San Antonio Winery - Riverwalk and Pace Picante Salsa Not Included

I really don't care who Mr. Saint Anthony, aka "San Antonio" in the Latin vernaculisms, is.

I lived in San Antonio, Texas for almost ten years and "San Antonio" will always and forever be Colonies North Elementary School, Woodlake Country Club, Riverwalk, the Alamo, and if I think really hard, maybe Henry Cisneros and his Via Via initiatives, not that I ever took public transportation, but to this day, the Via Via jingle from the tv commercials sticks out in my head because that's how good Senor Cisneros and his public policy is.

San Antonio will always be...that is...until...I found out that San Antonio happens to be a winery located in Los Angeles. I wasn't even aware that there was enough space in this choatic crawl of a sprawl to hold a winery!

It's a winery, not a fucking vineyard, Sarah.

Right.

It was actually a comment from one of my favorite LA food bloggers, glamour girl Rachael of Fresh Approach Cooking, that tipped me off to San Antonio's existence. However, it wasn't until the winery's PR rep contacted me that I actually paid any attention. They wanted to send me a sample of their wine. I did not argue -- who says "no" to complimentary wine?!?!? - though I could not promise them a smashing review. For one thing, I don't "do" that. I am very shy about accepting things to "review," unless I plan to do it for that other blog, for which I sell-out without blinking. Writing on my own blog, however, is a different story. This is personal to me, and while I certainly don't write mistruths on the other blog, I am more sensitive to feelings here. Reps never say they expect anything, but I can't help but feel like I should say something nice, even if whatever product it happens to be is complete and utter poo.

The other thing is that I am not a wine geek. In fact, I am so far from being a wine geek that I am surprised that San Antonio even contacted me in the first place. More often than never, my two responses to a wine are: "Tasty!" and "Not tasty!" I have tried again and again and again and again (!) to understand the complexities of wine, but I have resigned to accepting that I will always be one who enjoys and appreciates the experience, but will never fully understand it. I mean seriously, is there really a difference between blackberries and boysenberries, and if there is, are you telling me that there are people in this world who can tell the difference!?

I won't even get into what I think about drinks tasting like tanned leather.

So all I can do is provide objective (boring) information about the wine. The Heritage wine is a blend of Syrah (which I love), Petite Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache and is barrel-aged for twenty four months in 70% new French and American oak. *yawn* Even more descriptive, of course, is my opinion of the 2002 Heritage Vintage Red Wine from San Antonio Winery: "Tasty!" and probably worth the $24 per bottle it costs. Too bad I sucked that whole $24 bottle down inside an hour.

Sorry, kids. That's the best I can do. If you want to read about "fragrant nose of blackberry, raspberry, and vanilla. Soft, plush core of ripe berries and some anise. Smooth finish with light acidity and layers of fruit and spice," you're going to have to pay for a professional.

And if you were looking for Pace Picante Salsa, it's in Aisle 2.

Who Else Tried San Antonio Heritage Vintage Red 2002?
Don's Wine Flog Blog
Wine Cask Blog

San Antonio Winery
737 Lamar Street
Los Angeles, CA 90031
323.223.1401
www.sanantoniowinery.com

** a year ago today, i thought i heard "topless" but gambas al ajillo wasn't disappointing **
** two years ago today, my ex ex company served Baja Fresh for its monthly "see how nice we are, now work harder!" lunch, but I didn't blog about it because it's Baja Fresh **

tags :: food : and drink : wine : wineries : reviews : los angeles