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| Birth of a Winery: Tanis Vineyards |
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| Written by Angela Ann |
| Monday, 22 September 2008 01:37 |
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Jill and Andrew Tanis gave birth to a baby earlier this year. Labor was hard and painful. The pregnancy was long and difficult. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at the happy couple. 
In January 2008 the Tanis family gave birth to a winery. They started showing their baby to the public in February. The baby, otherwise known as Tanis Vineyards, is a small family winery in Amador County, just below the Shenandoah foothills of Northern California. Tanis is a little off the beaten path, but definitely worth the detour. In fact, I really went off the beaten path as my car’s navigation system took me through the “scenic route,” which is actually very beautiful. As luck would have it, I visited Tanis during their “Getting Fruity and Nutty” Chardonnay release. Hmmm… fruity AND nutty? Sounds like its right up my alley.  The winery is small but very homey and my hosts are warm and friendly. Right off the bat, Jill and Andrew, along with their friends, Simon and Monica Gray forced me to try their wines. I don’t usually drink at ten in the morning, but hey, it’s my job and sometimes I have to go the extra mile. I tasted the Tanis 2006 Chardonnay next to the Tanis 2006 Sutter Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay. Same year, same wine region, same varietal but the grapes were grown on different patches of land. Both were good, but I could definitely taste the difference. My favorites are the 2005 Barbera and the 2005 Sangiovese (suiting my personal tastes), but there is a wine here for everyone. I really wanted to try their 2005 Primitivo, but alas, they were sold out. In fact, they were sold out of their 2005 Syrah and 2005 Cab Franc, too. Handmade Wine This small, premium winery is probably selling out because Andrew goes the extra mile when crafting the wine. Andrew is not only a winemaker, but he is a farmer, bottler, butcher, baker and candlestick maker. Ok, I went a little overboard there. But I can truly say Tanis wine is handmade.
“Winemaking is an art you can taste” says Andrew. “If it’s manufactured, you can taste that too.” Andrew and the entire family are “hands on” with every step of the winemaking process. The family even bottles, corks and labels by hand. Yes, Jill and Andrew actually have real children in their family. Two are grown and three still live at home. The kids are active participants in the wine making process. Hand siphoning wine from the barrels is just one of their unique chores. Just a Sparkle in Daddy’s Eye Tanis Vineyards was conceived before Jill and Andrew were actually a family. It all started when the two were dating, about 13 or 14 years ago. Andrew wanted to impress Jill. So a friend suggested Andrew should buy a bottle of wine to share with his new sweetheart. Andrew didn’t know much about wine back then. He bought a twenty dollar bottle of merlot. They both liked it. The couple started going wine tasting and learning more and more about wine. After they were married, Andrew began experimenting with winemaking, even growing varietals in the backyard of their suburban Sacramento County home. Jill and Andrew eventually decided to move to Amador County, their favorite wine region. They purchased a piece of property that was completely overrun by poison oak. It took Andrew two years to clear the nasty weed. Underneath the poison oak were rocks…. lots of huge rocks. They had to bring in heavy equipment to remove some of the boulders. In fact, you can see the smaller rocks as you walk through the vines. But mostly you notice the beautiful grapevines where there used to be poisonous weeds.
The second unique Tanis wine I highly recommend is their 2006 My Sweet Baby Late Harvest Syrah. This sweet little one goes well with spicy food. Click here for the perfect recipe to pair with it. Yum! The Future Looks Brigh
Jill tells me that in the coming months, Tanis will be releasing their 2006 Primitivo (2005 was the first to sell out), 2006 Petite Sirah, 2006 Pinotage and 2006 Petite Sirah Port. I have it on good authority that all of these wines are in the bottle just waiting for those Tanis kids to label them. Alright kids, get on the ball and label those bottles already! Tanis Vineyards is located in Ione, California. For more information, check out their website. TASTING NOTES FROM TANIS VINEYARDS:
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