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Boeger Winery (May, 1999) Just a few miles down the road from Lava Cap is a place you should stop by if only for the atmosphere. Boeger Winery was the first modern-day winery established in El Dorado county, founded by Davis grad Greg Boeger in 1972. The site goes back a heck of a lot further. In fact, the vineyard was first planted in the Gold Rush days and the tasting room building is over a hundred years old. That's old in this neck of the woods. We rambled around the property for a few minutes, just admiring our surroundings. The drives and paths go up and down and it's generally quaint as all get out. Blur your eyes and you might imagine yourself in a (very high class) mining camp. Things were looking so picturesque that I hardly dared hope to taste serious wine here. But what do you know -- it's good stuff.
*1996 Boeger Zinfandel Walker Vineyard has medium ruby color, a lovely nose of strawberry and brambles, and a nice zap of fruity flavor on the palate. Light -- like the '96 Zin at Lava Cap -- but I liked it a lot. I'll be interested to see what the better weather in 1997 did for this Zin. $15. The non-vintage Boeger Lot 24 "Hangtown Red" is 60% Petite Sirah and puts a lot of berries in your glass for just $9.75 per bottle. 1996 Boeger Cabernet Franc is deep ruby, with generous cassis flavors and some herbs on the finish. Like Lava Cap's, it's grown at around 3,000 feet -- and another vote for the quality of Cabernet Franc grown in these high hillside vineyards. Very good indeed. Knowing what Lava Cap did in 1997, I'll want to taste the next vintage. The star of our visit was their rushed-to-bottle *+1998 Boeger El Dorado Sauvignon Blanc. Loaded with citrus, grassy as a meadow, with a long gooseberry finish. We bought a bottle to have with dinner and it made a lovely aperitif. At $12.30 this is a swell buy. Youthful fruit is what makes this wine special, so drink it within the next 6 to 12 months. For more information about Boeger wines, call the winery at 530-622-8094 or click here to connect to their Web site. |
