{"id":716,"date":"2017-09-27T19:30:36","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T19:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=716"},"modified":"2017-09-27T20:18:20","modified_gmt":"2017-09-27T20:18:20","slug":"santa-clara-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=716","title":{"rendered":"Santa Clara Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the southern end of San Francisco Bay there is the town of Santa Clara, which lends its name to the valley that runs south of it to Gilroy (called the \u201cGarlic Capital of the World\u201d), as well as to the AVA for the wines made there.\u00a0 There are, according to the local wine trade association (http:\/\/www.santaclarawines.com\/santa-clara-valley.html<\/a>) twenty-five wineries in the valley, although that\u2019s just the association\u2019s membership, since we know a few that aren\u2019t listed.<\/p>\n

The northern end of Santa Clara Valley is better known by another name: Silicon Valley.\u00a0 The town of Santa Clara abuts San Jose and other famous software producers, like Los Gatos and Sunnyvale.\u00a0 These places are possible reasons you might be in the area, beyond wine tasting.\u00a0 It was the case for us; we tacked on some tasting to a business trip.\u00a0 Silicon Valley, of course, has long shed its agricultural roots but there are a few wineries that could be interesting to visit.\u00a0 J. Lohr Vineyards (https:\/\/www.jlohr.com\/<\/a>) is on a typical urban street in San Jose and has little or no wine country ambiance, but it does have some creditable wines that are often found in wine stores and on restaurant lists.\u00a0 We have previously written about Testarossa<\/a> Winery (http:\/\/www.testarossa.com\/<\/a>) in Los Gatos, which offers a superb tasting experience and some top-notch Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays as well.\u00a0 Maybe you can cut your last meeting short and visit these two, although they are quite far apart.<\/p>\n

As is the case in much of California\u2019s Wine Country, Route 101 is the main stem through the more southerly and more rural section of Santa Clara Valley.\u00a0 A half-hour out of San Jose you\u2019ll find a number of wineries to visit.\u00a0 This is the Morgan Hill district and is the area in Santa Clara Valley with the densest population of wineries.\u00a0 We\u2019d like to report on some great discoveries, but for the most part we weren\u2019t as impressed with the wineries here as we were with those in the urban areas.\u00a0 There was at least one that was a gift shop that made wine rather than vice versa, so beware where you go.<\/p>\n

Sycamore Creek Vineyards (http:\/\/www.sycamorecreekvineyards.com\/<\/a>) offers a very modernistic picnic area, with high metal stools clustered around stone planters with what appear to be olive trees rather than sycamores in the middle.\u00a0 The winery is a massive industrial building with the barrel room and a metal bar to one side.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sycamore Creek\u2019s picnic area.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of L\u00e9al Vineyards, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kirgin Cellars (http:\/\/www.kirigincellars.com\/<\/a>) is California Wine Country the way it used to be\u2026a long, long time ago. They have been making wine since 1916, and it shows.\u00a0 Their original tasting room is still there and it gives the impression that hobbits must live there.\u00a0 They also have another, larger tasting room that is actually modern but designed to look as ancient as the original one.\u00a0 With a wood-burning stove in the middle, it truly reminds you of wine making and tasting in another era.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kirgin Cellars \u201cnew\u201d tasting room<\/em><\/p>\n

The town of Morgan Hill is where you\u2019ll want to go for lunch.\u00a0 We learned after we visited that Morgan Hill is heavily populated by Silicon Valley zillionaires and it seems to follow as day follows night that people with money like to dine out.\u00a0 Monterey Road, not far from Route 101 is chock-a-block full of restaurants, some upscale, some not.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have quite a few to choose from.<\/p>\n

Santa Clara Valley is scenic in much the same way that California Vineyard areas are all scenic.\u00a0 The hills roll, the roads twist and the vines grow in serried rows up to the horizon.\u00a0 We wouldn\u2019t call it a destination locale in Wine Country, but if you happen to be in the area, overall it makes for a pleasant tasting experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the southern end of San Francisco Bay there is the town of Santa Clara, which lends its name to the valley that runs south of it to Gilroy (called the \u201cGarlic Capital of the World\u201d), as well as to the AVA for the wines made there.\u00a0 There are, according to the local wine trade … Continue reading Santa Clara Valley<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=716"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":754,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716\/revisions\/754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}