By Joann Farrell Quinn,
Owner of "Due Cani Cellars"

We were out in California all last week to taste our wine, visit some great wineries, (try to) relax a bit, and end up the with the San Francisco Security Traders Association Conference at Pebble Beach. After a spectacular week of cool nights (and even cool days down in Pebble), I barely wanted to come home- except for the fact that we left our fur kids in Tampa and we needed to get back to see them. And wow, were they happy to see us! Not that their 'Uncle Bubba' didn't take great care of them while we were gone, but I am pretty sure that Sherry is convinced that each time we leave on vacation, that we are never coming back. Pee Wee is happy to see us each time, but he takes it in stride since he knows that we will always come back for him. He is a confident little man.

I realize that I have been remiss in posting often enough lately since I have been traveling quite a bit. In light of the fact that I visited so many spectacular wineries last week (and I have way too much to say to read in one sitting), I am going to write about them in a series of posts.

I will start off with our latest visit to the Frias Family Vineyard. When we arrived in the valley on Tuesday afternoon, we headed straight to visit with Manny Frias (Jr). This was our second visit with Manny, the first including a trip around the vineyard, a sampling of the spring water that they use in the vineyard and of course a wine tasting. We joined Manny at the vineyard this past Tuesday to try the 2007 Sauvingnon Blanc, 2007 Rose and the 2006 Syrah, as well as the 2006 Red Wine, all wines new to us. At this point, I just want to comment that the Frias Family is known for their great fruit, and their Cabernets (which we love) are estate grown at their Spring Mountain vineyard. However, these new additions to their portfolio are certainly worth trying.

One worth mentioning some tasting notes on is the 2007 Napa Valley Sauvingnon Blanc, which is nice and refreshing with a bouquet of citrus developing into some rich stone fruit on the palate, with a nice clean acid finish. This wine also has a nice rounded edge to it, I am guessing (but I did not ask, so don't quote me) that it may have touched a bit of oak for this. At $19, this wine is worth adding to your order.

But, really the star of the show at Frias is the Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a California Cab that I recommend trying. With rich, deep dark fruits of dark cherry and blackberry mingling with lavender and leather, this is one Cabernet that will not disappoint if you seek a bold, dense wine. Quite obviously of Spring Mountain fruit, this wine has a smoothness that I look forward to seeing develop into the future.

Well, I have to go pour myself a glass of wine now! More on my adventures from Napa Valley later...

JFQuinn (aka "Joann Farrell Quinn") is an independent journalist and publisher, the owner of "Due Cani Cellars", and a blog contributor to VinVillage.com.

JFQuinn (aka "Joann Farrell Quinn") is an independent journalist and publisher, the owner of "Due Cani Cellars", and a blog contributor to VinVillage.com