Uncle Bob’s Dinty Day

Uncle Bob’s Dinty Day

February 5, 2022 : Camino

Crystal Basin’s Uncle Bob was, in the very meaning of the phrase, a Jolly Good Fellow.

Bob helped found our company and still contributes to our hospitality style every day.

We celebrate his birthday each year and some version of an anti-Super Bowl event.

Q: Why do we call his birthday celebration Dinty Day?

A: When the tasting room was winery first opened in Camino, Mike showed up with glassware and signs and other gifty items to put on the shelves. Uncle Bob was incensed. His quote: “We’re not a gift shop, we’re a winery. We might as well sell Dinty Moore Beef Stew.”

So, each year on his birthday after that fateful day, Bob would whip up a batch of his version of Dinty Moore Beef Stew and ladle it out to his fans. He was even known to attach tattoos to various body parts of those (mostly female) fans during the process. While the tattoo thing is strictly a memory at this point, we invite all of our friends and fans up to Camino to enjoy some tasty Beef Stew and clink some glasses in Bob’s memory.

Cheers To All!

Wine of the Month : February 2022 : Merlot

Wine of the Month : February 2022 : Merlot

Merlot is an important grape varietal from the Bordeaux region of France. Much-maligned by Hollywood in the movie Sideways, it fell out of favor after the release of that movie in 2004. In the decade before the movie was released, Merlot was the darling of the wine world because of it’s fruit-forward flavors, relative lack of tannins and ease of pronunciation. This popularity, however, led to Merlot being planted in areas that were not suitable for its cultivation. Consequently, the wines from these poorly-chosen regions had flavors of bell pepper and olives. Ack.

El Dorado County-grown Merlot is most often found on decomposed granite soils that aggressively drain. The Italians say that grapes ‘don’t like their feet wet’, so our quick-draining soils are optimal for growing this variety. Our most notable accomplishment with Merlot was a 4-star Gold Medal at the Orange County Fair for our 2010 Merlot. This notoriety led to an invite from the Orange County Fair for Mike to be a wine judge at their competition.

Our Merlots are grown at Gold Hill Vineyard near Coloma and Sauber Vineyard near pretty much nothing. Our style of velvety-smooth fruit with a hint of mocha and atomized chocolate (think of taking the top off of a tin of Nestle’s Quick) has made our Merlots a benchmark for the variety in the Sierra Foothills. We hope you have some to enjoy during the all-too-short month of February.

February Meau-Faux Celebration

February Meau-Faux Celebration

Crystal Basin is always seeking to identify and honor innovative leadership. We’ve created a way for us all to recognize and celebrate truly unique folks on their respective birthdays. Each month, Crystal Basin will select three special Meau-Fauxs who have made an indelible mark on the world in their own way.

This moniker is not to be taken lightly. It takes a LOT to be a Meau-Faux. You have to get up early, stay up late, and in many specific cases, be able to party like a rockstar. We know these personalities and what they stand for instantly. By calling our attention to these leaders, we hope you’ll be able to pull some essence of their spirit into you daily
life. They are, quite simply, Meau-Fauxs.

For February – We honor our second batch of amazing Meau-Fauxs for this year!

Ronald Reagan – 2/6

A Hollywood actor turned mid-century conservative thought leader, Ronald Reagan punched far above his weight class. He was, in many ways, a man of his times. Not only did he marry a glamorous starlet and literally take a bullet for his county, but he leveraged his film career to lead California through an unprecedented period of economic growth and, as a 2-term President, devised and implemented an international policy that led to the demise of the Soviet Union. His complex worldviews still are in evidence today. He was far ahead of his time with his support for gays, his disgust with communism and patriotism in the face of adversity.

Thomas Edison – 2/11

Is there ANYONE who has pushed back the night like Thomas Edison? His efforts to create and deliver electric light quite literally changed the pathway of the human species. His inventions have been adopted worldwide and his visionary talents enabled the creation of a host of cultural innovations. Edison was a genius in many ways – holding almost 1,100 patents including motion pictures, microphones and the phonograph. If you are reading this on any type of electric device – thank that Meau-Faux Thomas Edison!

Johnny Cash – 2/26

True Meau-Fauxs sometimes are rebels with devil-may-care approaches to life. Cash was an iconic rebel County singer and legendary partier during the 1950s and 1960s. His career overlapped with a lengthy list of lesser Meau-Fauxs from that time, including Elvis, Waylon Jennings, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison. The ‘Man in Black’ is perhaps best known for his song Folsom Prison Blues, although he was not incarcerated there and performed at the prison only once. Religion and rebellion are intertwined in Cash’s introspective songwriting and performances. A true February Meau-Faux if there ever was one!

CBC Fans – It has been decreed, mandated and codified that on each of the birthdays of these storied Meau-Fauxs, CBC will be selling our Chateau Meau-Faux Red Blend and our Kougar Coolaid White Blend 1.5 liter pouch for $25. Phone in orders are acceptable (530-647-1767) , but we suggest that toasting one of these Meau-Fauxs on their birthday may be just the ticket.

Golden Meau-Faux

Golden Meau-Faux

January 17th, 2022 11:00 am – 5:00 pm This heartbreaker broke all of our hearts for the last time on December 31st, 2021. Betty, we all SO wanted to celebrate 100 years of your grace, humor, and class. You left us while we were wrapping your presents and it hurt. It’s even worse than that. Betty was the inspiration for us to create our CBC list of Meau-Fauxs. From USO Girl, to Password, to Mary Tyler Moore, to Golden Girls, you made us laugh and feel good and enjoy your seeming agelessness. We hope you are reigning high in heaven over an entire cheering and applauding audience of Meau-Fauxs.

Red Cap Day

Red Cap Day | Crystal Basin Cellars Event El Dorado County Winery
January 15th, 2022 11:00 am – 5:00 pm Wear a red cap into either of our locations and upgrade your tasting to our premier wines. MB3 – 2016 Malbec from the Sauber Vineyard. These grapes produced wine that we believed was as close to Malbec perfection as we might ever attain. They needed no blending nor adjustment to create a stunning Foothill wine. Pair it with lamb or game. B3 – 2017 Barbera from the 2/3 acre Toby’s Vineyard on Mt Aukum Road. These were some of the most visually stunning grapes we’ve encountered over 30 years of winemaking and the wine made from this tiny batch matched the amazing promise of the fruit. Layers of flavor that don’t typically get associated with Barbera spring out of the glass. Italians are jealous… PVNV – This wine is composed of Two vintages from the same vineyard – the Duarte Vineyard. We combined one barrel of 2017 Petit Verdot with two barrels of 2018 Petit Verdot to create this tasty rarity. There is a mysterious cedary component to this wine. The NV part of the title refers to “Non-Vintage”. Ghost Vine Syrah – 2017 Syrah from the Biama Vineyard in Camino. After the 2017 harvest, these vines were mistakenly torn out of the ground (!). So our Ghost Vine Syrah will very literally – not be seen again. It has a silky smoothness that is regularly a component of high-altitude Syrahs. We were sorry to hear of its demise! S3 – 2019 Syrah that was co-fermented with 8% of late harvest Viognier. This style is common in the Northern Rhone in France but not often utilized in California. The addition of an aromatic white wine to Syrah adds depth along with a softer, fruitier bouquet. This fun experimentation with style is a most fine addition to your wine stash. Use to it amaze your wine geek friends! AB3 – 2019 Alicante Bouschet grown in the Fairplay region. It has fruit and depth and a perfect balance of acidity and tannins. Each sip seems to invite another one! Alicante Bouschet is a hybrid grape from France that has red flesh (rare in the grape world), creating a wine with an almost radian hue. This is a Patio Sipper at it’s best! CS3 – This 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon was another style experiment for Crystal Basin. We took a nicely formed 2018 Cab and aged it for a total of 30 months – half in new barrels. The tasty result is a wine more in a classic finished Napa style with oak elements that we typically don’t seek to accentuate in our Foothill Wine offerings. You can stop any wine snob in their tracks with this stunner. MV3 – 2019 Mourvedre from the Spanish Creek Vineyard in Fair Play. We wish and hope all year long for knockout version of our Mourvedre and 2019 did not disappoint. This wine is lush and smooth and very well balanced. This wine will permanently dispel any rumors that Mourvedre is “just a blending grape.” LHV – 2019 Late Harvest Viognier was made from grapes that exceeded 32% sugar at pick and fermented on the natural yeast from the vineyard. Another new style experiment for Crystal Basin, this dessert wine shows amazing pear and apricot flavors that finish any meal in style. Worth a try just for the experience!