It has been about two weeks since we returned from our trip to the Central Coast region of California’s wine country. This trip has stayed fresh on my mind because since I’ve been home, I have taught nine Central Coast wine classes in my area for our employees. These trips are instrumental in our quest to assist our guests by educating our employees. I know that many of my students were not aware of how much quality wine that we sell had come out of the Central Coast, so in that respect, mission accomplished. They, as many wine consumers, believe that all the good wine from California comes from either Napa or Sonoma. That came as no surprise to the people we spoke to on our trip; they realize that they have an identity crisis of sorts in getting people to recognize the Central Coast for what it is: a region that produces terrific wine at a fraction of the cost of those from Napa.
As I had mentioned in a previous post on this blog, we were in a sense fortunate that the harvest was late this year, for it gave us all a great opportunity to spend some time with many people who would ordinarily be very busy this time of year. One of these people was a man named Paul Kenney, the Vineyard Manager for the Keyes Canyon Vineyard. Paul has been in the wine game for the past thirty plus years in both Northern California and now in the Central Coast and has a wealth of knowledge and experience that he shared with us. We had a chance to sample some of the Estancia wines with Paul in his vineyards, underneath a beautiful, old tree that is the tree on the label of the Paso Creek wines.
It was one of the many interesting experiences this trip offered our entire group.
Ken Amendola
Wine Supervisor, North Florida
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