Unexpected Grapes from Unexpected Places!

Yesterday I had  the great pleasure of tasting through a whole boatload of phenomenal wines from regions many of us are unfamiliar with. Such areas as Contra Costa, Amador County, Paso Robles, El Dorado, Temecula, Malibu, Santa Cruz, Livermore, and the Santa Rita Hills. And so many more...
The take-away for me was to spread the word that we all need to get out and try more wines from areas outside our "comfort zone" of Napa and Sonoma.
Some standounts for me were the Tablas Creek Vermintino from Paso Robles, Terra d'Oro's Barbera from the Amador County, Pinot Gris from Balletto in the Russian River Valley, Big Basin Syrah from Santa Cruz, and McGrail Vineyard's Cabernet Sauvignon from Livermore Vally, home of the world's longest continously-burning lightbulb. Yes, these factiods can't be negelected!  :-)
For more info on some of these great areas, visit these sites:
http://www.amadorwine.com/new/pages/home.cgi
http://www.scmwa.com/
http://www.lvwine.org/
http://www.sustainablewinegrowing.org/
http://www.cawg.org/
Explore unexpected grapes from unexpected regions! Have some fun with wine today!!
:-)