Wine + Other Flotation Devices: August 2009

Friday, August 21, 2009

Paso Robles Pics

I finally was able to get my Paso Robles Wine Country photos uploaded, tagged, and put into a set on flicker. These photos are from the visit covered in an earlier post. We hit some high spots on the west side of Paso Robles starting on Adelaida Road and then down Vineyard Drive back to Hwy 46.

**Coming soon I'll have the remainder of my notes from Napa and Sonoma as well as pics.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Northern Sonoma Wine Country

After Paso Robles we headed over to the coast, through Big Sur & Monterey, and through San Francisco. Two days later, we were ready to head into Northern Sonoma. The plan was to hit some highlights in Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, and the Russian River Valley.

Stop #1 was a tour and tasting at Robert Young Estate Winery in Alexander Valley. We met our guide and headed into the tour. Robert Young was a pioneering grape grower and among the first to grow wine grapes in the Alexander Valley. His vineyards were converted from prune orchards. Sadly, Mr. Young had passed away a few days prior to our visit. Several big-name wineries have been buying his chardonnay grapes for years, which are grown on the valley floor. The winery makes a serious Cabernet-based blend called Scion from hillside grapes. All of the wines are Alexander Valley estate grown.

The tour was a quick walk through the winery and into the caves; then it was on to the tasting. The only white wine they make is their Chardonnay. It was definitely of the big, buttery, and oaky style- with barrel and maloactic fermentation. I thought the buttery vanilla notes were a bit overbearing on the fruit, but there's definitely an audience for this style. We also had the Merlot which was nice but not overly memorable; and the Red Winery Road which is a Cab Franc dominated blend that I thought came off a little too lean and green. Where this stop was made was tasting an '03, '04, & '05 vertical of the Scion. All three were big, juicy, and complex Cabs with loads of dark fruit & spice braced with gripping tannins- completely enjoyable and reasonably priced in the high $50 range. All were drinking well- the '04 seemed the most ageworthy. The estate has beautiful views of the valley and the tasting/tour is a mere $5, a great little stop in Alexander Valley.

Next it was on to Dry Creek Valley for stops at Quivira Winery and Preston Vineyards & Winery. Quivira is known not only for their Zinfandel, but also for their commitment to sustainable environmental practices and biodynamic farming. Their Zinfandels included a Dry Creek Valley appellation and two single vineyard bottlings- Wine Creek Ranch & Anderson Ranch. The style of the Zins gives you that hedonistic big fruit on the front, but is balanced on the back with plenty of vanilla and peppery spice with well structured tannins. My favorite was the Wine Creek Ranch bottling- $34 for a single vineyard Zin. The Dry Creek Valley Zin is a steal for $20 as well. They also make Rhone-style varietals and Sauvignon Blanc- all that we tasted were good wines but the Zins are the star here. It was also a great stop to walk around and see Wine Creek and the great views of the valley.

Preston is a neat & homey little organic farm and winery. They make a full assortment of wines including Zinfandel, Rhone Varietals, Italian Varietals, and Sauvignon Blanc; and they take a minimalist approach in their winemaking. The standouts were definitely the Vin Gris, a Cinsault and Mourvedre-based Rose that was bright and crisp with lots of tart red fruit. The Sauvignon Blanc was a standout- lots of citrus fruit, stone & grassiness. Of the reds- they had a nice Zinfandel and Barbera. The last wine I tasted was a Syrah, it had a vegetal characteristic and wasn't quite up to par with the others. Overall another solid stop though, and they also make some really tasty olive oil. Wine prices are in the $20 and $30 range.

Taking scenic Westside Road from Dry Creek Valley down into Russian River Valley, we headed to Russian Hill Winery and then to the Dutton-Goldfield Winery tasting room at Balletto Winery. Russian Hill is located south of the river right in the middle of the appellation, next door Sonoma Cutrer's "Cutrer" Vineyard. They specialize in food-friendly Pinot Noir; also making Chardonnay, Syrah, and Viognier. They weren't pouring any of their single vineyard Pinots, but both the Russian River Valley and the Estate Vineyards Pinots were outstanding- great acidity and texture with bright fruit and some earthiness. The Russian River Valley bottling was a newly released 2007 vintage. Both were in the $30 range and excellent quality in the price range. The Viognier was stainless steel fermented without maloactic fermentation- very floral with nice ripe fruit, good acidity & body. It stood out the most other than the Pinot Noir. The winery has a nice little patio with awesome views of the vineyards below.

The Dutton-Goldfield tasting room is located at Balletto Winery on the south end of the appellation. They make mostly single vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with a few other varietals thrown in. As for the Pinots, there were two different styles being poured- the Dutton Ranch Pinot from Russian River Valley was the more fruit forward, and the McDougal Ranch Pinot from the cool reaches of the Northern Sonoma Coast was bigger, richer, and earthier wine. $38/2007 and $55/2006 respectively. Both were awesome wines. The 2007 Dutton Ranch Chardonnay is a solid Burgundian style with judicious notes of oak and lots of acidic fruit. There was also an awesome Russian River Valley Zinfandel- very elegant and complex; and Green Valley Gewurztraminer that was nice and tasty. Probably the most impressive lineup of the day overall, and many thanks to our friendly pourer for the free shipping box!

This day was probably the best overall of the trip. There was such a great variety of wines, friendly people, and great scenery. We were able to cap the day off with a drive following the river out to the coast. Pretty spectacular stuff.