Wow, 25 wineries during the 3 day first weekend of the Barrel Tasting event.  We spit and dumped so ended the day quite sober.  We also preserved our palates by avoiding the barrels and focusing on finished wines.  And we spent way too much money on wine for our budget.  Our budget should be focused more on the development of WineQuesters.com and Winery Quest Pro, our iPhone app, than on wine for blogging.  Sometimes we seem to lose control

Spring Vineyard Scene - Dry Creek Valley

We tasted mostly at wineries that are open by appointment only.  It is nice to visit without the hassle of scheduling.  This next weekend we’ll be at some we’ve never tasted at before.

The weather was a little pissy on Friday and Saturday but Sunday was terrific.

We’re working of course. As always we do photography for our upcoming videos and collect winery data for their profiles.  We were also evaluating wines on a scale of 1 (soft) to 10 (robust) so we can develop a filter to help tasters find wineries that generally serve red wines they prefer. We’ll prototype this new feature by summer with wineries in the Dry Creek, Alexander, and Russian River regions.  Other than wineries in RRV that focused on Pinots most of the wineries rated between 6 and 8.  South of Monterey County the wineries will rate lower.  Temecula will have many in the 1 to 4 range.

Did we have some favorite wineries?  We liked them all but two really stood out for friendliness and the robust wines we prefer – Battaglini and Robert Rue in the Russian River Valley near Santa Rosa.  I’ll write more about them when we taste their wines at home but stop by for a warm welcome and great wines.

- jim

So why is Mill Creek in the lower Dry Creek Valley a favorite of ours?  Well, three reasons. One is the always warm and inviting personality at the tasting bar. The other is that we like their flavorful wines. A third reason is that their picnic area next to the water wheel or up on the hill are some of the best in California.  And the fourth of the three reasons are their favorable prices.

Mill Creek Vineyards and Winery in Dry Creek Valley

Dry Creek Valley is famous for Zinfandel so let’s discuss Mill Creek’s Zin.   We recently finished off a bottle of Mill Creek’s 2006 DCV Zin.  It is everything you would expect from a DCV Zin but their prices are lower than most of the wineries.  It is of course the deep, dark full bodied Zin of yore with lots of nose and finish to explore.

Their label says “Since 1914″. Really? I thought I only saw prunes and ‘cots when I traveled there around that time.  OK, BS, but that valley wasn’t much into grapes back then.

Picnicking at Mill Creek is a treat. For seclusion and view hike up the hill to the overlook deck. Lots of picnic tables up there and more seclusion.  However, since we are more social  and love being next to water we prefer a small table next to the mill pond.

- Jim

Far up a narrow and beautiful winding mountain road in the Santa Cruz Mountains west of Gilroy is Fernwood Cellars‘ simple barn and winery.  Katya, Lidia, and I stopped by during the last Santa Cruz Mountains Passport Saturday in January and tried their wines.

Fernwood Cellars in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Gilroy area

The winery folks were cheery and gracious.  The pours were generous and the wines were full of flavor with much nose, body, and finish to explore.

We tasted in the working winery next to the barrels and equipment so they have true winery ambiance. The location feels like you are out in the boonies because you are.

While we enjoyed all of their wines we loved the 2006 estate Cabernet Sauvignon best.  This is a medium body but robust wine with lots of nose and finish to explore – just the way we like our wine to be.

Big robust wines are typical of the Gilroy and Santa Cruz Mountains regions.  There are soft wines available at some wineries for those who prefer them but big wines are our favorites.  Fernwood is more than worth the drive and adventure.  BEAUTIFUL up there!  And Martin Ranch Winery is just down the road – another small winery with full bodied wines and excellent hospitality.

- Jim

We were recently surprised to find wineries in what was once one of our favorite fine art galleries in Yountville in the Napa Valley.  The gallery moved out for whatever reason and Cornerstone and Page moved in.

The Page Cellars tasting room in Yountville near the restaurant Jeanty.

Page has some very nice wine.  We just finished their Revolver brand 2006 Napa Valley Cab Franc.  It is full of life from the initial nose through the finish.  It held up very well over several days and was a treat each time we tasted it.  We love full-bodied wines with lots of nose and long finishes.  This wine meets those high standards.

Page is really into rock with some guitars from the stars and other memorabilia to peruse.  The tasting room music is soft so it doesn’t interfere with tasting.  I’ve heard a rumor that Carlos Santana hangs out in this tasting room.  If you are near Yountville check out the decor and ambiance at Page Cellars.

- jim

The less than attractive exterior of Domenico’s industrial building in San Carlos about 20 minutes south of SFO masks a nice interior and hospitality.  You taste their wines in a large warehouse but it has been decorated for events and of course wine barrels supply a warm ambiance.

Domenico has a rather large wine list that makes a trip there worthwhile.  I was impressed with their Super Tuscan among others.  This 2005 Amador blend of Sangiovese, Merlot, and Cab Sauv has a delicate but interesting nose, medium body, and a mild finish that still has flavors.  All the wines we tried were very good but we found the wines a bit soft for us.  That means that pretty much everyone else will love them

- Jim

Urban wineries, this one near Oakland, lack the incredible ambiance of say Dry Creek Valley.  That doesn’t mean they aren’t interesting to visit.  Periscope is in an old submarine plant near the San Francisco Bay in Emeryville just west of Oakland and Berkeley.  They make less than 5,000 cases with a focus on blended red wines and grapes from small family growers.

We brought home their 2006 Cab Sauv and tasted a little each of three days. It held up beautifully during that time.  We loved the oak, long finish, and light tannin.  This Cab is a blend of two Sierra Foothills grapes; 75% Cab and 25% Petite Verdot.

If you’re exploring SF Bay wineries we suggest Periscope for good wine at great prices plus hospitality.

- jim

Bonny Doon Vineyard had a tasting room in the mountains in the town of Bonny Doon.   A few years ago Randall Grahm moved his tasting room and winery to northern Santa Cruz.  The large tasting room doubles as a gourmet restaurant with private booths in large wine vats / barrels and a counter bar with a view of the kitchen activity.

Bonny Doon restaurant within the tasting room. Counter bar with a view of the kitchen action in the distance.

The menu is outstanding and interesting but we found that this place is not a well-kept secret.  In the evenings you should have reservations.  The ambiance is unusual but the metal barn is warmed up with a creative use of wine barrel decor and hospitality.

We just finished the Bonny Doon 2006 San Benito County Sangiovese.  It nicely meets our favorite taste profile of great nose, robust body, and long tasty finish. The label describes it as an “explosively delicious cherry bomb” and we agree.  It is a delight to explore.

I find that San Benito wines tend to be a bit more flavorful than other regions. This little county about 40 minutes south of San Jose has few wineries that are open to the public but wineries in the local regions create some great wines from the grapes.

The area around the winery is loaded with other fine wineries.  While the buildings are basic light industrial they are designed with more style than usual.  The attractiveness of the property gives you more ambiance than you would normally expect.  Definitely worth a visit!

- jim

We recently visited little family-owned Pinder Winery in an industrial building in Campbell, CA next to San Jose.  Sure, an industrial building isn’t our first choice for ambiance but Pinder is an excellent choice for wine and hospitality.

Pinder sources their grapes from a variety of vineyards from Temecula to Lodi and the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains.  This strategy gives tasters an interesting taste variety.  We enjoyed all of their wines and particularly the 2003 Lodi Merlot.  It is full of flavor, well-balanced nose, and an enjoyable and lingering finish. Prices are excellent for a winery with less than 500 case production.  If you are in the South Bay this winery is one of the most convenient and worth a visit.

- jim

Stage Left is a tiny winery in an Oakland industrial area that is only open the first Saturday of the month, usually.  While I wouldn’t make this a destination for winery ambiance it is perfect for a quickie day trip and a friendly tasting room.

They do all their harvesting and winemaking by hand and love experimenting. Don’t expect their wines to be predictable. Do expect them to be interesting.

Stage Left's Oakland tasting room. Not much ambiance but friendly.

We were mapping San Francisco East Bay and dropped in for a short visit and tasting. We found the wines to be rich, flavorful, and interesting to explore.  For this blog I brought home a bottle of their 2007 Paso Robles Syrah.

This is a top Syrah. It is an inky rich full-bodied wine that made us smile with delight with every sip. It was soft enough not to bite on the way down but hearty enough for the taste to linger will into the finish.

We intend to go back someday and more fully explore their selection.  We were in a hurry to finish mapping East Bay wineries and had to move right along.

- jim

Katya and I recently visited and mapped 7 wineries in the East San Francisco Bay cities of Emeryville, Oakland, and Alameda.  All are in declining industrial areas that offer the advantage of cheap space and proximity to a large population.  While Sonoma or Napa style ambiance is lacking in these wineries, the neighborhoods are no Dry Creek Valley, some of them fixed up their tasting rooms a bit.  All are in working wineries.

We now have almost all of the SF Bay Area urban wineries that are regularly open to the public in our region map for the area.

I’ll share with you some of the wines that we bought and drank.  Urbano Cellars makes a great 2005 Solano County old vine Zin.  Plenty of fruit, medium body, and old vine softness.  Dashe Cellars has a 2007 Petite Sirah from Alexander Valley that is thick, inky dark color, rich, and framed in oak.

The lively and quaint Irish Monkey tasting room in action.

While we enjoyed the people and wine in all the tasting rooms we visited we had the best time in the Irish Monkey Cellars tasting room.  We arrived late so the tasters were happier than earlier in the day.  Contributing to that was the personality of the vintner and tasting room staff.   While creating ambiance in an old industrial warehouse is challenging these folks have done a more than decent job.

Irish Monkey has a larger selection of wines than most, see their WineQuesters.com profile or Website, and we found all of the wines to be excellent.  We especially enjoyed their Fume Blanc from the El Dorado County in the Sierra Foothills and a full-body Primitivo from Lovell Valley, Napa.

We have one tasting room remaining to visit and map.  Rock Wall is on the old Alameda Navel Air Station somewhere near Rosenblum.  Actually, it is a Rosenblum family winery.  They recently opened for tastings on the weekends but I didn’t know about it until the day we returned from that mapping trip.  We need a biz excuse to return to that area anyway.

For convenience to major cities and airports you can’t beat the SF Bay Area urban wineries.  The wines are a delight, the staff and vintners excited to see you, and you don’t have to dedicate a big budget and a day for the visits.

- jim