George Troquato, the new winemaker at Alamitos Vineyards in New Almaden, is excited about the terroir at his new gig, which boasts both serpentine and calcareous deposits. “Do you know how rare it is to find both of these soil types together?” he asks rhetorically. (Photo by Laura Ness)
Winemaker George Troquato is a vineyard geek. Standing with proprietor Shaun Coleman at Alamitos Vineyards in New Almaden, he gestures to two rocks sitting atop a split rail fence; one is serpentine, the other looks like fossils, although it could be mistaken concrete splatter.
“When I first got here, I thought it was concrete