+- WineBoard (https://www.wines.com/wineboard)
+-- Forum: RESOURCES AND OTHER STUFF (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-300.html)
+--- Forum: Wine Country Touring/Dining (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-41.html)
+--- Thread: 07 Sonoma and Napa Trip Notes (/thread-15223.html)
- dananne - 08-28-2007
Those who've patiently read to the bitter end of my previous trip postings know they can tend to be long, so my feelings wouldn't be hurt if anyone wants to just jump to the highs and lows at the end. Also, for brevity's sake, I may leave out certain things about the specific wines mentioned, such as cases produced, price, etc. I have most of that information for anyone who is interested in particular wines, as well as more detailed tasting notes in some cases, so just let me know. That said, here we go . . .
We arrived very late Friday night, and we had a wedding to attend on Sat and a visit with friends in SF on Sunday, so our wine-related part of the vacation didn't begin until Monday morning. First up was Scherrer.
Let me just say at the outset that things were starting to heat up, especially with some of the smaller wineries, and some folks had even begun harvesting, so Fred was exceptionally kind to meet with us (we were the last appointment he was taking), and for him to spend so much time with us was an unexpected pleasure. After an extensive and extremely informative tour of the winery, where he walked us through the process from grape arrival to bottling, we got to taste a bevy of wines. He really opened a lot, and he even gave us tastes of stuff from barrel (if memory serves, it was a yummy '06 RRV Pinot Noir, which should turn out very well). Previously, we had never tried any of his stuff. It was tremendous. Top to bottom of the lineup, we liked his wines better than any of our other visits. We loved the '05 Old & Mature Vines Zin, which was probably the best zin that has ever passed our lips. The '04 RRV Pinot Noir showed impeccible balance with intense flavors. Great juice. The '04 Fort Ross High Slopes Pinot was better still, but will need much more time in bottle before really shining like I think it will. Most of our 2-case purchase was devoted to those three wines, but we finished it out with a few bottles of a NV Zinfandoodle (fun everyday wine with more complexity than one should expect from a NV table red at that price point), the '06 dry rose, the '02 Cab, and the '05 Chard.
After so much juice, we lunched in Graton at Willowood Restaurant. Their specialty is a great creamy polenta. We ate there twice during the trip. Recommended. Also, for breakfasts, we regularly dined at Howard's Cafe in Occidental. We recommend it, too.
Anyway, after lunch, we had time to squeeze in a quick stop at Lynmar, a place recommended to us as a great example of how $40 million can buy your way into the RRV wine scene. We tried several wines and were completely underwhelmed, though I can say that the winery and tasting room is beautiful, as is the view from the outdoor table where we took the tasting. Maybe they'll get better. There was nothing wrong with the wines, but there was nothing special about any of them either.
Next, we had an appointment with Karen at Swan, another winery we had not prevously enjoyed. We tasted through a great flight of about 10 wines representing vintages from '02 to '06. It was a nice opportunity to really see how stuff evolves with bottle age. We made another 2-case purchase, with favorites being the '04 Pinot Noir, the '05 Trenton Station and Trenton View Pinots, and several of the Zins, though I'll have to wait until the shipment arrives to refresh my memory on the actual Zins we purchased. We also grabbed a bottle of the '06 dry rose.
Trading red barns, we moved from Swan to Martinelli. Their tasting room looks like it was combined with a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. We liked their '05 RRV Chard (we usually hate Chards, go figure) and their '05 Bella Vigna RRV Pinot, purchasing both. We did not like their Zins, which were over the top. IMHO, alc. levels for table wines shouldn't soar over 17.5%. These tasted unbalanced and finished hot. Rising alc. levels can be something of a pet peeve of mine, which would lead to a rich and interesting discussion at another winery later in the trip (I'll get to it, I promise).
We closed the day at Russian Hill in their hilltop tasting room adjacent to a pretty winery that architecturally looks like a cross between a Georgian and a Greek Revival. Anyway, a pretty place with wonderful views. The wines were wonderful, too, particularly the Pinots. We left with purchases of the '05 Estate RRV Pinot, the '04 Leras Vineyard RRV Pinot, and we tossed in an '02 Windsor Oaks Summit Syrah (a really nice example of cool climate Syrah, with meaty aromas and flavors) and an '04 RRV Chard from Gail Ann's Vineyard (another Chard -- we're starting to put SW wines in the cellar!).
The next day began with a drive up Westside Rd. towards Healdsburg. We stopped first at Porter Creek, who we heard makes a nice Zin. The small flight offered in the tasting room involved fine, well-made wines, but the only one that tempted us to purchase was the '05 Sonoma County Zin. A cuvee from several vineyards throughout the valley, it shows the merits of blending over single vineyard wines. Don't get me wrong, sometimes single vineyard wines can be marvelous and really speak to a particular place, but other times I think people immediately assume single vineyard wines are superior. In my experience, that's not always the case.
Next up was Rochioli, who tend to make very stylish Pinot, though with prices that match. The tasting room was the least friendly we encountered during the week. We liked the only Pinot they poured, the '05 RRV Special Cuvee, but we only bought one. I'm not spending a lot of money in a place where I feel like, at best, an inconvenience. They do have a nice spread, though, and the vineyard views are stellar.
Leaving Rochioli, we ventured into downtown Healdsburg specifically to visit Selby. I expected Selby wines to be good, having heard nothing but positive reviews, but they really surprised me at the depth of the lineup. They opened quite a bit of wine for us, and the young tasting room attendant was very knowledgeable and friendly. She and Anne got to talking celebrity gossip and the wines kept coming and coming. We loved the '05 RRV Pinot, which was very easy to drink already, though should age rather gracefully. It had the great textbook PN body. The Zins at Selby really surprised us. They are balanced, with the alcs in check, and they deliver nice brambly spicy red and black fruit flavors with restrained use of oak. We bought the '05 Bobcat Zin (Sonoma County) and the '05 Old Vines Sonoma County. Their '04 Alexander Valley Malbec was big, brooding, and amazing. Dark wine, dark fruit aromas and flavors, and dark tannins. It'll be a knockout in a few years. They also had some library wines available, and we purchased an '02 Syrah from the Vesenez (sp?) Vineyard. It was explosive, with deep, jammy fruit, some bacon notes, and black pepper. It had aged very nicely, still offering a deep ruby-to-purple color, but was throwing a lot of sediment. If you stumble across it by chance, or if you've got one, decant carefully.
After Selby, we took a flier and visited Thumbprint Cellars, located in a storefront just off the square in downtown Healdsburg. This is an interesting place. For one, they are the first winery I've ever encountered that openly advertises the wines as being vegan. That means they don't use eggs or isoglass to fine the wines (isoglass, when you think about it, is kinda gross -- sturgeon bladder). They don't fine or filter the wines, and they only use wild yeasts for fermentation. We skipped the first pour, Sauvignon Blanc, as the kinda wild and chatty blonde doing the pouring said "I don't think it's very good, so I just start the flight with the Viognier." Honest to a fault, I guess. Anyway, the Viognier (the first we tried out there) was quite nice. Nothing stellar, but they made up for it with a kick patootie '05 Carreras Ranch Dry Creek Zin, which was just big enough without being over the top. It would be great with BBQ. We purchased it, along with their '05 RRV Pinot Noir, which was like liquid silk.
Leaving Healdsburg, we drove up Dry Creek Road to a little industrial warehouse-like space with a cluster of no-frills wineries. We went specifically for Papapietro Perry Pinot Noir. Interestingly, though, we were even more stunned by some wonderful Zins -- we bought the '05 RRV one and the '05 Elsbree Vineyard one. The first is pure Zin pleasure right now, while the latter is one that will likely age very well. I think it'll become much like a claret with some bottle age.
We had just enough time to run across the parking lot to Amphora (we really were only interested in trying their Petite Sirah). The owner/winemaker, Rick Hutchinson, invited us in even though they were technically closed. "We're buying, I promise," I called out as we scampered across the lot. "We're drinking, I promise," came his reply. In fact, it appeared that he had been sipping for a considerable amount of time, so he was chatty, interesting, and amusing. He became quite excited to find out that Anne does trademark law, as he's always in some sort of conflict in his efforts to defend his trademark. He poured everything, even stuff that wasn't bottled yet. He'd pull out stuff from behind the counter, or he'd run off into the winery and come back with plastic pitchers of samples, and our time together rapidly stretched deep into the evening. In the end, we put together a case purchase. He's doing some really interesting things (one of which involves commercially bottling a Zin made from grapes crushed under women's feet -- the only commercially made foot-crushed wine in Cali). We thought his '05 Dry Creek Valley Sangiovese really showed promise, and we haven't been wowed in the past with domestic Sangios, particularly those from Cali. In fact, he may make the best domestic one we've tried. His '05 Dry Creek Zin was a blast to drink, and we bought several. The '05 Cab Franc shows that some people can really make a standout wine from that usually blended grape. It reminded me of the one we had at Willow Crest last summer, and as some of you know, Victor is a genious. The '04 Dry Creek Cab will likely become a monster with personality once it settles down with age, and the '04 Mounts Syrah was another winner. A warm climate example, but it was refined and elegant. The '05 Petite Sirah, which is what we came for in the first place, didn't disappoint. It was all huge black fruits and earth, and though it had an expected tannic backbone that will reward cellaring, it was one of those versions of PS that is almost too yummy to sit on for any length of time. It was a nice end to the day.
The following morning, we crossed over into Napa for the first time for our appointment at Duckhorn. It is located in a beautiful Victorian, surrounded by pretty landscaping and tidy grapevines. Though we had set up the meeting with Maureen, she was unavailable. However, a young guy named Cardiff treated us like royalty. Despite an awkward habit of clucking in place of actual words ("When this wine fills your mouth, it just [cluck]."), he was knowledgeable and polite. We tried three Merlots, three Cabs, a Sauv Blanc, and the Goldeneye Pinot Noir. Oddly, we preferred the plain 'old '04 Napa Merlot and '04 Napa Cab to the more prestigious reserves and single vineyard ones. Maybe they're just too young right now for us to judge them correctly, or maybe we just like the style of the regular bottlings. Whatever the case, we bought both, as we did the '04 Anderson Valley PN from the Goldeneye line. It was big, with cherry fruit on the nose and tongue, finishing with clove and cinnamon, but it'll take a few years to shed some dusty tannins.
Afterwards, we went down the road to August Briggs, as we heard they did some interesting wines you don't see everyday. The guy in the tasting room was nice, but his demeanor relaxed and he became more excited when he discovered we're not the wine dunderheads he was perhaps expecting. That's when he led us back into the winery facility to taste from barrel. Note to everyone who likes wine -- do whatever you can to get your hands on their '06 Charbono (yes, Charbono) when it finds its way into bottle. It was staggeringly good. I couldn't believe how beautiful and complex it was for such a young wine. We signed up for their wine club on the spot just to ensure we get it. Also purchased from August Briggs were the '05 RRV Pinot Noir (a textbook example), and '05 Napa Valley Zin (which already resembles a claret in style), and the '05 Napa Valley Pinot Meunier (the best example from that grape that I've ever had, hands down -- it tasted like a good, aged Willamette PN).
From there, we moved on to Frank Family Vineyards, becoming the only people in the place who weren't NY/NJ Italians -- and that includes both visitors and staff. It was somewhat hilarious. I half expected to see Tony Soprano. Anyway, they start their tasting with a couple of different bubblies, the blanc-de-blanc being bland, though the "rouge" tasting like a drier version of Banfi's Brachetto d'Acqui. It was totally uncomplicated, but totally slurpable. Assuming, of course, that slurpable is a word. The wines weren't great, but they had a nice '05 Reserve Carneros PN that we liked and bought.
The last Napa stop was clearly the most interesting. Casa Nuestra is an unassuming place on the Silverado Trail. What makes them interesting is that they make old vine, "old style," field blend wines. Instead of fermenting each variety seperately and blending later, they harvest everything together, co-ferment, and bottle what can only be described as a pure expression of a particular place. There are nearly a dozen grape varieties present in their vineyards, including old vine Alicante Bouchet, Carmenere, Zin, Petite Sirah, etc. We bought both of the field blend bottlings, the '05 Oakville Tinto Classico and the '05 Tinto St. Helena. They may have been the most interesting wines I tried the whole trip. You just don't see those kind of wines nowadays. The former, despite some tannins, can be consumed now. The latter will need to be treated like a Petite Sirah and aged for awhile. Speaking of PS, we bought their version, which was also an '05. It, too, will reward cellar time. A NV red table wine will make for a nice everyday drinker. Finally, their '04 Meritage was really only a Meritage in name only. It also resembles an old style field blend. Overall, really interesting stuff. They have two goats outside (providing the name for the NV table wine -- Two Goats Red), and Anne was clearly smitten with them. She has a dream of one day raising dairy goats on a hobby farm.
After crossing back into Sonoma, we capped the day with a stop at Harvest Moon. We tasted with the young owner/winemaker, and spent hours there with him. He was engaging, opinionated, provocative, and a wonderful host. His big peeve is the rising alc levels, giving us something to talk about. And talk he did. His philosophy involves picking earlier, to preserve better natural acids, and it would be an understatement to say he dislikes how wineries manipulate the process by letting the grapes hang too long, then later dump in water and add acids. Not only does he dislike those wines, he also rips wineries who force growers to let the fruit hang. He says it dehydrates the grapes, causing growers to get less money per ton, as it's cheaper for the winery to just add water back at the winery than to pay for it in the vineyard. He has a special contempt for the alc number of 14.1% on a label, as he looks at it as usually a bald-faced lie, as there is a % plus-or-minus federally regulated leeway that almost always means the actual % in the bottle is higher than the # on the label. I could go on and on, but you can probably tell that the guy was not just provocative, but a blast to talk to. He walks the talk, though, picking his Pinot Noir at 21 brix, which is so comically low as to be almost unheard of nowadays. What it means, though, is that Harvest Moon's PN had wonderful natural acidity that will allow it to age a really, really, really long time. It may be the closest I've tasted to a traditional Burg. It's a small production winery making small lots, but if you ever get the chance to try any one of his wines, I'd recommend it, particularly if you tire of high alc wines that are impossible to pair with food. Food pairing was another of his core passions, but by now you likely get the idea and see what he's all about. We tasted everything, including stuff he just pulled out of his library to show us what he was all about, as well as barrel samples. Great lineup the whole way through. We bought a mixed case of wines, ranging from several different Zins, to a Cab, to the aforementioned Pinot Noir. We also bought a library Zin from '02 that would likely age another 10 years, though it'll never last that long in our house. We also joined the wine club so that we can get to revisit some of the stellar juice we tasted from barrel.
Our only stop on Thursday was an appointment at Siduri/Novy's industrial/office park facility. They were very down to earth, and though Adam Lee didn't hang out with us, he was in and out. We ended up buying several neat wines, including the '06 RRV and Sonoma County Pinot bottlings, a few single vineyard Pinots from purchased Willamette Valley fruit, Novy's '04 RRV and '05 Unti Vineyard Syrahs, and two interesting Novy wines -- an '05 Stolpman Vineyard Nebbiolo and '05 Van der Kamp Pinot Meunier (we didn't get the chance to try the latter, but I threw it in the case buy to compare it to the one we had from August Briggs).
On Friday, we went to Carneros for private appointments with folks we know who work at Saintsbury and Acacia. Saintsbury was a more traditional private tour and tasting. We bought a mixed case that included the '05 Carneros Chard, the '06 Vin Gris rose, the '06 Garnet PN (very good P/Q, and one that I believe Wondersofwine enjoys), and several single vineyard Pinots from Carneros and Anderson Valley fruit. The best wine was probably the '05 Cerise Vineyard PN. At Acacia, we got a real treat. In addition to the tasting flight, our friend poured two Pinot Noirs from 1991. It was a great experience to taste 16-year old PN along side the current release versions, and both showed remarkable fruit, despite the fact that they had been open for 12 hours! One, the regular Carneros bottling, was clearly on the downslide, with visible bricking, but it still offered pretty fruits and brought drinking pleasure. The other one, the Lone Tree Estate PN, had much more life. It was amazing and a real treat. We bought the '05 Carneros, Beckstoffer Vineyard, and Lone Tree Pinots in a mixed case that included an '06 Marsh Chard (yes, more Chard) that helps raise money to preserve and protect the marshlands that the winery overlooks in Carneros.
We ended the day and the vacation with a private visit with the owners/winemakers of Casa Carneros, likely the smallest winery in Carneros. We just visited over their '05 Pinot Noir and '02 Merlot while sitting at the dining room table in their home, as they are too small to have a tasting room and aren't legally allowed to pour. So, instead, it was just "friends sharing a few bottles of wine while visiting." They were super nice people, totally down-to-earth, and quite willing to just share the ins-and-outs of the wine life. It was a rare experience, and one we'll certainly treasure and remember fondly. They were very generous with their time, as we had never met and were only put together by our mutual friends. They spent several hours with us just to be nice. Good people.
OK, so the highs and lows:
Favorite wines (not the best wines, but favorites, in no particular order):
Dan's: Rochioli's Pinot Noir, Scherrer's Old & Mature Zin, and probably one of the Russian Hill Pinots or the '04 Swan PN
Anne's: Acacia Beckstoffer Vineyard Pinot, Rochioli's Pinot, and one of the Scherrers -- she says she has a hard time picking a favorite
Best winery visits:
Dan's: Scherrer, Harvest Moon, Acacia
Anne's: Scherrer, Casa Carneros, Harvest Moon
Prettiest/best views:
Dan's: Russian Hill
Anne's: Russian Hill or Lynmar
Most underwhelming:
Dan: Lynmar, Rochioli (great PN, but crummy visit)
Anne: Rochioli (same as above)
Most interesting wines:
Both of us: The old vine tintos at Casa Nuestra, the Charbono barrel sample, the August Briggs Pinot Meunier, and the unique Harvest Moon PN
So, there you have it. Sorry about the length, but I hope it was either enjoyable, useful, or otherwise interesting and/or informative. Again, if you need any particulars about any of the wines mentioned, just let me know. All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Now we just need to find the space for 12 new cases of wine . . .
- wondersofwine - 08-28-2007
Thanks for the extensive report. In the past I have liked Selby Pinot Noir (and perhaps a Syrah?) but been disappointed in the Zinfandels. Maybe it's time to try them again. I do like the Saintsbury Garnet as a good QPR so glad you enjoyed that. Harvest Moon sounds really intriguing and August Briggs worth a visit too. I have not had Scherrer wines but have had Greenwood Ridge Zinfandel which buys the grapes from Fred Scherrer and found it to be an elegant style of Zin that I like. Just recently had my first two wines from Swan--both very good--the Trenton Pinot Noir and a Syrah (also Trenton I believe.) Sounds like you will have many wine-drinking evenings in store for you to recall your visit to Sonoma and Napa.
- winoweenie - 08-28-2007
Good Gracious there Dan'l-Annski weren't we a couple of busy imbibers? Sounds like a great time was had by all and you did meet some mity fine folk. How could you possibly pass up the Caymus and B.V. tasting rooms? They'da made Rochoili look like the welcome wagon. Glad you had such a good time and believe me those RRV pinots and Zins will age their patooties off. WW
- hotwine - 08-28-2007
Thanks for the notes Dan. Reads like a well-researched newspaper article. Nicely done.
- Kcwhippet - 08-28-2007
Very nice notes. Wish I was there!!
Too bad you didn't have an opportunity to visit Mietz and Acorn. Mietz for their very much unheralded Sangiovese which I think would definitely give the Amphora version a run for its money. Acorn for their wonderful field blends that are cofermented like Casa Nuestra's (I guess you don't have much choice other than cofermenting when you have a field blend). They have one with Zin, Syrah, Cinsault, Sangiovese, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, Mourvedre, Muscat and a few others - and those are all in the same vineyard. When we were there maybe 6 or 7 years ago, they were still trying to identify all the differen varieties in that one vineyard. Judy actually was able to easily identify the Cinsault. We were in the vineyard on a damp, misty March morning walking around while she picked out the Cinsault and Bill Nachbaur verified her picks with an illustrated ampelogrphy text. Fun stuff.
- TheEngineer - 08-29-2007
Wow....thanks...great reading too!! Nice easy flowing style to your stuff Dan! Many thanks for spending the time to compile it all