She arranged the room and tour tasting - I think 45 bucks....but free if you buy any wine.
Fantastic tasting!
Their regular sauvignon blanc is a cut above - tending toward the citrus end of the spectrum vs. the cut grass side.
The reserve sauvignon blanc "115" was delectable. As good as Spottswoode. I would have nearly guessed a variation of chardonnay with it's light oak and terrific balance. Definitely worth checking out.
Their chard was like how you'd want a Ferrari Carano to taste - a little tropical fruit, great balance of flavors - not overly oaked and no overt emphasis on the lactic acid part of malolactic. I tend to like unoaked chardonnays, in general, but this is classy. It had the kind of mouth feel that makes me say, "Damn right!"
The reserve chard was so great that it made me sad - it's pricey. I would call it a 'perfect' taste. Really memorable. The finish might last 30 minutes if you were just sitting and not drinking other stuff. Gosh, maybe the best Cali chard I've ever had.
We tasted their meritage red and standard cab and, at first, the meritage made the cab look bad with it's 'big nose' and really soft velvety balance, but after 20-30 minutes, we favored how the cab developed - more backbone in the cab. Which fits my palate, over-all....the meritage had a relatively high percentage of merlot.
On the tour, we barrel tasted their Era cabernet blend, and single vineyard cabs from To Kalon, Charles III, Stagecoach, and Dr. Crane vineyards....holy moly! I think wine from the barrel usually comes across as more fruit forward than after bottling, so these fit that profile, but these babies are gonna be awesome for decades. These guys really have their technique down. Splendidly constructed wines.
We finished with their dessert wine - so good, it should be spelled with three S's!
All served in proper Riedel stemware from the Vinum Extreme line.
There were some nice snacky bites to slow the absorption of the wine, too.
I think the 'regular' room there is 25 bucks, so it's an easy call to say the extra 20 for the private room was a valuable upgrade.
It was so great....we joined the wine club.
;D
I mean that in a seriously good way, we try to be choosey about signing up for clubs.
Rick Patton was our host/guide. If you think this might fit your palate, he's the man. He treated us like royalty.
I will give this tasting experience a 10/10. Can't say enough nice things about the wines and experience.
