In this episode we visit the Thomas Fogarty Winery, located just off Skyline boulevard in the hills of Woodside, CA. Dr. Fogarty, a successful surgeon and inventor, started the winery in 1978, but did not begin commercial production until about 1981. The Fogarty winery is well known not only it’s famous founder, but also many local companies hold Team Building excerises on the wonderful grounds. Weddings and private parties are also welcome. With sweeping views of the Silicon Valley below, it is no wonder that Fogarty Wineries remain a popular destination for the wine crowd.
00:00 Intro
01:47 Fogarty Background
03:04 2002 Estate Reserve Chardonnay
05:55 Santa Cruz Mountain Appleation Description and layout of property
10:07 2003 “Ventana Vineyards” Monterey Chardonnay
11:23 2004 Monterey Gewurtztraminer
18:00 2001 Santa Cruz Pinot Noir
20:18 Vineyard information
22:48 Exit Music
23:50 Accident Hash Promo
23:55 Paula Toledo
The Thomas Fogarty Winery produces approximately 15,000 cases of wine per year, and the property includes approximately 25 acres of vines (11 Chardonnay, 7.5 Pinot, 6 Merlot, 1 Sangiovese), at an elevation of about 2,100 feet. The wines we sampled during our visit are:
2002 Estate Reserve Chardonnay $45.00 about 302 cases produced
A complex chardonnay, but not in a buttery sort of way. Hints of pear, butterscotch and tropical fruits highlight this wine. Winemakers’ Notes - Straw in color, with a touch of honey and alfalfa on the nose, the wine appoaches with a texture that is immediately rich and subtle. With an essence of peaches and cream, this mineral-ladden-multi-layered wine shows through in the glass.
2003 “Ventana Vineyards” Monterey Chardonnay $26.00 about 260 cases produced
A “Big” Chardonnay, suitable for cocktails. Again tropical fruit is on tap as the primary elements that are noticed in this wine.
Winemakers’ Notes - The wine has a green/straw colored hue and loads of minerals, fresh apples and cream on the nose. The palette offers the tell-tale Santa Cruz Mountain minerality and stoniness as well as apple and pear flavors. This wine would pair fabulously with pastas with cream based sauces, seared scallops and fresh lobster.
2004 Monterey Gewurtztraminer $17.00
The winemakers favorite! All steel fermentation (no barrel aging) process allows you to enjoy the grape for what it is, without all the additional complexity that oak barrels can add. Although Gerwurtztraminer is normally known as a dessert wine, this one is suitable on its own or as an apertif. You must give this one a try! Winemakers’ Notes It is always delightfully dry on the palette, but full of tropical fruit, white flowers and spice, the hallmark of this beautifully crafted wine. The 2004 vintange produced some of our most striking gewurz ever with incredibly intense fruit flavors balanced by well integrated acidity. A perfect accompaniment to most fresh and exotic flavors.
2001 Santa Cruz Pinot Noir $25
Winemakers’ Notes This wine enraptures our strongest sense, the nose, with a rich invitation to savory red fruits. The first sip confirms this premise by offering a warm mouthful of almost sweet, strawberry-rhubarb compote. Set off against the structure and spice of this classic mountain fruit’s acidity and tannin, the wine closes with a real sense of place, here at home in the mountains.
I hope you enjoyed this trip to the Thomas Fogarty Winery. The music that we feature in this episode is by Paula Toledo and the song is “How Long”. You can visit her website at http://www.paulatoledo.com.
Incidently, according to Doctor Fogarty “There is now both epidemiological and biochemical evidence that wine consumption has health accruing benefits. The epidemiological evidence has been corroborated and redocumented in multiple additional studies.” You can’t argue with a prognosis like that, so be sure to drink up!
As always, please let us know if you like what you hear, have suggestions, or would like us to review a particular winery. You can drop us a line.
-A Guy
guyandgirl@gmail.com
Skype - aguyandgirl
2 Responses to “Episode 08 - Thomas Fogarty Winery”
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November 24th, 2005 at 2:47 pm
[...] [...]
February 17th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
[...] For all those that loved the ZAP festival last month, the Santa Cruz Mountain Winery Association is having their 2nd annual “Pinot in Paradise”. The dates are Saturday and Sunday, March 25 & 26, 2006. Many different wineries will be represented, inlcuding some that we have visited recently including Bonny Doon, Pelican Ranch, Thomas Fogarty, and Burrell School just to name a few. (if you have checked out these episodes yet, what are you waiting for?!) [...]