Urban Winery
Coterie Cellars very generously donated a case of wine for the Bounty of Heart’s Delight dinner this Saturday, and last night I went over to pick it up. As they say on their website,
By creating a new generation of winemakers dedicated to producing great wines within the communities in which they live, the Urban Winery movement is taking the country out of Wine Country. Coterie Cellars is pioneering this movement of small wineries in the South San Francisco Bay Area. Situated by Willow Glen just south of the San Jose downtown, our winery is centered between some of the best vineyards in the world. Napa and Sonoma are just two hours north, the Santa Lucia Highlands are an hour and a half south, and the foothills of the Sierra Mountains are just two and a half hours east. What’s more, if you’re one of the millions of people that live among the urban communities of Silicon Valley, you’re likely just a few minutes from us.
Since we’re an urban farm, it’s a great match.
They’re located in a small industrial park area just east of Almaden Expressway. But step inside, and the smell of oak and fermenting grapes leave no doubt about what’s going on.
Their primary fermentation is taking place is large plastic bins.
Kyle Loudon is the winemaker.
He told me that he worked in East Bay wineries for a few years, making more and more wine himself, until he and his wife decided that they could take the best of the grapes from different regions of California but make great wine in the neighborhood where they live.
They can’t make it to the dinner themselves, unfortunately, since their weekends are still taken up by the harvest. But he gave me a letter to read.
Coterie Cellars is proud to contribute to Veggielution. Recognized as on of the Best of the New Crop wineries in 2008 at Pinot Days in San Francisco, Coterie Cellars is a tiny, local winery located just ten blocks south of the San Jose downtown. The winery produces wines made by hand, berry to bottle, from highly regarded vineyards in the Russian River Valley, Santa Lucia Highlands and Fiddletown. The winery is open to the public one weekend each month, during which you can taste its wines for free. The next tasting is Sunday, October 25, from 3 to 6 pm.
The Coterie Cellars 2007 Casatierra Vineyard Rosé is a Californian expression of the rosés found in the South or France. It was a Gold Medal Winner in the 2009 Fiddletown Wine Competition. Only 65 cases were made. Coterie Cellars also produces award-winning Pinot Noirs from Saralee’s Vineyard in the Russina River Valley and Fairview Road Ranch in the Santa Lucia Highlands. You can read more about the winery and its wines at www.coteriecellars.com.
They’ve also offered to host a special tasting day for us, when tasting fee proceeds and part of the sales of wine would benefit Veggielution. I’m proud to be able to serve the wine on Saturday.