Tulip Hill Winery
Budge Brown has been in farming for over fifty years. Although a University of California at Davis graduate, he rarely talks about his university education, but more of his soil, weather and vine education. Budge and his daughter Kristi had dreamed of making wine in Napa Valley for some time. The wines, coming from two vineyards: Napa Valley’s Pope Valley Vineyard and the other from Tracy Hill’s Oso Vineyard display the passion of the winemaker and the distinct elements of the vineyard.
It would be very easy to place Tulip Hill’s wines in that category of similar $10-$13 Napa-ish California wines…but these are a bit different. The Cabernet Sauvignon displays that mocha-chocolate component that seems so unique to the Tracy Hills area and the Chardonnay is much more burgundian in style than most mid-range chardonnays. The cabernet – shiraz blend (which, by the way will be out of stock for a while after current inventory runs out…grab a bottle now) is a delightful mix of rich cassis, slight toast and that blueberry and spice component of rich syrah.
I recently went back and tasted all three of these wines…the cabernet with a pan-seared top sirloin rubbed with my beloved smoked pepper and dark chocolate mole’ and then served with a caramelized onion topped bowl of black beans crusted with pecorino cheese…kind of my south of the border version of French Onion Soup. The cabernet did not “stand down” to the spice mixture, and the chocolate brought out the richness in the wine. The chardonnay I just sipped with a tossed green salad with a balsamic dressing. All of the Tulip Hill wines were absolutely delightful.
Maybe it’s the over thirty thousand tulip bulbs that the Browns have planted on the vineyard or the passion of a family that grew up digging in the dirt…or simply the magic of the Tracy Hills…but these are above the cut mid-dollar –range California wines. Come try them with Susan this Saturday, February 28 at World Beverage from 3- 6 p.m… I think you will be drinking a bottle Saturday night!
