Cantiga Wineworks

Published November 25, 2013

Cantiga Wineworks is making wines with refreshing flavors that represent equally refreshing ideas, methods, and commitments. The idea is simple, produce the highest quality wines with fewer additives to enhance the natural flavors of each grape. Their methods include longer skin contact, which give wine its color and antioxidants. They also age wines longer to let the flavors concentrate and rich textures develop. Without additives like sulphites, their wines remain pure and full of fruit flavor with naturally lower sugar levels. You could say theirs are healthy wines.

Their commitment to the tradition of pairing wines with food is something everyone at the tasting room can experience. But in case you’re too far away from this paradise, imagine warm soothing chipotle chilli matching the long luscious Zinfandel while a smoky salty Spanish Chorizo brings you back to the bright sumptuous Grenache.

But taste for yourself when you travel to El Dorado county because nothing you read can be as good for you as wines that don’t make you hungover. Their Chardonnay has bright crisp acidity and a nice long finish. It begins with citrus flavors and the thick texture of banana. Due to their winemaking methods, this is a white wine you can cellar for up to 25 years! Its time in neutral barrels gives it a creamy creme brulee mouthfeel with a lively bit of lemon curd that balances it. Delicious!

Their Grenache has a full body of strawberry, bright red cherry, and a tiny bit of raspberry earthiness. If truthiness is a word, so is earthiness. Their Petite Sirah has a clean crisp scent and a body full of tart blueberry, blackberry, and plum but soft silky tannins and a long warm finish.  If you’ve had it with jammy Zinfandels, theirs is a refreshing one to try. It has great berry flavor with a balance of earth and herbal aromas. Its naturally big bold fruit makes you think its sweet but it doesn’t have aftertaste because the sugar levels are low.

After the reds, they bring you back to a dry white called Semillon. It has the supple fragrance of tropical fruit like banana with the body of a nectar and a silky finish. They may say these wines have European style but we say refreshingly delicious and better for you than most wines as well.

Cantiga Wineworks

More appellation adventures from this region.

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