Tasting Sonoma
Click here for pictures of the trip.
Sunday July 27th, First Day
My wife and I started our trip to Sonoma after spending a few days in San Francisco. After a brief visit to Lombard Street and the Golden Gate Bridge, we headed up to wine country with a busy ride on Rte 101. The skies were crystal clear and the temperature a cool 60 degrees. The breeze was strong enough to numb our faces while walking on the Golden Gate sidewalk.
We turned onto rte 37 and then 121 heading towards Kenwood. We went past Infineon raceway and listened to the buzzing sound of NASCAR racecars going around 80 mph. For those who love NASCAR (I can care less), the Dodge/Save Mart 350 was just starting when we went by the raceway.
Lunch
We continued north on 12 and stopped for lunch at Cafe Citti in Kenwood. This humble italian deli/eatery had a small dining room and an outside patio. It looked a little old but picturesque; the food was outstanding. The temperature was a lot warmer than by the bay; somewhere between 85 and 90- degrees.
Despite the heat, we decided to sit outside and have a few cold drinks. My wife had a nice freshly squeezed lemonade and I had a Hazelnut soda. I had never tried this soda. It was a little bit sweeter than I would have liked; frangelico meets club soda. For lunch we both had a grilled chicken sandwich with roasted peppers and a touch of pesto on focaccia bread. The food was nicely prepared and the flavors were outstanding. The also had a nice wine selection of local and Italian wines to complement the food.
After lunch, we headed back down route 12 towards our first winetasting destination: Arrowood Vineyards.
Tastings
- Arrowood Vineyards
Wines Tasted
2001 Arrowood Côte de Lune Blanc, Russian River Valley, Saralee's Vineyard
2001 Arrowood Viognier, Saralee's Vineyard
I am not familiar with Viognier or Rhone-style white wines so I had no basis for comparing these two wines. They both seemed to have interesting tropical flavors, butterscotch, spice and a relatively long, hot finish. They were big and silky soft. The Viognier was more interesting, intense, with good structure and a longer finish. Both seemed low in acidity to me. I am very narrowminded when it comes to whites (a Riesling fanatic), so these wines fell short on my personal pleasure scale.
2002 Arrowood Gewurztraminer, Russian River Valley, Saralee's Vineyard
Pleasant flavors of watermelon and grapefruit. What little acid there was did not complement or balanced out the fruit. Personally, this wine was dissapointing.
1999 Arrowood Malbec, Sonoma County
Nice Malbec, red fruit, cedarwood and a linguering spice on the finish.
2000 Arrowood Syrah, Saralee's Vineyard
2001 Arrowood Syrah, Saralee's Vineyard
These two Syrah (both of which made in the Cote Rotie style; some Viognier added to the final blend) reminded me of Guigal's Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde. They were inky purple, almost black in color, thick and glycerin-rich, especially the 2001. A hint of flowers emerged from the intense aromas of blackberries, licorice, herbs and white pepper. These seemed to carry through the mid-palate and relatively long finish. Silky in texture, these two wines were a great pleasure to taste. The 2001 was more fruit-driven, more intense. The 2000 was a little more restrained with some earth peppery undertones.
2001 Arrowood Select Late Harvest White Riesling, Alexander Valley
This late harvest had a pleasant fruity nose. Flavors of honeyed peach and pineapple carried well through the palate and finish. I, however, found the wine uninspiring and without enough acid to balance out its high sugar content.
- Mayo Family Winery
Monday July 28th, Second Day
We had a perfect breakfast at the Inn; pouched egg over smoked salmon hash. The coffee was also outstanding. I don't recall the blend but it was from Flying Goat Coffee.
After our breakfast we started our winetasting journey driving through redwood trees and hillside vineyards towards our first destination: Martinelli Winery.
- Martinelli Winery
The Martinelli tasting room is located right on River Road, a few miles west of Route 101 in Windsor. The tasting room is a humble red barn right near Hop Barn Hill. The inside reminds me of a typical country store in Vermont. The tasting bar is located in the back of the store.
Wines Tasted
2003 Martinelli Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc
2002 Martinelli Road Chardonnay
2001 Dry Select Gewurztraminer
2000 Reserve Pinot Noir
2001 Bondi Home Pinot Noir
2002 "Vigneto Di Evo" Zinfandel
2003 Jackass Hill Muscat Alexandria
17% alcohol and 4% residual sugar was not the style of Zinfandel I was hoping to find at Martinelli. Nevertheless, this wine was very thick and almost siropy, with nice aromas of plums and flowers which carried through its flavors with hints of raisins, anise and vanilla and a long lingering spicy finish. This was a nice, port-like, sipping wine.
- Hartford Family Winery
2002 Hartford Chardonnay Sonoma Coast
2002 Hartford Court Chardonnay Three Jacks Vineyard Russian River Valley
2001 Hartford Court Chardonnay Seascape Vineyard Sonoma Coast
2002 Hartford Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
2001 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Dutton Ranch-Sanchietti Vineyard Russian River Valley
2001 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard Russian River Valley
- J. Rochioli Vineyards and Winery
I stopped here hoping to get a taste of Rochioli's single vineyard offerings only to find that there are no allocations for the tasting room and there is a six year waiting list! They had three estates wines available for tasting: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They were all nice wines but, IMO, overpriced. Each carried a $30-40 tab. I rather go back to Martinelli and drink their $25 chardonnays...
- Rosenblum Cellars
I happen to hit this joint while walking around the town of Healdsburg. After a nice lunch at the Healdsburg Bar and Grill, ice cream at the Downtown Bakery and Creamery and coffee from Flying Goat Coffee, my senses were shut. Nevertheless, I decided to go to the tasting room anyway because it was an opportunity to try a wide variety of Zins. The only Zin I had tasted that day was Martinelli's "Vigneto Di Evo" which, at 17% alcohol and 4% residual sugar, was not the kind of Zin I was looking for. Only one wine managed to achieve the impossible: 2002 San Francisco Bay Continente Vineyard. Somehow this wine managed to get through layers of ice cream flavors lingering in my mouth and show its rich plum and dark berry flavors with a hint of vanilla and soft approachable tannins. Lucky me, it was the cheapest offering: $18.
- Limerick Lane Cellars
Limerick Lane had the best Zinfandels I tasted while in Sonoma. Unlike other offerings, these were not huge raisiny bombs. With hints of fruit, spices and herbs, these were well-crafted wines with food in mind.
2003 Rose Sec
2001 Zinfandel, Collins Vineyard
2001 Old Vine Zinfandel, Collins Vineyard
2001 Syrah, Collins Vineyard
Tuesday July 29th, Last Day
- Silver Oak Cellars
If you are willing to pay $60-$100/bottle and you love sweet oaky Cab, you'll be very satisfied with their selections.
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley
More red in color, this wine had intense aromas and flavors of currants and red berries, crushed flowers, hints of peppermint, tobacco and vanilla. Long finish. A lot of young fruit but very approachable soft tannins and velvety feel. Outstanding balance of fruit, acid and alcohol. I didn't find it had as many nuances of flavor as the Napa offering but was more pleasurable to drink. I found this was my favorite of the two Silver Oak offerings, perhaps because it was more approachable.
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
This was an excellent wine. Very dark ruby/violet color, this wine had darker flavors than the Alexander Valley selection and was not as fruit-driven. Loads of black-currant and other dark berries, roasted coffee, coccoa and vanilla flavors. Very long finish. The tannins were more apparent and the wine seemed heavier in feel and not as velvety. This wine clearly needs more time to mature.
- Hendry Ranch
2003 PINOT GRIS
2003 HENDRY RANCH CHARDONNAY (UNOAKED)
2002 BLOCKS 9 & 21 CHARDONNAY
2002 BLOCKS 19 & 20 CHARDONNAY
2001 BLOCKS 4 & 5 PINOT NOIR
2002 BLOCK 7 ZINFANDEL
2000 BLOCK 28 ZINFANDEL
2001 HENDRY RED WINE
2000 BLOCK 8 CABERNET SAUVIGNON
