) 735-2030 www.palminawines.com tastingroom@palminawines.com 0 ac – 45,000 bt “The wines of Palmina are complex, full of character and highly-drinkable, perfect to go with food, and sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards” PEOPLE Steve Clifton uses all Italian grapes because he believes that the …
Old World Winery – Snail Prize FULTON 850 River Rd. tel. (707) 490-6696 www.oldworldwinery.com info@oldworldwinery.com 5ac-24,000bt ‘‘Darek Trowbridge works in the vineyard with a keen attention to detail and an eye to the viticultural traditions the past, mostly rejecting the strictures of his Fresno State master’s degree in winemaking’’ PEOPLE Giuseppe Martinelli emigrated from …
Matthiasson – Snail Prize NAPA P.O. Box 10880 tel. (707) 265-9349 www.matthiasson.com info@matthiasson.com 10 ac – 100,000 bt “Committed to the Slow philosophy, Steve and Jill Matthiasson grow most of their own food and prepare it for the enjoyment of family and friends at their beautiful yellow farmhouse, surrounded by their estate vineyards” …
MacDonald Vineyards – Snail Prize OAKVILLE PO Box 91 tel. (707) 225-7264 www.macdonaldvineyards.com info@macdonaldvineyards.com 15 ac – 4,100 bt ‘‘Though the vineyard has never seen systemic sprays in the family’s 64 years of conservancy, they are just beginning the process of organic certification’’ PEOPLE In 1868 Hamilton Crab arrive to the Napa Valley, …