California Wine Hikes

posted by mark in Snooth

As some of you may know, I recently was out on the West Coast for about a week. While I was out there, myself and a few other Snooth members planned to experience the countryside of California by pairing wine with hiking. Fortunately, California Wine Hikes wine and hiking guru Russ Beebe (the Winehiker) was right there to help us.

The destination was Picchetti Winery, which is nestled towards the bottom of Montebello Rd in Cupertino. Montebello road is a steep and windy, very pretty road that snakes up through the Cupertino mountains, topping out at Ridge Vineyards which I was also able to visit later during my trip.

The hike was to be an out-and-back hike along the trails behind the winery, part of the nature preserve there. The trail was well chosen by our guide as it was kept well, not too steep, and had plenty of great sites along the way. It was about 4 miles in total.

We had prepared a pot luck lunch per our guide’s instructions, but first it was time to work up an appetite. Here we are, ready to start our hike.

We had beautiful weather for the hike, and I noticed that as we walked along the path, the temperature would change from warm to cool, as the sun heated up the hills around us and breezes carried that temperature differential our way. I never felt uncomfortable as a result. It was cool as much as warm. Similarly, the breezes carried some of the smells of the surrounding countryside to our nostrils. I found the aromas along the trail changed as much as the temperature did, so there was always a new sensory combination to appreciate.

Russ gave a great overview of some of the flora surrounding us. From Mugwort plants, the California Buckeye, to Bay Trees, and the Indian Paintbrush and Soap Plant, there were plenty of stories to share.

We all enjoyed seeing this rooster come strutting through, so there was a bit of fauna as well.

I also returned with a number of great photos of the trail and the surrounding countryside. Below you can see a photo I snapped of the trail, and one of the nearby reservoir.

Near the end of the hike, we decided to tackle a hill up to the old Picchetti vineyards. The Zinfandel vines up there were over a hundred years old, very gnarled, and still producing great fruit after all of these years.

And finally we returned to the cars, doffed our hiking gear and hauled out the food. I know by that time I was ready for it. Included was a lovely barley salad and chickpea salad, great breads and cheeses, olives, cherries, and of course the wine came out, we opened a bottle of the Picchetti Zinfandel Belliciti Vineyard. We even had a few folks along without much of a taste for Zinfandel who by the end were singing the wine’s praises.

One of the wonderful things about being at a picnic table outside of the winery is that you can wander into the tasting room afterwards. Picchetti Winery pours a nice tasting of 5 wines for 5 dollars. Everyone opted into that, and we enjoyed a taste of wines made with Viognier, Chardonnay, Tempranillo, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. Everyone was really happy with the Tempranillo particularly, which our pourer (Smiley) mentioned was doing a wonderful job of selling. If you’re interested in trying a bit of that juice, you might need to make it there before too much longer.

If you’re looking for a great way to experience the California countryside, wine, and friends, I highly recommend you call up Russ and organize a hike. He’ll tailor your experience to your fitness level, but he might suggest that wine be involved. I hope that’s okay.

Tell him I sent you.