Todd Taylor Wines: Yolo County

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Last weekend, I was invited to attend a private wine tasting event at the Todd Taylor Winery in the town of Clarksburg in Yolo County. Todd Taylor Winery is located a few minutes South of Sacramento inside the Old Sugar Mill with several other wineries. I had never done wine tasting in this area nor was I familiar with the Old Sugar Mill.

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A group of eleven of us were seated in a space outside the tasting room of the beautiful brick building. Todd introduced himself to us before sharing not only his wines, but some interesting stories. The mill was actually reconstructed in 1934 in Clarksburg using the bricks from a sugar factory in Utah. Todd also spoke about his own history; he started making his own beer as a hobby for many years. He opened the winery in 2006.

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Todd led us through the tasting of half a dozen of his wines as well as some cheeses. I was very impressed with the cheese and cracker plate. It was obvious there was thought put into the cheese selection to ensure they go well with the wines.

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Todd is a purist making wine from single vineyards. He doesn’t blend different grapes. His focus is on red wines which is great for me as that is my preference. We tried a Tempranillo, a few Zinfandels, and a couple of Cabernet Sauvignons. I really enjoyed the Zins, but my favorite was the 2010 Tempranillo “Holland Landing.”

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After the tasting, we got a private tour of the facilities. At Todd Taylor, wines are aged in new Oak barrels. They produce 75 tons of wine each year, averaging 4000 cases. If you like wine and wine tasting and want an alternative to Napa, I suggest you explore Yolo County.

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