North County Wine Tour

On Saturday, Aug. 26^th, the SDVSA North County Wine Tour was revived after a three- year sabbatical. Starting from our customary north county Coco’s location in Escondido, the SDVSA caravan proceded through the Auto Park to the nearby Van der Vort Winery, nestled in a shaded business park overlooking Vineyard Road. Upon our arrival we were greeted by Kris, a friend of proprietor Karen Van der Vort who gave us a tour of the facilities and informed us that Karen Van der Vort is a veteran Californian wine maker and a recipient of the 1999 LA Chapter of Women for WineSense Hall of Fame Award. Karen specializes in setting up, and maintaining, private vineyards in North County with the agreement that she gets first pick at purchasing the grapes which are grown. We were shown a flat of Sauvignon Blanc grape vines which, are being propagated from branch cuttings taken from a select seventy-year old plant. These new plants are expected to eventually produce $200-300 a bottle wine. To help differentiate the Van der Vort product, some bottles are sand blasted to create an etched label on the glass. After the tour, we began our wine tasting; which included a ’97 Sauvignon Blanc, ’98 Merlot, and a ’98 Petite Sirah, all excellent.

From there, our group headed north over the back roads of Twin Oaks Valley to the next venue, the new Belle Marie Winery on Mesa Rock Road where we rendezvoused with Bob & Dell Skoog and were also greeted by about 100 members of the San Diego Miata car club (Miata member David Martin photographed and provided the picture above), who lined up to get a closer look at our 544, 122 wagon, and three 1800’s.

Several Miata drivers mentioned once owning a Volvo 544 or 1800. After viewing each other’s cars, we entered the winery and were welcomed by vinters Mick and Mary Dragoo. The Dragoos have been making wine since 1970, and until 1990, owned a winery in Napa Valley. Belle Marie Winery has been in operation since April of this year. We tasted their current selection of ten wines, which were mostly blends, done in the French style, produced with grapes from the Guadalupe Valley in Mexico. Also, we sampled some limited production wines, made to test local vineyards.

Our little caravan hit the road again, and now it was southward to the Orphila Winery. There we settled down around a shaded picnic table in front of a beautiful pastoral scene, surrounded by cool ocean breezes, and engaging in pleasant small talk. Brad & Sharon Benson, who had participated in a Volkswagen meet at Deer Park Winery, met us in their chrome blue, prize winning Karmann-Ghia. The tour broke up about 4:00 p.m., but some stayed awhile longer to indulge in Orphila’s vinifera offerings. Standing way above the rest was a 1999 Zinfandel, called Goldrush, still in the aging cask, but ready to be bottled sometime next summer. Goldrush should prove to be an outstanding wine in its final form when it becomes available next year.