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Summit Lake Vineyards and Winery is a much-loved stop on our California Wine Country tours. We caught up with Heather Griffin, daughter of the founders of Summit Lake, to learn a little more about the wines they produce high atop Howell Mountain.

What is key when considering where to start a winery?

One of the best jokes about what it takes….
“What is the best way to make a small fortune in the wine business? Start with a large one.”

Still holds true today.

I think the most important thing to look at is what you’re after for quality and how you expect to sell your wine when it’s done! My dad started on Howell Mountain because he couldn’t afford valley floor property in the early 70’s and our little piece pf property worked into his budget and timing. If you want to sell an outstanding product you have to grow grapes in a premium area and Howell Mountain and the Napa Valley have consistently shown to be an amazing place to grow grapes.

You recently went through harvest season, can you tell us a little about that process and what next steps are after harvest?

Harvest time is one of the best times of the year to visit. It’s like Christmas for grape growers and winemakers, the thing you wait all year for. It is the most work and the most fun. Since we grow all of our own fruit we work in the vineyards all year tending to the vines preparing for harvest. We start sampling the grapes a few weeks ahead of our projected harvest to check the sugar content and acid levels in the fruit. This allows us to have a good idea of when the quality of the fruit is best. We also wait and watch the dogs who start eating the grapes when they’re ready. Harvest is a busy time, and we have multiple days of picking over several weeks of time. We hand pick all of our fruit and can have multiple picks of the same varietal depending on the age of the vines and location on the property. We get all of our picking done while the fruit is cool in the mornings and then crush the fruit as soon as the picking is done that day.

It’s hard to describe everything that goes into making wine because everything you do to a grape affects the outcome of your finished product. We pick the fruit, de-stem the grapes (take them off the stems) and may or may not crush them, depending on the varietal and what we want from those particular grapes. They go into a fermentation tank and can spend days to weeks in the tank depending on the winemakers style. After the fermentation is complete we press the wine off of the skins and put the wine back into tanks to settle before transferring to barrels for the aging process.

Here at Summit Lake we just settled our last bit of wine down to barrels for the 2017 vintage!

What is a must-try, can’t miss wine at Summit Lake?
That’s like asking a parent which child is their favorite! Depends on the day, what you’re eating, and what you’re in the mood for. Zinfandel is what was planted on our property originally in the 1800’s by the Italians that were in the valley. It’s also the varietal my dad fell in love with and what got him into this crazy business. It grows beautifully on Howell Mountain and what we still focus on here at Summit Lake.

But we are also about family…all of the grand kids have wines named for them now. We grow Cabernet and Petite Sirah in addition to our Zinfandel, and they have all proven to do very well in the volcanic soil Howell Mountain is known for.

What pairings do you recommend?
Our wines are all made to be food friendly and to be shared. If you’re serving lamb I would go with our Zinfandel. Beef or game goes well with the any of the reds especially the Cabernet and Petite Sirah. And our Zinfandel Port is amazing with desserts or by itself after dinner. It easily pairs with cheese, fresh berries and cream, or of course chocolate.

What inspired your label design?
All of our wines outside of our Zinfandel are named for the grand kids in the family. They were all designed to reflect the kiddos and their personalities. They each have a long story behind them that takes at least a couple of glasses of wine to get through…full details available at Summit Lake visits!

What are Summit Lake’s goals for the future?
To keep making wine to share with family and friends!

 

WHY I RIDE: A series that gets to the heart of why we love what we do. This time Sarah tells us the story of how she fell in love with bikes.

I didn’t used to ride. It’s not normal where I’m from. I bought a bike just to get around—parking is too expensive, I thought. I didn’t know about what life could be like with a bicycle.

It started from a leap of faith and boredom. From energy to spare and nowhere to put it. A trip to the mountains was where it began. I rode over mountain passes. Through gaps and across bridges. I rode my first century. I cried tears of joy as I flew through the Smoky Mountains by the power of my own self.

My legs never hurt more. The pain was unbearable, but they said keep going, so I did. I didn’t realize your body could recover so quickly, and your pain would turn into strength. The miles passed, my body transformed, and when I returned I wasn’t my old self. I had discovered this layer of happiness underneath thick layers of boredom, confusion, hopelessness and sadness that had built up over my adolescence years.

Now I ride. I ride to feel alive. I ride because I can. I ride to run away from life for just a little while.
When I ride everything goes quiet in my mind. I focus on the road ahead. On the cars passing by. On my breath. On the smell of the air.

I say hello to the cows. I say hi to the chipmunks and squirrels and hope they pass my wheels safely. I say good morning to the rabbits.

I look up and smile as I watch the birds fly with me. Instead of seeing them in a blur, I get to see them as we fly the same speed. I have wings, too, I say.

I ride for the feeling of control. The feeling of strength, of power and choice. It’s my time to shine, and I can shine anyway I’d like. I can go fast, I can go slow, I can go faster, I can stop.

I stop. I hear nothing but the air. The birds. My breath. It’s a familiar scene, but every time it’s different. The light shining on the trees is different. Tonight’s sunset is spectacular. Being outside is liberating, and I get to spend all morning or afternoon or day or night out there, just riding my bike. I get the feeling I am part of something greater.

I ride to explore. I ride to get lost and to find something new. In the cities and countryside and in myself. This world is smaller than I thought, but bigger all at once. It’s closer to my reach, and more beautiful than I could ever imagine. I ride to ride it. To gain full access and to see what it has to offer.

I ride with others who ride. We ride together, enjoying this method of passing through the world by the power of our legs. We smile. We laugh. We sweat. We barely get a sentence in when we push ourselves faster. We both come from different lives, different reasons why we’re there out on the road together. But in that moment we share the simplicity of a bicycle ride that we both know goes well beyond pedaling.

I ride for my health and for my strength. For my memories and discoveries. For a purpose of life. For feeling free. For me.

This year, I’m headed to the Vuelta with Trek Travel. It’s more than a dream come true. It’s a life’s goal made real.

I’m no casual fan of bike racing. I’ve spent 20 years following every historic race on the pro calendar. Ask me to tell you about the closest Tour de France in history (it was eight seconds between Laurent Fignon and Greg Lemond in 1989). Ask me which stage Miguel Indurain won his fifth Tour de France in 1995 (time trial, stage 8). And ask me about the last Paris-Roubaix where it rained (2002 was a mud bath). But I’m going to let you in on a controversial secret that I’ve always held: The Vuelta a España, or Tour of Spain, is some of the best racing on the schedule. Don’t believe me? Consider the facts.

The “parcours” is par excellence. The “race parcours” is the route, and the Tour of Spain can’t be beat. The Spanish Pyrenees and Basque country are the climbing crown jewels of Europe. And when the rest of the world is drooling after the Alpe d’Huez, Galibier and climbs of the northern Alps, this region boasts of the steepest, intimate climbs in forested back-country. I remember when David Millar abandoned the Vuelta on the Angliru (featured this year as well), calling it “barbaric.” YOU’RE DARN RIGHT IT’S BARBARIC.

The crowds are awesome. The Spanish are nothing if they’re not insane sports fans, and cycling is no different. Have you ever seen Basques cheering at the Tour de France? They’re crazy. And the Vuelta is like 23 days of it. Please pass the sangria without spilling.

The pros go after it. The end of the Tour de France is famous for contract negotiations, where big deals are signed and allegiances are swapped. By the time we get to the Vuelta, the remaining unsigned pros are fighting for their careers, and therefore, they ride like their lives depend on it. That means more attacking, more risk-taking, more drama, and more quality racing. In fact, the Vuelta is where we discovered the careers of racers like Chris Froome, Alejandro Valverde, Juan Jose Cobo, Tony Martin’s famous all-day breakaway, and Chris Horner’s age-defying Grand Tour win.

Ahhh, Spain. Sure, France is incredibly romantic. Italy is a food-lover’s paradise. But Spain seems to have a little of it all. There’s a special passion that’s typically Spanish. There’s incredible tapas, local wines and seafood. And this is the birthplace of Picasso, Dali, Cervantes and Lorca. There must be something in the water.

Don’t get me wrong: every pro bike race is a slice of history, and every event features an epic battle in its own right. But I do believe that the Vuelta is special, and it’s why I jumped at the chance to go this year. Trek Travel also offers a unique view on an already special race, with Trek-Segafredo access and some special rides with Chechu Rubiera, former member of the Discovery cycling team. Hopefully he won’t mind if I want to discuss stage 19 of the 1997 Giro d’Italia, his first win. Or his top tens at the Vuelta itself. Or his time on team RadioShack. Or Discovery. Or….well, let’s just say I’m excited. And I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Stay tuned for Jordan’s post-Vuelta report to read if the race was as good as he imagined it would be. We’re sure it will be. And more.

“Unique, dynamic, quirky, and fun, these are all qualities I seek in how I shoot. Over the past 11 years I have blended photography and guiding cycling tours around the world, helping me cultivate a commitment to stellar service. I believe a connection with my clients and subjects is at the apex of having a great experience, creating great images on location. It also makes my job one of the greatest in the world.”

Zack Jones is a guide, photographer, and creative spirit.

Thoughtfully written by one of our guides on his own blog, Jon Vick let us tell you all his favorite rides.

As part of Trek Travel’s Ride Camp in Solvang, we rode one of my all time favorite road rides last week. It got me thinking about where my all time favorite road rides are. This is the list I’ve come up with:

1 – Sella Ronda. In my opinion there isn’t a more beautiful road ride in the world. Made up of four passes; it’s the perfect balance of awesome climbing, awesome descending, and amazing scenery. With awesome spots to stop for lunch and great Italian espresso along the route, it really doesn’t get better than this.

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