I know that we’ve written previously about the Livermore Valley, located about a half-hour south of us here in Oakley. It’s an area with quite a storied wine culture, with a couple of big wineries, Concannon and Wente, having been the “anchor tenants” of this region for decades. Years ago, the region even got its act together to petition for its own Livermore American Viticultural Area (AVA). The petition was granted, and that puts them miles ahead of our area of old-vine plantings; I’d love to see Oakley getting some label love similar to Livermore’s. Grrrrrr.

The first weekend in December, our southern neighbor throws open the proverbial doors for the Livermore Valley Wine Country “Holidays in the Vineyards,” wherein some three dozen wineries, big and boutique, roll out the barrels for one memorable vinous open house.

Kathy and I first attended the event last year. Having been Oakley residents for all of three months, it was a big adventure to motor south to Livermore Wine Country, rather than north to Napa or Sonoma. But when one is greeted at the first winery stop by a Santa clenching a glass of Cabernet Franc, one quickly gets into the vibe. It was very reminiscent of Woodinville, a commuter community north of Seattle, whence Kath and I moved 15 months ago. Washington state has a flourishing wine industry, but the grapes are grown way over on the eastern side of the state. Ironically, the Seattle side of the Cascade mountains, and Woodinville in particular, is home to many of the most prestigious wine start-ups in the Pacific Northwest. Grapes are routinely trucked over the mountains after harvest, and fermented in business parks and warehouses all over Woodinville, these wineries’ base of operations. Visiting these seat-of-the-pants facilities makes for a great day of tasting, and every time we’d venture north, we’d spot another tasting room sandwich board that wasn’t there the month previous.

We got the same feeling in Livermore: a Woodinville/Nam flashback right down to the industrial park setting and the sandwich boards. And though we normally eschew the gang mentality of special tasting events/festivals, Livermore’s Holidays in the Vineyards was a hoot. Doesn’t hurt that the wine is good, too. Last year, we had such a good time that we went back the next weekend to check out some wineries we’d missed. And truth be told, we went back in February of this year, and witnessed the boorish tasting room behavior (i.e., lingering at the bar after you’ve received your pour, and stretch-Hummer/clown car crowds/bachelorette parties descending on the tasting room) that we were expecting during Holidays.

The saving grace of that spring Livermore excursion was our final stop at Phil and Debra Long’s Longevity Wines, of which we’ve written a couple of months back. And the Longs source some of their fruit from a younger vineyard in Knightsen, just a few miles from our house.

With apologies to Thomas Wolfe: Just maybe, with wineglass in hand, you can go home again.

This year’s Holidays in the Vineyards weekend was another fun event, with manageable crowds, decent weather, another vintage of fine wine being poured, and a few new wineries taking part and offering pleasant surprises in the glass. Cuda Ridge winery even featured a return gig for Santa (see photo of Saint Nick lovingly cradling our Petit Verdot stocking stuffer). What also became apparent is that the Livermore Valley is rapidly becoming our go-to region for Port-style wines made from authentic Portuguese varietals grown locally. These wines are a definite shout-out to the immigrants from Portugal who settled in the East Bay (Oakley, most notably), and Livermore’s Charles R Vineyards offers a 2006 “Vino de Amor” featuring the Touriga and Souzao grape varieties in the unctuous mix. It’s the kind of juice that wafts up to your nose before the first drop hits the glass. When it finally does, its deep hue showcases a touch of caramel at the edges. It’s a note that continues in the nose, alongside notes of toffee, raisins, mocha and nuts. On the tongue, its rich brightness frames the alcohol in a refined border of raisins and other dried fruit.