EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published in the Summer 2014 edition of Tahoe Magazine. It was first published on this website in August 2018 and is presented in its original form.
Tahoe may not be new to skiing and biking, but wine culture is ripening every year as more wineries bring tasting rooms to the area.
Whether Tahoe’s winemakers are from the Sierra or are Bay Area transplants, they’ve come to Tahoe and brought their grapes, their bottles and extended knowledge. Truckee Tahoe is also home to bars dedicated to wine that host events for tasting, wine education and wine club memberships.
Winemakers like Russ Jones of Truckee River Winery bring grapes up from the Salinas Valley, carrying out the wine’s process in the Sierra. Charlie Jobbins, winemaker at Skyhawk Lane and Red Poets, brings his bottles from Edna Valley in San Luis Obispo to his tasting room in Heavenly Village, bringing a coastal taste to the blue water of Tahoe.
And the fine dining experience and service of a sommelier can be found at The Pour House in Truckee, where Dean Schaecher talks with people to learn their preferences and helps them find something new, something old or something Tahoe.
The details of a bottle’s history can complicate the mind and the palette. And when wine people talk wine, it can leave those new to the drink with a headache — even before finishing a bottle.
Charlie Jobbins of Skyhawk Lane and Red Poets winery encourages everyone to “taste, taste, taste,” as that’s where the fun is.
“Have an open mind,” he tells newbies. “Your palette will decide what flavors you prefer or don’t prefer.”
Meanwhile, Katy Jones of Truckee River Winery reminds tasters that everyone is different, and that palette, not price, determines preference.
Just like the grape itself, with care and attention, palettes ripen and allow tasters to experience the drink in each moment, creating a story and memory on the lake.
Below are some of our recommendations for tasters looking to explore the alpine wine country at Lake Tahoe. Make a new discovery with every visit, or plan a full day of uncorking, pouring and imbibing around the lake.
Family owned and operated for 25 years, Truckee River Winery created an outdoor area to accompany its tasting room that opened five years ago this fall. Owner and winemaker Russ Jones works alongside his daughter, Katy, and together the Truckee natives bring something truly unique to the area.
Aside from the house made paninis, gourmet cheeses and antipasto platters, the location also offers BYOF (bring your own food) for outdoor barbecuing. All wines are made on the premises after Russ rounds up family and friends to help him hand pick and harvest grapes from Gary’s vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands.
Within the 11 varietals offered, the winery’s flagship pinot noir is fuller bodied, and its Chardonnay is crisp with a light, buttery and oak taste. Russ recommends the pinot gris for the summer, saying that the perfect balance is a glass in one hand and a bocce ball in the other.
Truckee River Winery hosts plenty of summer events including palette painting classes held by local artists, featured chef pairings and bocce ball leagues. Truckee River Winery’s outdoor atmosphere is dog friendly, their extended menu (with to-go ordering available) is kid approved and the outdoor experience allows patrons to enjoy wine, friends, family and sunshine.
Whether you find yourself on the mountain, the lake, or strolling the shops of downtown Truckee, Uncorked provides locals and tourists with a place to meet for drinks after work or wind down from a day on the lake.
Uncorked is locally owned and operated and understands the importance of supporting local. The wine bar has a hard-to-beat happy hour from 3-5 p.m. daily with two glasses of wine and an artisan cheese plate for $20. For wines by the glass, Uncorked offers over 20 ever-changing varieties each day as well as a wide selection of retail bottles.
Every Friday and Saturday night during summer, tasters receive an education during the Meet the Winemaker event where winemakers from as close as Napa or as far as Europe come to share their wine and sign bottles. For warmer months, Uncorked co-owner Kali Kopley recommends a mineral driven wine, a crisp and clean finish found in a pinot gris or sauvignon blanc.
Feeling like you want to try something new? Kali’s latest exploration is with pinot biancos from northern Italy — a mutation of pinot grigio, yet more floral.
Charlie’s romance with wine began at a young age. The Bay Area native found beer “repulsive” and chose to spend his weekends visiting Napa, he and his friends all pitching in to buy a bottle.
Charlie’s dream became reality when he started producing his first commercial wine in 2000 under the same name of his home street, Skyhawk Lane. The winery produces 1,200 cases a year, and the operation is small enough to allow Charlie and his wife, Renee, to split time between their home in South Lake Tahoe and the vineyard in Paso Robles.
This summer, Skyhawk Lane will be pouring wines from their vineyard, Edna Valley, of San Luis Obispo: A chardonnay and their Albariño, a Spanish varietal with mango and papaya flavors and a citrus finish.
Wine-making classes are held every Thursday night in the tasting room. For $22, guests can learn about the art of wine making, from the harvest to the bottle, and they can try a flight of the SkyHawk Lane and Red Poets wines.
Charlie encourages attendance by guests from all levels of wine knowledge and promises to answer as simple or as complex a question.
“I’ll get as geeky as they want,” he said with a laugh.
Charlie began blending wines in 2007 and put the creations under the name “Red Poets,” as blending reds is an art in itself. The most popular, the Red Fusion, is an easy wine for beginners, a food-friendly blend of Zinfandel, Syrah and Cabernet.
Fine wine pairs and pours with fine dining, so although grapes aren’t grown in Tahoe, wine experts are.
Take Dean Schaecher, owner of The Pour House in downtown Truckee. The sommelier spent more than 25 years working in fine dining before opening his wine shop nine years ago. Looking to help patrons find that perfect wine for any occasion, Dean brings the same value of customer service provided tableside at big named restaurants to his small wine store.
Co-owned with his wife, Christa Finn, the couple refer to The Pour House the “no occasion necessary” wine shop and encourage locals to stop in after work.
The Pour House offers two reds and two whites for everyday tasting and hundreds of bottles for retail. Bottles can be found as affordable as $8, with others far into the triple digits. The shop has more than 100 available cheeses as well as salamis, beers and other snacks.