Winery in Lower Lake, CA to offer free tour in a Pinzgauer

[TechMOGogy]

Six Sigma Ranch and Winery of Lower Lake will give Pinzgauer tours, worth $125, free-of-charge to celebrate the harvest season in September and October.
http://www.record-bee.com/news/ci_23899 ... free-tours

Just thought it sounded like fun
Dan

[ExpeditionImports]

We installed a new engine in the Six Sigma truck a couple months back so when this post came up and my wife and I were in the area celebrating our anniversary it seemed like a fun outing, We went to Six Sigma yesterday and had a great time.

The Pinz at Six Sigma is a tool to take passengers on a tour to some of the vineyards on their 4300 acre ranch. Do not expect off-roading as the trails/roads are well maintained in a rugged, dry, and very beautiful setting. We took a picnic lunch and sat on the front porch of their tasting room which is an old stage stop sitting under some giant 100+ year old coast oaks. Hospitality was excellent and they were offering tastings of 5-6 of there wines.

The ranch is definitely rustic, a bit dusty, and a very nice change from the typical Napa/Sonoma Valley wineries. It is a working cattle operation (sheep too I think), with over 3000 acres of it's property shifted to conservancy. Home to bears, bobcat, mountain line, wild turkeys, etc., you might have the opportunity to see some cool things. On our tour we were in the middle of a 95 degree day so it was limited to some turkey's, birds, and livestock. The tour covered a lot of history of the ranch as well as quite some discussion and tasting of the raw grapes varieties up in the upper vineyard. I actually learned some new things from the tour. (They do no water the vines until they put a couple of the leaves into a pressure chamber and it takes a certain pressure to force the moisture out of the grape leaf. Low pressure too much watering, high pressure not enough watering.)

I grew up a wine brat in the Napa Valley and have many wineries that we service their Pinzgauers and we always end up with some of their wine. Very rarely do I need to purchase wine. I say this so that you understand that when I say that after my tasting I went inside and purchased bottles of the Six Sigma wine, it speaks for itself! They have done their wines right. The Sauvignon Blanc was crisp and refreshing. What was even better was their Bootleg Sauvignon Blanc made for their wine club where they actually ferment the Sauvignon Blanc with it's skins and seeds (like you would for a red wine). Finished off my wine purchase with their 2007 Cabernet which was very smooth and didn't carry the really strong tannin signature so commonly found in the Napa Valley. Smooth......

Picnic on a historic ranch with a Pinzgauer, good wine, good company.....nothing better on a Saturday afternoon.

Cheers,

Scott