DRYEST: Barry at Harvest Moon was pouring a dry Gewurztraminer that was perfectly finished, wonderfully crisp and dry. I am not a fan of dry white wines, but I could see enjoying a bottle with my sisters-in-law, maybe with a dish of green olives, pickled cauliflower, and pepper-jack cheese.
NEW GRAPES: As in past years, we went to Suncé Winery on Olivet Road west of Santa Rosa for the "adventurous" grapes. Last year they had a barrel of Barberra that was nicely made, and this year's barrel-taste of Barberra was even better. Trying to describe it for tasters last year, the winemaker called it a "Zinfandel for newbies." Nowhere near as rich and berried as a Zin, the Barberra is still fruity with a slight pepper bite on the back of the palate.
This year Suncé had a grape popular in Argentina and Chile, Malbee, which they use in a Meritage blend. The Malbee had a very slight nose, but a pleasant fullness in the mouth. While it's not a wine I would recommend, it is always exciting to try these less-familiar grapes, so I am grateful for the adventurous spirit of Suncé's winemaker.
NEW WINERIES: Driving along the Old Redwood Highway, we noticed a cluster of black and gold balloons at Limerick Lane, with a sign reading Christie's Winery. This, it turned out, was not one of the "official" barrel-tasting wineries, but it had barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir from 2003 and 2004. Straight from the barrel, the Cabs were a bit oaky to my taste, but bear watching. (I did not taste the Pinots.) Christie's had paired their bold reds with a sweet milk-cheese with crackers, and brownie squares.
The Thumbprint Cellars tasting room had opened in Healdsburg last fall, but this was the first event we had seen them involved in. Thumbprint is one of the local wineries that have gone to the medical-grade cork substitute, and I can testify that it works beautifully. They also have a great logo design, supposedly the wine-maker's thumbprint. A bottle of 2002 Cabernet from this winery was a hit at our family New Year's dinner.
Harvest Moon on Olivet Road and Manzanitas Creek in Healdsburg on Grove Street were two other wineries that were not on our list last year.
BEST PORT or LATE HARVEST: We didn't taste many late-harvest wines this year, but Thumbprint Cellars had a gorgeous Cabernet Port available for tasting and futures purchase. This is an investment port that will not be bottled until late summer 2005. At the tasting, the port was paired with rich chocolate truffles—these were not out on the event buffet, but were doled out inside the tasting room to the cognoscenti.
Article comments
1 - Carolyn
Wow..I am sorry you missed us on your visit. We are the first collective tasting room in California and pour the wines of 7 small artisan producers without tasting rooms of their own. Make sure you come taste the Locals next visit.
2 - DrPat
We are very familiar with the Local tasting room in Geyserville - the only problem with barrel-tasting in Sonoma is that 2 1/2 days is never long enough to get to every tasting venue.
That's why the caveat at the beginning of both posts!
I plan to do a late-harvest only post later this spring (maybe the passport weekend, last weekend in April), and a Zin-only post in the summer, so I'm sure we will be coming by several of the collective tasting rooms then.
3 - Scott
Although I am now a part of the barrel tasting work force, I enjoy the reviews of critics who truely enjoy this event from the 'outside'. I am still coming down from the exhileration of sampling for so many people our food and wine at our new location. You seemed to hit the highlights and I appreciate your passion of the quest.
Just one question - how could we more qualify for friendliest people? I am still working to rest my smile and relax my enthusiam from this sun-soaked weekend.
Cheers!
Scott Lindstrom-Dake
owner/winemaker
thumbprint cellars
4 - Eric Olsen
very nice job on this DrPat, you are quite the sophisticate (although I find sweet wines cloying for the most part), and I must add you have been a tremendous addition to Blogcritics.
5 - Sam
I was very impressed with the Zins at Harvest Moon on Olivet Road. Our first visit there on Barrel Tasting Weekend, they were pouring some Zins from barrel that were so fruity that we were quite surprised. We also liked the wines at Pelligrini Winery. Olivet Road wineries are producing some very excellent wines.