Nevada - Pahrump - Sanders Family Winery

Sanders Family Winery - located about an hour from Las Vegas, my wife and I made the trip to try something new within the area. We got to try all their available wines as part of the tasting. It started with the whites and their unoaked Chardonnay; it was light and crisp. My wife liked it and I got a hint of citrus. Next was Serenity, a 50/50 blend of Riesling and French Calamare. This was the first wine produced by the family and is their best seller. We both enjoyed it and said it would be a good compromise wine which we could sit and have together. I got a hint of fresh-brewed tea. Last was their blush, Harmony, which is a 50/50 blend of zinfandel and pinot noir.

While we were drinking the reds, I struck up a conversation with the winemaker, Jack Sanders. I asked him how he got into wine making in Nevada due to its climate. He had been in the wine business in California and needed a change. He started Pahrump Valley winery in 1988; this is his second winery in the state.

We moved to the reds; first was their merlot, the only wine aged in oak barrels (for three months); it was young in flavor and had light tannins. The cabernet sauvignon also was a young wine too. The last red was a burgundy made from zinfandel, syrah, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. It was on the sweet side, but served chilled, it would be just as relaxing as the Serenity.

Finally, the dessert wines were served. We started with the cream sherry, which is a five year process to make using chardonnay, with golden color and nutty flavor. It was followed with the ruby port, a seven year process using petit syrah, was like eating liquid jam. As an additional treat, each of the dessert wines was made into a spritzer using ginger ale and lime. The ruby port spritzer was the better of the two.