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 Sonoma County [all categories]
 Sonoma - Wineries to Visit
 The Weekend
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yesilovewine Member |
posted 10-16-2012 07:19 AM
 
Hi again. I thought it might be helpful to add some tasting notes for the wines we liked best. When re-reading it didn't seem like I gave y'all much to go on. so here is a bit more on our favorites of the day... Hawkes- they use Old barrels on their Chard, so it doesn't get that buttery flavor that we don't care for. Its a nicely rounded Chard that feels good in your mouth. Merlot- this is definitley a CAb drinker's Merlot. You can taste the layers of flavors and the structure. Its bold for a Merlot, but that would of course appeal to us- it may not appeal to a Merlot afficionado. Stryker- reiterating the disappointment in the wines, just too soft. And that Merlot was released too early in our opinion- very sharp and "young" on the palate. Soda Rock- It has come a long way since our first visit. Now they offer 2 or 3 on site lodging options ( including in the old watch tower!) and they have a resident artist that creates works for sale. The Wilsons have really done a good job with this property IMO, and Grace, the hostess is just precious. From Harvest Fair, one of the great surprises to me was the Carol Shelton Pinot. Y'all know that we aren't Pinot fans usually, but this was really a very nice wine. Its the first Pinot she has made in - I think she said 10 years- not since her days at Davis, I believe. Anyway, a surprising offering from a Zin Queen and worth pursuing. I suspect that one of the reasons for my poor performance with note taking this year was the plethora of foods available...and the enormous crowd. In the last few years, when they divided the Friday tastings into 3 sessions, there weren't so many folks vying for space at the tables so you could really get to a lot of vendors. And in those days the pourers where just volunteers or winery staffers ( like tasting room extras) so you didn't often get to talk with the main players of the wineries. This new format brings winemakers, growers, and owners to the event and makes them available to you, and that's nice, but some folks dominate them to the degree that you can't even get to the table to get the wine, much less talk to the principals involved. So, lots of distractions plus our earlier foray out to the wineries just didn't produce my best work. Looks like the Sonoma town day is pretty well discussed, but did have a couple of side notes to offer. Haywood- Apparently after Mr. Haywood sold his business he had a change of heart. I didn't get the "Scoop" on that transaction, but apparently he has started a new label called Peter Cellars ( or Sellers, not sure which). Roessler- the brothers were bought out by the Hall family, who re-named those wines WALT. The boys have started a new label, called R2 ( like in "Squared") and have a tasting room off of Sonoma Square. I haven't got the exact location, but from what I was told I think its over by "the Red Grape". IP: 76.182.4.159 |
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yesilovewine Member |
posted 10-11-2012 11:01 AM
Ok, this was the day of the HF Grand Tasting, so another short touring day- or it SHOULD HAVE BEEN... First Stop- Robert Young We really didn't think that this was such a great stop. The server was not very engaging and the wines just weren't that good, IMO. Next-Hawkes Great wine and very fun visit hosted by "Alex"- a real " piece of work" Wines tasted: 2011 Home Chardonnay- very nice Chard 2007 AV Merlot- 100% Merlot with age-worthy structure 2008 AV Cabernet- estate vyd blend with tons of clear fruit and a loong cherry finish 2008 Pyramid Cab- too much "leather" for my taste Next stop- Stryker Haven't been to Stryker for several years and wanted to give the Rockpile Cab a try- of course they were out  But across the board we found that the Stryker wines were limp and without the robust character that we had seen in the early visits; a disappointing experience wines tried: 2009 Oz 2009 Patty's Patch Estate/ AV 2009 Rockpile Merlot- still very young and it bites back 2005 Two Moon Vyd Merlot- high alchohol 2011 Estate Vyd Chard/ AV- Next visit- Soda Rock You must go here and see Grace- she is a hoot and a half and really knows the wine Tasted: 2006 Sauv. Bl 2009 Sauv. Bl 2010 Sauv. Bl 2011 Merlot Rose` 2010 Wentworth Zin and 2010 REserve Wentworth Zin in a side by side They were sold out of the primotivo and the Rockpile Reserve Zin that we wanted to try Being Wilson club members, we had no tasting fee Harvest Fair- I apologize for not being as diligent with notes this year as in the past. Somehow this year we got off our usual well-organized game so my notes are few and far between. Here is what I've got: IP: 76.182.4.159 |
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