Four NSC’ers braved the regional heat advisory to hike to Picchetti Ranch in Cupertino on Sunday, Sept. 20th. Debbie Fong (who was the last to arrive at last October’s hike) drove all the way from Concord and was the first this time at the meeting place. Debbie and Dick waited for Freeman Wong and Ray Tateyama who drove two hours from Sacramento and arrived a half hour late after missing a turn. This was their first hike in the South Bay.
Despite the weather warnings, the temperature at the start was cool since the elevation was 800 ft. The biggest issue was the attacking flies. Debbie shared her can of bug repellent spray. The climb to the Ranch was shaded for over two-thirds of the time and we had a few spectacular views of the valley below – particularly a view of the Stevens Creek Reservoir. Those who were on the hike last October remembered the Reservoir being almost empty, thanks to the continuing drought. This time, the Reservoir was three-quarters full. We saw a kayaker and a canoe paddling in the Reservoir.
As we neared the Winery, we decided to take a detour via the Orchard Loop Trail, looking for signs of old orchard trees. The Picchetti family settled here in the 1880’s and lived here for 90 years. Originally they produced wine for sale. Prohibition however limited them to only 400 gallons of wine/year (for personal consumption only). They never resumed wine production after Prohibition but planted orchards instead and sold dried fruit like apricots and pears. On the way back, we saw signs of peach trees.
We picked a table and stopped for lunch, but didn’t stay there long as the flies started to encircle us as we ate our lunch.
We visited the Wine Tasting Room where Freeman and Debbie decided to split a $5 tasting ticket for their award winning wines. Freeman sampled their Tahoe White, a blend of their local white wines, and the Red Pavone, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. (Pavone in Italian means peacock, emblematic of the peacocks that roam the grass at the Ranch.)
Debbie sampled a very light Pinot Grigio – often drank as an appetizer. This was followed by the Pinot Noir, a thin skin red wine grape. She finished with the Vino Di Vicino, a Gold Medal winner of the California State Fair. Vino Di Vicino translates from Italian to Wine of the Neighborhood. It was a blend of three Cabernet Sauvignon wines. It retails for $56 per bottle so it must be good!
After 1-1/2 hour, we hiked back down the trail to our starting point. Remarkably, the temperature was still relatively cool. The only wildlife encountered was a salamander spotted by Debbie. The hike back took much less time than hiking up. Debbie and Freeman considered driving back to split a case of a wine they had tasted.
