home-winemaking
Not All Meals Are Gourmet – But All Deserve A Good Wine!
Photo ©Michael Kelly
I generally write about wines that can be purchased commercially, whether at a winery or wine shop. This wine we were given by a friend, Steve Alaimo in Paso Robles a week ago while staying at “The Guest House”. He is the proprietor of the Via Paloma “The Guest House” that we frequent when in Paso Robles. He provides a bottle of either his Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon in the room when staying there. It is not a commercial wine, but one that is from his small vineyard on his property. He is an amateur winemaker and has been making wine since 1991 in the Los Angeles area as an enthusiastic hobby. When he moved to Paso Robles in 2009, he sought advice from various wine consultants on how to improve his winemaking skills. He subsequently joined a home winemaking group in Paso Robles called “Wines & Steins” a social and educational club.
The previous year he provided us with two different bottles of his 2018 with one being very good. Steve the winemaker, calls his wine Via Paloma, with Paloma translating to “dove”.
This year Steve provided us with a 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon and last evening the weather was nice before the next atmospheric river forecasted for the next nine days, so at the last minute decided to BBQ hamburgers. Grabbed the wine out of the cellar and it was significantly better and a step up from his previous vintages. When I called and asked what had changed besides the “terroir” his explanation was basically a new American oak barrel was used in fermentation. He normally makes one barrel of Zinfandel and one barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon. If I were rating this wine it would be 90 or 91 points.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The wine had a nice deep red coloring on the eyes and medium-heavy viscosity. On the nose a tad reserved but still dark fruit was evident. On the palate a mixture of blackberry and plum were the dominant flavors. Secondary flavors of vanilla pipe tobacco sprang forth. On the finish it was bold and structured with velvety tannins. Steve’s crafting of his Cabernet Sauvignon took a significant leap in quality from my perspective. Nice going Steve!
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Had the wine with a BBQ’ed burger and steak fries. It was a wonderful match “on the fly” and very complimentary to each other. I don’t know what I enjoyed more, his wine or conversations with him when visiting or over the phone.
It is a great bonus staying at his guest house with his wine and would recommend “The Guest House” on a Paso Robles visit.
Slainte,
Michael Kelly
https://californiawinesandwineries.com
s_alaimo@yahoo.com “The Guest House”