Rarely have I attended such a well thought out event as the Sonoma in the City Grand Tasting. Someone spent a lot of time figuring out how to best promote the wines of this county by not presenting Sonoma as a monolithic region, a la Napa County, but as a sum of many different and unique regions. This made for a very informative as well as exciting event.
How was this accomplished? By making it easy to taste the various climates and appellations by themselve.As you entered the event there was an anteroom where could individually explore the various climates of Sonoma County. So at the cool climate table, there were chardonnays and other wines that were produced with fruit from this region. From the warm area, zinfandels. You get the idea, by tasting individual samples from each cliemat.you developed an appreciation for the wide range of growing regions that Sonoma offers. Cleverly, these tables were manned by growers from these climates leading to some very informative discussions their wines as well as the wines from their neighbors. In many cases a grower had wines made by several different wineries. Here you were able to find out which grower where produced where.
Then there was the main tasting. Most walk around tastings have the wineries in alphabetical order. Not here, they were organized by AVAs and growing regions. So there were tables for Alexander Valley, Sonoma Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley and several new and exiting areas such as West Side (Sonoma Coast), Petaluma Gap (Believe it or not also Sonoma Coast), and Rockpile. While there were some confusing elements as some wineries produce wines from multiple AVAs, for the most part it worked very well as you were able to understand the particular subtle differences between appellations.
Being that Sonoma County Vintners has embraced the concept of being a sum of all AVAs, each region had a regional table that highlighted the wines from that region. That allowed you to sample the regions and then go to the wineries that interested you. A great way to prioritize your tasting.
So how were the wines, as always some great, some very good, and some not so good.
The area I was most excited by was the West Sonoma Coast Winery area. Flowers, Freeman, Peay and Martinelli (they were at the RRV area) were all pouring some outstanding pinot noirs and chardonnays. They all will be participating in the West of the West event being held in Occidental August 5-7. Mark your calendars.
Other standouts included Arrowood's Syrah which had great structure with some interesting acidity, bright cherry and a smooth finish with a touch of oak. Beringer was pouring a Meritage and Cabernet from Knight's Valley. Knights Valley cab has always been one of my go to wines and it was the same here. A great wine for current drinking while waiting for the Private Reserve to come around. Great dark fruit, a subtle undertone of forest floor and firm tannins that allowed the finish to flow smoothly through you pallat.
Buena Vista Carneros is a consistantly underrated producer of Carneros Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, and this tasting re-enforced my opinion. The Ramal Vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were very typical Carneros wines with great acidity and wonderful fruit. Right at the next table, Chateau St. Jean was pouring their signature Cinq Cepages Cabernet blend It was delicious, dark fruit, casis, an earthy undertone and a very long and smooth finish.
Cloud's Rest 2006 Limited Release Sonoma Coast was without a doubt the best pinot noir I tasted The are going to pour at the West of the West event. Another reason to get tickets. Freeman, another WOW winery, was pouring an absolutely wonder chardonnay from Ryo-fu vineyard in the Russian River. It had great acidity, with pear and green apple with vanilla and toast. Great stuff, and their 09 Pinots were great as well. I liked the Russian River Valley bottling the best as it had an refreshing minerality and acidity.
Hartford Family, one of the wineries that had wines from several appellations had their wonderful Russian River Valley zin on display. Great briary, brambly, pruney and jammy. In other words get out the BBQ.
My favorite wine of the event was poured by Hook & Ladder. Founded by the DeLoach after they sold that namesake brand, their Station 10, a field blend of mixed black woods, was a revelation. Deep and inky, it showed tremendous dark fruit, some refreshing acidity and silky tannins. And at $17 a bottle, a steal. Go to the web site and get some.
Some other hightlights inclulded Ravenswood which was pouring their 08 Old Hill Zin. Great stuff. The Sbragia Family Vineyards was pouring a Monte Rosso Cabernet. For those who do not know, Monte Rosso is one of Sonoma County's great vineyards with outstanding zin and cab. This wonderful cab in the hands of Ed Sbragia made for a memorable wine, the best cab at the tasting. Priced at $50 a bottle, it packed a lot flavor at a semi reasonable price.
Last but not least was Seghesio's Omaggio, their version of a Super Tuscan. It had many of the great characteristics of these wines, but is a touch on the pricey side at $60 per bottle. However, the wine tasty and delicious, but there are many quality Super Tuscans avaiable at half that price. The Seghesio zins are always worth seeking out, and they showed well.
That was a lot of wine for an afternoon, But someone had to taste it!!!!!!!
This weekend it the Paso Robles grand tasting in San Francisco, and it looks like a great one. And after that my family is taking a cruise to Alaska on the Crystal Symphony. With restaurants by Nobu ( NYC and LA fame) and Valentino (of Santa Monico and Las Vegas) and a great wine list administered by a Master Sommelier and service done by certified soms, it will be some trip. I will be blogging from the ship on the food and wine aspects of the voyage. I am especcially looking forward to a wine and food pairing dinner in their Vintage Room.
Thanks for reading my blog, and please feel free to send me your comments.
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