Nicole Salengo is in the midst of her 10th harvest as winemaker at Berryessa Gap Vineyards in Yolo County, where she has gained a reputation for wines of fidelity and verve. She is the eighth and final person in this series on women in wine in the Sacramento area.

Nicole Salengo, in vineyard with her dog, a Tibetan Mastiff mix named Arlo, after Arlo Guthrie. (Photo courtesy of Nicole Salengo)

Nicole Salengo, winemaker, Berryessa Gap Vineyards, Winters, Yolo County

Nicole Salengo’s path to winemaking was long and winding. It started with a love for geology and a dream of being an environmental attorney in her native Vermont. It continued through New York, where she earned a degree in political science with a minor in geology. It meandered through graduate studies at the University of California, Davis, and work as an environmental chemist in Folsom before she found her groove in wine, starting as waitress and wine buyer at Tucos Wine Market Café in Davis.

Fast forward to today. She is in her 10^th harvest as winemaker at Berryessa Gap Vineyards on the outskirts of the small farming settlement Winters in Yolo County. There, she makes up to 10,000 cases of wine each vintage. Her extensive portfolio focuses on complicated estate blends and on estate varietal wines such as Petite Sirah, Tempranillo, Albarino and Verdejo, but she also reaches out to Napa Valley for Cabernet Sauvignon and Anderson Valley for Pinot Noir. She is also a principal in L’Apéro Les Trois, an aperitif house in downtown Winters.

What is your favorite wine to make?

I’m really in love with Grenache. My hot moment with Grenache came while I was on sabbatical in Europe, visiting Chateau Rayas in southern France. It blew my socks off. I thought about it for days and weeks after I tasted it. I knew we needed to plant some Grenache here.

In a blind tasting, can you tell the difference in wines made by women and wines made by men?

I haven’t experienced that in a blind tasting, but I do gravitate toward women-made wines. What I get out of women-made wines is more nuance, more elegance, they are less showy, they make you think, which I really like in a wine.

You have your own brand within Berryessa Gap – Salengo. How do those wines differ from the Berryessa Gap wines?

It’s a much smaller production. Everything is under 100 cases. They are grape varieties that I am very excited about, and they are 100 percent true to variety.

Berryessa Gap Vineyards was at the forefront of the newly approved Winters Highlands American Viticultural Area. What do you think will become the signature wine of Winters Highlands?

Petite Sirah, Tempranillo and Malbec. Those three I comfortably can say will become the area’s signature wines. We are doubling down on Petite Sirah. It’s a bigger, bolder red, and a lot of people gravitate to it.

Overall, what is your everyday go-to wine?

I do drink a lot of that Grenache. It is so versatile. It has perfume, red fruit, some savory characteristics, and it is meaty, but light. It is consistently interesting to me. A near second would be the Petite Sirah, and on a hot day a glass of the Sauvignon Blanc is the wine I am very passionate about. It is my favorite white by far.

The brewery Berryessa Brewing Co. shares space with the winery, so if you aren’t having wine at the end of the day what beer do you grab?

Always the refreshing pilsner or another light beer. I am not an IPA girl. I have a very sensitive smell, and IPAs are too much for my olfactory system. I want a beer light, cold, refreshing. I do like a good pilsner.

To learn where my book “The Signature Wines of Superior California” can be found, please visit my website SignatureWines.us.