A few years ago I was shooting photography in the Anderson Valley and discovered the beautiful Goldeneye Winery tasting room and back patio.  Goldeneye is a species of wild duck and this is an appropriate name because their sister winery in Napa Valley is the also beautiful Duckhorn.   Both have excellent landscaping, serve wine at tables, and are a classy experience.

For a $10 tasting fee they serve you four Anderson Valley Pinot Noirs on a patio table with a great view of the vineyards and redwoods.  A fountain adds a lively waterfall sound for exceptional relaxing ambiance while you focus on the wines, friend, or whatever.

On a warm fall afternoon in 2011 we were seated at a patio table and presented with four local Pinots – 2009 Gowan Creek Vineyard, 2009 The Narrows Vineyard, 2009 Goldeneye from several vineyards, and 2009 Confluence Vineyard.  We love horizontal and vertical tastings so we can compare vineyards by year or a vineyard over many years.

All the wines were lightly oaked and aged 16 months in French oak, medium body, soft Pinot aromas, and top quality throughout.  Not a long finish but that’s Pinot.  We could taste subtle and interesting differences between the vineyard designate wines.  To keep you oriented they provide you with detailed tasting notes from the winemaker on each wine plus a good description of the vineyard.

For a great laid-back tasting experience both their patio and indoor sofas and fireplace locations are a cut above most other wineries.

- jim

PS:  Several days after writing this post we paired the 2009 Goldeneye Anderson Valley Pinot with a roasted duck.  We were disappointed. The wine was boring and not worth the price.  We finished only half the bottle.  The next evening we were watching a movie and the wine was very nice.  Go figure.

Roth Estate doesn’t have a tasting room of their own and such wineries are usually outside of our scope.  However, this family owned winery is related to Lancaster Estate on Chalk Hill Road so when wine distributor Wilson Daniels offered to let us try some of their wines we agreed.

I’ll start with their 2009 Sonoma Coast (basically west Russian River Valley) Pinot Noir.  It opened for us with a BIG raspberry nose and a medium body with gentle fruit and a mild finish.  We prefer the more intense, well, intense for Pinot, Santa Cruz Mountains Pinots but a big raspberry nose is a hit with us.  Unfortunately the nose died down quite a bit on the second and third days but the flavors stayed fresh.  We pumped the air out and used argon to remove the oxygen to store it overnight.

The wine was aged in French oak for 18 months but the oak is in the background.  It is 100% Pinot as most Pinots are although we tasted a Lake County Pinot last night that seemed to be blended with Syrah of all things.  The price point is $27 which is probably about right but we would prefer bigger flavors for that price.  A LOT of people prefer the mellow Pinots and this wine should appeal to them.

The Roth 2010 Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc is a medium body wine with a very light color, big nose full of flowers and citrus, and that New Zealand type of grassiness that we enjoy.  Recall that the 2010 harvest was late due to cool weather but had that grape killer hot spell in August.  In spite of the challenges this batch of Sauv Blanc did very well with the longer hang time.  There is no oak here, just the fruit, and the acidity is comfortable for the varietal.  Suggested retail is $16 which is reasonable but a bit on the high side.  We sampled this wine with friends over a chicken dinner and the reaction was favorable.  The finish was decent but longer would be nice.

We tried the Roth 2008 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for desert with friends after dinner.  It is a medium body Cab with plum aroma and soft tannins and a light oak backdrop. The finish lasts a while which for us is critical in all wines but especially for the big reds.  I expected a bit more oak since the wine is aged in French and American Oak for 18 months.  Maybe there is more there than met my palate after dinner.

I love big oaky Alexander Valley Cabs.  This wine is not that robust and should appeal to a much larger market.  It is softened with 17% Cab Franc and Merlot.  The suggested retail price of $28 is spot on. It doesn’t have the complexity of other AV Cabs but it is drinkable right now and smooth enough to pair with most dishes such as red meats and pastas and good conversation.   Good wine and I consider it a buy.

- Jim

Alexander Valley is a quiet and laid back part of Sonoma County.  For decades there have been only a few wineries in this famous Cabernet growing valley but lately we are seeing new wineries.  Trione built a beautiful winery next to US 101 just south of Geyserville a few years ago.  They have very nice landscaping, landscape art, and are gracious tasting room hosts.

Jessie, the tasting room manager, really wanted us to try their 2007 Russian River Pinot Noir and 2008 RRV Sauvignon Blanc.  The Sauv Blanc was excellent as expected. Full bodied, full flavor, but not as much as a big New Zealand Sauv Blanc.  Same with the Pinot.  For those who like light delicate Pinots there are other wineries in RRV for that.  In the Alexander Valley they make wine you can taste and explore.  Trione’s Pinot changes nicely as it gets air and never flattens out in the glass.  This is a medium bodied Pinot which of course is still light compared to Cab or Zin.

Wonder how a new winery can have great wines?  The Trione family have been growers for decades and wine making for many years.  When they opened this winery they were already on a roll with great local wines.

- Jim

The Santa Cruz Mountains Passport is one of the best.  Buy a Passport and it doesn’t expire.  You can visit each winery once, and there are plenty of visit.  A mostly unexplored section of this wine region is on the southern end north of Watsonville.  This past January we decided to see what is there.

Alfaro Family Vineyards and Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Alfaro is a working winery in a big barn with a long tasting room to one side. Nothing special about the ambiance but the surrounding hills are beautiful and they have a nice little picnic area behind the barn.

Is Afaro worth your time to visit? Yep. The reason?  Pinot Noir. This is Pinot that reminds me why I like Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot. It isn’t too light like many.  Soft and refined but full nose, flavors, and a nice long finish.  Most Pinots are a bit too soft for us. This one, and the estate Pinots at the nearby wineries, are not Pinots for newbies only. They are fun and interesting to drink.

Visit Afaro as part of a tour of the southern Santa Cruz Mountain wineries near Corralitos.  There are enough wineries for a full day. Bring a picnic and enjoy the hospitality.

- jim

The name Wairau River probably indicates to most readers that this is not California wine. OK, the next hint is that Wairau is Maori for “many waters”. By now you geography geniuses are getting it. Terlato Wines International sent me their New Zealand Wairau River Wines brand 08 Sauvignon Blanc and 06 Pinot Noir to try. I decided to take them sailing in San Francisco Bay with a little crowd of 9 aboard Gil McCoy’s 30 foot Catalina.

I believe that wines should be tasted in the real world, not a sterile tasting lab or judge’s tent at a county fair. The real test for wine is how much ordinary people enjoy it. A sailing trip would be a decent test.

A couple of our crew got seasick early into the sail and didn’t taste the wines but that left plenty of hearty sailors as our lab rats. Besides being out in the Bay we paired the wines with an assortment of munchies including meat loaf on focaccia bread, shrimp, and pasta salads.

Dean and Ed salivate over empty Wairau River bottles, South Beach Harbor, San Francisco.

We used real wine glasses, not plastic, and because we are mostly going with the wind we were able to get full nose. Both bottles emptied all too fast but I did get about a 4 oz pour. I found the wines to be excellent and robust enough that even in salty sea air I could enjoy a full aroma and taste adventure. Everyone (except the sickos) loved the wine. This group had very diverse wine experience so it was a good test.

One sailor mentioned that the Pinot had the body of a Northern California Pinot but seemed to taste a little different. So we opened a bottle of a favorite wine, San Jose’s Coterie Cellars 07 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir for comparison. That bottle didn’t last long either but we came to the consensus that the Kiwi Pinot was every bit as excellent but did taste different.

Wairau River Wines is a family owned winery and recently was awarded CarbonZero certification by the NZ government. Of course that benefit is reduced when it travels to the US.  Terlato distributes their wines.

I’ve long respected New Zealand Sauv Blancs and Pinot Noirs. They are on top of those varietals as well as Oregon and California. For a delightful taste adventure I would recommend these.

- jim

The folks at Terlato Family Vineyards recently sent me two of their namesake wines to try. I’ve blogged about their South African and Aussie wines before. Those I felt are very nice and worth grabbing from a retail shelf but I wasn’t overly excited.

The Terlato 2008 Pinot Grigio and 2007 Pinot Noir from their Russian River Valley vineyards are not so modest. Katya and I REALLY like them!

Both are robust enough to interest us. We prefer stronger flavors with lots of interesting nose and lingering finishes. Wines that meet this standard are difficult to find at any price-point. Both of these wines are exciting and flavorful. As usual I’m not going to tell you what you will taste – that is your adventure.

We tasted from the bottles over several days and each day was a treat.

For more information from Terlato:

2007 Pinot Noir – Not on their Web site yet. 10 months in French Oak, 40% new, 900 cases, $60 suggested retail. They say lighter style but we would say medium richness.

2008 Pinot Grigio

- jim