Northern California Wineries: Loxton Winery

If you like red wines with a lot of depth, you should try some of Chris Loxton’s wines www.loxtonwines.com.  I’m not sure where Chris’s wines are distributed or what restaurants use them so my recommendation is to go directly to his tasting room on Dunbar Road in Kenwood in Sonoma County – just watch out for the kangaroos as you drive up the driveway to the tasting room.

Chris is an Aussie with a great sense of humor, who grew up on a Shiraz vineyard in Australia, came to the States to teach physics for a year and ended up in U.S. academia for ten years, primarily in the Midwest .  He finally found his inner winemaker (it runs in his family, of course) and came out to California, giving up his attempts to try to stuff serious knowledge into the heads of American college students, a thankless task indeed.  He started working for other winemakers in Sonoma County, eventually becoming Assistant Winemaker at Wellington Vineyards, another Sonoma winery.  Just after the millennium, he finally started his own winery just down the road from Wellington.  Chris often works the tasting room himself and he is a pleasure to talk to.  He’ll even sign the wine bottles you buy if he is not too busy.

Now, about the wines.  The Zinfandel, Shiraz (a younger Syrah), and the older Syrah are all big, meaty, chewy  wines that go very well with main dish entrees of beef, pork or lamb.   These are really lovely wines.  Usually, my choice in reds leans to cabernet, merlot and pinot noir, but I have to say that the Syrah and the Zinfandel have made believers of me.  The Shiraz was also a good wine, but I liked the Zin and the Syrah better.   Chris also makes a chardonnay, which I did not try, and a port, which I did try.  The port is also worth paying attention to.

~ by bubblytrail on December 21, 2007.