posted 10-18-2012 08:20 AM            

Midsummer Cellars was is an appointment with Rollie Heitz the owner. He seems to be a one person operation so you need an appointment. But wait until the rest of the report before you begin changing up things.

posted 10-18-2012 06:10 AM            

Our first appointment was at Cornerstone Cellars in Yountville. We were to have the Sensory Tasting, but they no longer offer it, but we did have a delightful "Learn the basics of wine tasting while having some fun! We’ll help you develop a systemized approach to tasting and teach you how to analyze and describe a wine’s attributes.
This tasting is held in a private room and is limited to twelve people" and the tasting was with Allison Zickfield, Director of Hospitality. She is very knowledgeable, pleasant and a good sport (with this group, you have to be). It was a fun experience and we managed to order 2 each of 3 wines, the 2010 Sav Blanc, the 2008 Howell Mountain Cab and the 2008 Napa Valley Cab. I would recommend this tasting.

Lunch was at Pacific Blues in Yountville, one of our favorite lunch places.

Our second appointment of the day was at the Hope and Grace Tasting Room in Yountville. We had tasted here last year and requested Matt Beverly as our host. He was knowledgeable, entertaining and fun to be around. Since they had no new Cabs for us to taste (we tasted anyway) our purchase was limited to their Sav Blanc, but they have some excellent Cabs.

Our second stop of the afternoon was at Midsummer Cellars with Rollie Heitz, winemaker and owner. Rollie has some very good cabs that are in the $44.00 range (yes, per bottle), and very good at the price. They were crushing right next to where we were setting, so we had a birds eye view.

The last stop of the day was a Terraces Vineyard, off the Silverado Trail. Normally, they take you for a "mule" 4-wheel drive around the vineyards, but could not do that with this large of a group. Their tasting room is on the second floor of their winery and a very pleasant venue. They have a very nice selection of good wines but the only thing following us home was the 2009 Zin. We had their Cab from our last visit and they had not released their 2009 yet. Our hostess was Sharron Crull, one of the owners.

This was a long day with 4 tastings. The group suggested in the future that we schedule 3 tastings and then they can make a fourth on their own . . . OR . . . go back to the hotel for a nap. The nap sounds good to me.

This was a good day, but there are more coming that even exceed this day.