Last Sunday I went on a wine tasting trip to Sonoma with 200 of my closest friends, well not exactly. There were actually 4 buses of 50 people and each bus went to 1 winery before lunch, and 1 winery after lunch so actually I went wine tating with 50 people. The bonus of being in a bus is no one has to drive, the downside, you are in a bus with a bunch of people, but it's a great way to meet new people and hang out without having to worry about driving.
Sonoma is a nice place to taste wine. On the other side of the valley from Napa it is less touristy and still has a quaint country feel. As an added bonus, if you have a Visa Signature card you can taste for free at many of the Sonoma wineries. A list of particpating wineries can be found online. We started our day of wine tasting at Mayo Family Winery a small production family owned vineyard specializing in single vineyard wines and ended the day at Chateau St. Jean a large corporate owned winery. We had a catered lunch in between where we also did some olive oil tasting and drank some wine from Silver Tap.
Mayo family wines are are single vinyard wines made with grapes owed by the vineyard or sourced from other vineyards. They are only available for purchase online and at the vineyard. We tasted a 2008 Sonoma Coast Pinot Gris, 2007 Sonoma Valley Chardonnay, 2007 Sonoma County Pinot Noir, 2006 Sonoma Valley Cabernet, 2006 Russian River Petit Sirah, 2007 Russian River Zinfandel and 2006 Russian River Zinfandel Port.. I liked the 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel at $40 a bottle the best, it had a big body and a nice jammy fruity taste. The 2006 Zinfandel Port at $35 a bottle was also good although a bit sweet..
At lunch we had Silver Tap Sauvignon Blanc out of a tap. it's a new venture of Free Flow Wines to provide wine to restaurants in kegs and on tap instead of individual bottles. It makes wine less expensive and more environmentally friendly ie no bottles or corks.
At Chateau St. Jean we had the 2008 Sonoma Chardonnay at $28 a bottle, a Pinot Noir & The 2006 Cab Sauv Cin Cepages. The Chardonnay was a classic oaky Chardonnay in the Sonoma/Napa Valley style and is what Chateau st. Jean is known for. The 2007 Pinot Noir at $50 Benoist Ranch was fruity and a nice surpise as Chateau St Jean and Sonoma are not known for their Pinot Noirs. The 2006 Cabernet Sauvingon Cinq Cepages at $75 is a big bold red in the Bordeaux style with a lot of fruit flavor.
It was a nice day and we saw the sun which was great since San Francisco has been locked in with fog the past few weeks. What I enjoyed the most about the day was listening to what others liked and did not like about the various wines we tasted. What the day showed me more than anything is that tasting wine is a very personal experience and each person needs to find the flavors and varietals they like and drink those but still be open to trying wines they may not have previously liked. Each varietal, each winery and each vintage is different and is changed by what the winemaker does with the wine. So, my advice is to get out and taste.
If you have the chance go to wineries as it's a fun experience, but if you don't have the ability or opportunity, go to the store buy a few bottles of wine, open then up, invite some friends over see what you like.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Urban Wine Experience
Just what is an urban winery? The best way to describe an urban winery is as a winery with everything but vineyards. So how can you have a winery without vineyards you ask, the grapes are sourced. This means the winery does not grow their own grapes but instead buys the grapes from others. It's a innovative concept and it seems to be taking off in the wine world especially when it results in higher end wines at lower prices.
Urban wineries are usually started by winemakers who want the freedom to create wine without the worry of maintaining vineyards or overseeing the growing and harvesting process or by individuals who want to make wine but do not own vineyards. Urban winemakers are mavericks who buy grapes grown by someone else, and then create their own wines. The cool part is they can put their wineries anywhere they want, in warehouses, old aircraft hangers, storefronts, pretty much anywhere they can find space to ferment grapes, make wine and then bottle it and sell it to consumers.
The Urban Wine Experience is an annual event put on by the East Bay Vintners Alliance at Jack London Square in Oakland. All 19 members of the Alliance poured wines which were accompanied by food from East Bay restaurants and food purveyors.
None of the wineries in the East bay Vitner's Alliance have their own vineyards except Prospect 772 Wine Company who grows their own grapes and brings in a winemaker to make their wines and Rosenblum Cellars who also owns their own vineyards. The other members of the alliance do not own their own vineyards but instead buy grapes from others to make their wines.
The wines at the Urban Wine Experience tasting had grapes sourced from Mendocino, Lake County, Sonoma, Russian River, Napa, Amador & even France. There was a mix of sparkling, white and red wines avilable to taste and all were paired with delicious food.
The top 3 overall wineries in my opinion were Dashe Cellars, Cerruti Cellars and Stage Left Cellars.
The best white wine on offer in my opinion was from Dashe Cellars. Michael Dashe's 2008 Dry Riesling from McFadden Farms in Potter Valley at $24 a bottle is made with organic grapes sourced from Mendocino and had a nice nose, great balance with minerality and good finish.
Although I am not typically a big fan of rose, Prospect 772's 2009 Baby Doll Rose at $18 a bottle made with Syrah and Grenache was dry with a nice balance and acidity.
R&B Cellars 2007 Sauvingon Blanc a blend of Lake County and Mendocino grapes was fruity and at $11 was a nice good value light summer wine.
As far as the red wines, Cerruti Cellars poured a 2006 Cuvee Red Blend 60% San Giovese, 20% Merlot and 20% Zinfandel with a nice bold blend of flavors that at $15 a bottle is a really great value. The Cerruti 50/50 Cabernet Suagivnon half from Sonoma and half from Napa was also quite tasty and at $25 a bottle a good value.
Dashe's 2008 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel at $24 was fruity and full bodied with an overall nice mouth feel. The 2009 Dry Creek Valley Grenache at $20 was a nice medium body fruity red wine.
Stage Left Cellars 2007 Scenic Route at $38 a bottle and 2006 Grenaches at $48 are both great well rounded full bodied big bold delicious red wines, a bit pricey for urban winery wines but very very tasty.
If you have the chance, I recommend going to visit some urban wineries. With urban wineries the focus is typically on the creation of the wine and coming up with the best taste from the grapes the winemakers sources. As a result, there tends to be more creativity with urban winery wines which typically results in some great wines that can often had at much lower prices than the wines made by the wineries where the grapes were sourced from.
Urban wineries are usually started by winemakers who want the freedom to create wine without the worry of maintaining vineyards or overseeing the growing and harvesting process or by individuals who want to make wine but do not own vineyards. Urban winemakers are mavericks who buy grapes grown by someone else, and then create their own wines. The cool part is they can put their wineries anywhere they want, in warehouses, old aircraft hangers, storefronts, pretty much anywhere they can find space to ferment grapes, make wine and then bottle it and sell it to consumers.
The Urban Wine Experience is an annual event put on by the East Bay Vintners Alliance at Jack London Square in Oakland. All 19 members of the Alliance poured wines which were accompanied by food from East Bay restaurants and food purveyors.
None of the wineries in the East bay Vitner's Alliance have their own vineyards except Prospect 772 Wine Company who grows their own grapes and brings in a winemaker to make their wines and Rosenblum Cellars who also owns their own vineyards. The other members of the alliance do not own their own vineyards but instead buy grapes from others to make their wines.
The wines at the Urban Wine Experience tasting had grapes sourced from Mendocino, Lake County, Sonoma, Russian River, Napa, Amador & even France. There was a mix of sparkling, white and red wines avilable to taste and all were paired with delicious food.
The top 3 overall wineries in my opinion were Dashe Cellars, Cerruti Cellars and Stage Left Cellars.
The best white wine on offer in my opinion was from Dashe Cellars. Michael Dashe's 2008 Dry Riesling from McFadden Farms in Potter Valley at $24 a bottle is made with organic grapes sourced from Mendocino and had a nice nose, great balance with minerality and good finish.
Although I am not typically a big fan of rose, Prospect 772's 2009 Baby Doll Rose at $18 a bottle made with Syrah and Grenache was dry with a nice balance and acidity.
R&B Cellars 2007 Sauvingon Blanc a blend of Lake County and Mendocino grapes was fruity and at $11 was a nice good value light summer wine.
As far as the red wines, Cerruti Cellars poured a 2006 Cuvee Red Blend 60% San Giovese, 20% Merlot and 20% Zinfandel with a nice bold blend of flavors that at $15 a bottle is a really great value. The Cerruti 50/50 Cabernet Suagivnon half from Sonoma and half from Napa was also quite tasty and at $25 a bottle a good value.
Dashe's 2008 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel at $24 was fruity and full bodied with an overall nice mouth feel. The 2009 Dry Creek Valley Grenache at $20 was a nice medium body fruity red wine.
Stage Left Cellars 2007 Scenic Route at $38 a bottle and 2006 Grenaches at $48 are both great well rounded full bodied big bold delicious red wines, a bit pricey for urban winery wines but very very tasty.
If you have the chance, I recommend going to visit some urban wineries. With urban wineries the focus is typically on the creation of the wine and coming up with the best taste from the grapes the winemakers sources. As a result, there tends to be more creativity with urban winery wines which typically results in some great wines that can often had at much lower prices than the wines made by the wineries where the grapes were sourced from.
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