The Winery
There are wineries that, in general, buy grapes from grape growers, and produce their own wines from those grapes. There are wineries that grow some of their own grapes, buy the rest, and make their wines. And then, there are vineyards that grow all their own grapes, sell most of them to others, and make some of their own wine. Oswald Vineyards is the latter, growing most of their grapes to sell and making some of their own wines. No fancy tasting rooms here. We tasted our wines in a small medal building with the heavy equipment just outside. But the experience was priceless. We had an intimate tasting with one of the founder’s sons, Christoph. You couldn’t meet a nicer person! Being able to talk about the history, their family, and the grape and wine production in such a setting was wonderful. Don’t expect fancy, just down home and intimate. We were also provided with a cheese and cracker plate to accompany the tasting.
The Wines
We had a four-wine tasting each, so we were able to cover both red and white. All the wines were nice and didn’t disappoint. Particularly notable were the Alberino and Roussanne. I enjoyed the Montepulciano on the red side, and it was my favorite red among the selections. All the wines are produced at the vineyard, and the family is the winemaker. The minerality of the wine is unique and offers a deviation from most other wines.
In Summary
You can have a wine tasting at an upscale tasting room, and that will give you a certain experience. You can also have a tasting at a real, down-to-earth family vineyard, and that is a whole different experience. Both are worth having, and you should try them both. If you are in search of a way to have the latter, I recommend you try Oswald Vineyards.
