posted 03-09-2011 05:29 PM            

Love Prager. We were members for a few years. Aria is great, and the Royal Escort is one hell of a vintage port.

Raymond was a good tasting, and again they are in the middle of a lot fun changes.

Tasted at Peju several years ago, we liked it, but have not been back in a while.

posted 03-09-2011 03:44 PM            

1) Hess Collection - This was our first stop and I was looking forward to the art collection after the tasting. We shared two different tastings, an "Artezin" and the current releases. We passed on the "Hess Collection" which is a vertical tasting of 4 cabs.

If I remember correctly, the Artezin was a line by one of their senior wine makers that was now creating some of his own wines and was very "hands on" with these wines. The most interesting thing I noted here was a 2008 Napa Valley Charbono. I had never heard of it and found it to be very unique.

The current releases had some nice surprises, especially the "Small Block" series, and we ended up purchasing a 2009 Small Block Viognier (which I liked better than the Sauvignon Blanc) and a 2008 Allomi Vineyard Petite Sirah. We tasted a Small Block Syrah, but I was more impressed with the Petite Sirah.

The art collection was very interesting, but I guess that is true of any collection. I was impressed with the number of pieces, and hey, it was free!

2) Grgrich Hills - The last time I was there it was too crowded, so I was happy we made it this time. We chose their current release tasting and was pleasantly surprised by their Chardonnay. I knew they were known for it and it was nicely balanced and not too "oakey". Also, as expected, their Cab was very good.

We had a wonderful pourer and were having a nice conversation, until "rude lady" barged in the door. Oh well, next stop....I'm on a schedule!

3) Peju - Very nice tasting room and I took quite a few pictures. The wine was ok, but didn't blow me away. One thing we both noticed was the amount of wine poured - it was about half of a normal tasting. I also felt the pourer was pushing a sale a little too hard.

4) Rutherford Grove - Nice and quiet tasting room with a fire going. Our pourer was very opinionated, but was very helpful. I believe these were mostly estate wines and we purchased a Merlot.

5) Raymond - We skipped this one and now I wish we didn't after asking some locals.

6) Prager - I didn't know what to expect, but I am so happy we stopped. I just don't know why I didn't buy anything. This is a small family run business. We were served/educated by Richard who was very nice, polite and entertaining. We started out with a Petite Sirah and then tasted a few Ports - Royal Escort, Noble Companion Tawny, and an Aria. My favorite was the Aria, which I never heard of before. I guess it is basically a white port, but it tasted like Frangelica liquour. Very nutty with a wonderful finish. Their Tawny Port was also wonderful. Come to think of it, the Royal Escort was good too!

We spent a lot of time here and met some wonderful people from the Bay area. The tasting room is small, but their "hook" is all the money taped to the walls and the "spider window".

7) Clos Pegase - This was our second visit there, mainly because I love their Pinot Noir (because it doesn't taste like a Pinot). Our pourer was Peter who I just got a kick out of. He was very sarcastic and dry, and he looked like the love child of David Caruso (CSI Miami) and Timothy Busfield (Thirty Something).

I was not impressed with their wines this time and the tasting fee was too expensive - $20. We felt a little better about the fee after they let us join a tour that was just starting. It was interesting to see the caves.

8) Rombauer - We decided to skip Rombauer this time as we were both tired, hungry and just wined out!