WineDay: Watch This Winery!

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by Fred McMillin
for November 20, 1998

Winery of the Week

Watch This Winery!

The Problem

You can make fine wines, but there's a shortage of firms to get them to market.

The Solution

Form a partnership with one of California's largest wine wholesalers.

The Rest of the Story

The Vernon Underwood family is the majority holder of the huge wholesaler, Young's Market in California. The Arciero and Vix families can turn out fine wine. The three families are now co-owners of the new EOS Estate Winery. From Greek mythology, EOS comes with good credentials. Her sisters were Helios (sun) and Selene (moon). EOS was the goddess of dawn, gently lifting the morning sun over the horizon. Appropriately, the grapes from the 187 acres of Paso Robles vines are harvested at dawn.

My panel has tasted the first two releases, a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc. The former was covered in the April 15, 1998 WineDay, titled, " What's Balance." My Scott's Panel just judged the Sauvignon Blanc and voted it BEST BLANC sipped so far this year. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...the 1997...$14.

Just the Facts About the Winery

Name—EOS Estate Winery
Location—Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County
Owners:

Vernon Underwood Family
Arciero Family
Kerry H. Vix

Vineyards—187 acres, 6 varietals, close-spaced planting.
Wines—In addition to the whites, watch for the Zin and Cab.
Winemaker—Tom Eddy, who uses all of the best techniques, but very judiciously so as to complement, not overwhelm, the character of the grape. For example, the Sauvignon Blanc herb flavors are accompanied by just a tad of oak spice.
EOS Phone—(800) 249-9463 Additional Tidbits—Talk to the knowledgeable Rusty Eddy at (707) 462-7196.

Postscript

Tom Eddy is aging his reds even as we speak. The ancient Greeks appreciated aged wine also. In fact, they had a saying that "Greek ladies liked their wines old and their lovers young."

About the Writer
Fred McMillin, a veteran wine writer, has taught wine history for 30 years on three continents. He currently teaches wine courses at San Francisco State and San Francisco City College. In 1995, the Academy of Wine Communications honored Fred with one of only 22 Certificates of Commendation awarded to American wine writers.

WineDay Annex

More articles by
Fred McMillin

Welcome to WineDay, the electronic Gourmet Guide's daily update. Monday through Thursday, WineDay presents a wine profile. Then on Fridays we present the Winery of the Week to take you through the weekend.

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