Fall Hopland Passport 2011- 6) Cesar Toxqui Cellars

Dec 1, 2011 by Diane Davis

Continuing south on Main Street we walk past SiP, Mendocino and into Cesar Toxqui Cellars (as customer service, Cesar has created t-shirt for all his employees to wear that tell you how to pronounce his name; Ses-zar Toe-ski). Cesar’s tasting room is a restored turn of the century house with all of the crown moulding and beautifully finished wood floors.

Cesar humbly shares his wines with his guests and graciously shares his wine making techniques. It is fascinating to listen to him share how and when he decides it is time to pick the grapes to the wine making processes, with all those decisions. The moment I really saw Cesar as the artist he is is when he shared his Heirloom I-IV. The first year that Cesar began his own label he decided to make a blend that would forever be a part of his wines. When he bottled his first Heirloom blend he saved a barrel to be used in year two. When he made his year two Heirloom blend, he added the barrel of year one Heirloom blend and then again reserved a barrel of the Heirloom blend for year three, and so forth. Now every bottle of Heirloom will have a bit of every Heirloom blend wine from every year. I loved the creativity.

I also loved the bbq ribs and chicken he served with his wines, along with a lovely desert of a very chocolate cake paired with Dulce Paloma, his desert wine named for his sweet little daughter.