A pickup party is one of the standard perks of wine club membership.
Usually 3 or 4 times a year, club members who live close enough by, or who
happen to be visiting the area, pick up the newly released club selections
on a special day at the winery. Lots of wine is poured (of course) with
complementary foods, often a barbecue, and sometimes, live music. It was
all of these at the club pickup party we visited at De La Montanya Winery
& Vineyards.
De La Montanya is easy to miss, down through an underpass off Westside
Road, a few miles outside Healdsburg in Sonoma County, California. The
facility is just a few years old, but the De La Montanya family has been
farming, making and selling wine in Northern California for seven
generations. It’s not big, not corporate (not that there’s anything wrong
with those), but family.
The owner, winemaker, and master of ceremony is Dennis De La Montanya.
He’s a very approachable, personable, genuinely friendly guy. Think Jerry
Garcia, but shorter hair, more regular and down-to-earthy. Everybody knows
Dennis, and everybody feels like he knows them.
As a winemaker, Dennis is out of the happy blender school, each year
making some 20 different varietals and blends in batches of just 25 to 250
cases. The winery’s total output is only about 4,500 cases a year, so
needless to say, much of it goes out the door to club members only.
The Pickup Party was set in the apple orchard out back of the tasting room
on a warm and sunny Saturday. About 75-100 club members and guests came
and went, all in good time. Several tasting stations among the trees kept
the glasses glam as revelers strolled the grounds and made the rounds.
The featured wines for the party were the ones the club members were there
for picking up: An ’05 Fumé Blanc and an ’05 Pinot Noir. Lots of other
wines of the same vintage could be sampled too. Dennis’ Amigos blend (Cab
& Syrah, 10% of the proceeds to farmworkers in need), Summer White
(Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc & Gewurztraminer), Syrah, and Pinup Cabernet
(Cab & Zin from cold fermentation). There were special event-only
discounts for a Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. I think they were half
off, but I really don’t remember. If you’re going to try a bottle of DLM,
if you can find them, the Christine’s Vineyards Pinot Noir and the Pinup
Cabernet would be excellent choices.
The Pinup Series (a Cab, a Rosé, a Pinot Grigio and Tempranillo) features
labels with pinup-style photos submitted by female club members or their
admirers. To date, some 175 women aged 21 to 73 have provided their most
comely pics for consideration. I’m told several men in dreadful drag have
been quickly spied and out-weeded. This is not funny wine.
Craig and Shauna Renaub were featured guests at the party, authors of the
Great American Wine, the Wine Rebel’s Manual. Craig is the “wine rebel.”
He served up a delicious barbecue of tri-tip and short ribs and they sold
autographed copies of their book.
Other foods included a spinach salad with feta, tomatoes and nuts, a light
cheese tortellini with raspberry viniagarette, and several kinds of
sausage.
Jonathan Cain, keyboardist for the super-band Journey, is DLM’s most
renowned club member. He handed the stage to his 13 year-old daughter
Madison, who sang beautifully in her first-ever public performance. Eleven
year-old son Weston played amazing drums behind talented teenage
guitarists. Really.
The De La Montanya Whites range in price from $14 to $40, the Reds from
$18 to $58. There’s a Rosé for $16 and a split of “Semi” Late Harvest Zin
for $22. Mailing list customers get a 10% discount on orders of 6 bottles
or more, club members get 20%.
I mentioned De La Montanya is a bit hard to find. Driving north on
Westside Road, the navigator should keep eyes-right in expectation of the
red barn down beside a crossover. Take a left on the Felta Road turnoff
just past the bridge, then loop back under the main road and you’re there.
It’s about midway between the Twomey (formerly Roshambo) and Armida
wineries.
