Let the Sun Shine In on Orange Coast Winery

My Winemaker and I have given birth.  NO!  Not to a real baby! (Big sigh of relief! At our age we'll just enjoy the grandchildren. Thanks!)  We've given birth to a bouncing, bubbly winery in Newport Beach, CA.  Orange Coast Winery was actually born in April of 2011.  Doug and I bought the dream in October and what a whirlwind it's been.  We really do feel like new parents all over again.  Late nights staying up with our baby, researching how to care for it and nurture it properly, sending out tons of announcements to our friends, family, and acquaintances...the analogies are endless.

We bought an existing inventory, the name, and the location.  All of which we didn't have to love, but certainly needed to feel comfortable enough to live with until we are able to change things once within our power.  The former owner enjoyed a softer, Italian style wine - very different from Doug's big, bold love affair with red wines.  Another immediate "To-Do" on our list was to round out our wine list with a few sweet wines for those novice wine fans. 

We are in love with the Beach Bubbly sparkling that we acquired and love the way it plays on the beach theme as well as panders to the more serious Champagne connoisseur.  Plans are in the works to bring back another popular white that we recently ran out of, the Beach Blend White.  In the meantime, a flirty, fruity Rose has nicely filled out our menu along with two new Chardonnays.  A stainless steel lovely that has everyone buzzing and an enticing Reserve Chardonnay with just the right amount of butter and oak.  Break out the clambake and lobster and serve up with any of the aforementioned wines.  As the inventory started to deplete, we got excited about Doug batching and blending the rest of the wines still in tanks and barrels that we'd purchased.   

California is our vineyard!

My wily winemaker  had a few other tricks up his sleeve, including one last batch of Malbec from my brother's vineyard in Paso Robles.  This deliciously spicy yet smooth Malbec is especially dear to our hearts since David and Sara Israel recently sold their Five Oaks Vineyard, thus the bittersweet end of a wine era for all of us.  This Malbec is a beauty and does its Swan Song exquisitely!  Ask me about the amazing Lamb recipe that will rock & roll with this little number!  Another surprise was a couple of Zins that Doug was able to snag - one Paso and one from Temecula.  Each Zinfandel is so complex and different it's as if they aren't even from the same grape family.  The Paso Zin is bold and jammy in the traditional "Zinse" that made Paso Zins famous.  The Temecula Zin is rich and fruity with a burst of pomegranate pelting your taste buds.

A mainstay on our original menu was an extremely popular Beach Blend Red.  This has been our work horse wine, the Chianti, the table wine, your every day go-to wine.  When we ran out of this around Christmas, I seriously thought that some of our wine club members needed sedation!  Needless to say, the release of a new batch, a Dougifide, Beach Blend Red has received a hearty welcome!  But, WAIT, there's MORE!  Riding on the coattails of the regular Beach Blend Red, this over achieving winemaker decided, what could be better than the Beach Blend Red, but a RESERVE Beach Blend Red.  Oh.  Can we talk?  This big, bold, bad boy goes in like a John Phillip Sousa March and continues with the rockets and fireworks all the way through the long, lingering finish.  Anyone care for a smoke after that description?!  Speaking of smoking, least I not forget, a lovely little Cab from Lodi (glad to not be stuck in Lodi again, surely!).  This supple Cab is unassuming and grand, all in one.  Pair it with dark chocolate, or a mouth watering steak...either one will thank you!

Oh, it's definitely a work in progress.  We strive to navigate the distance between our home in Temecula and the new business in Newport Beach.  We're working hard to network and immerse ourselves into our new community while maintaining our ties with our current home.  We have immediate plans to join the local Chamber and have already provided wine, wine tasting certificates, and donated our venues for a number of charitable causes.  As we quickly grow, we are not only busy planning exciting events in the next few month, we're looking for an Event Coordinator to help take us there!  We're juggling the bookkeeping, keeping up with the social media, constantly updating our website, all of the licenses and permits, hiring and training our employees, and, oh yeh, selling wine!

I wrote a blog awhile back about the romantic misconceptions that so many people have about the wine business.  It's like anything in life...you must be passionate about it as it is like a jealous lover.  It consumes your life, demands your constant attention, throws occasionally tantrums, and takes you on the thrill of a lifetime.  Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Doug and I extend our warmest invitation to all of you to visit us at Orange Coast Winery in Newport Beach.  We're open Friday and Saturday from 12-6 and on Sunday from 12-5.  We're also open on special holidays such as most recently on Valentine's Day and the upcoming President's Day.  Wine tasting includes six one ounce tastes of our premium wines and a chic logo glass for $10.00.  All of our wines are reasonably priced between $19 and $39.  Local.  Sustainable.  Warm.  Friendly.  Fun.  And, for this beach loving wench....less than a mile from the Pacific Ocean.  It doesn't get much better than that.

On warm days, (which is often in Newport!), we open up the warehouse garage door and let the sun shine in, the balmy breezes float by, and the enticing combination of wine and the ocean fill your senses.  Join our wine club and enjoy quarterly shipments of six wines or twelve.  As wine club members, you'll receive 20% off on all purchases including retail items, exclusive wine club only events, and YES! free wine tastings!

Catch the Wine Wave and make plans to visit us soon.

Orange Coast Winery
869 W. 16th St.
Newport Beach, CA  92663
949-645-0400
www.orangecoastwinery.com
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