Two Valleys, Six Wineries, New Rules

New rules: 
1.  When offered a choice between the "classic" tasting menu and the "reserve" tasting menu, always choose the reserve.  (Except if you are visiting your 4th winery of the day - in that case, it doesn't matter what you drink).
2.  Always "accidentally" leave your credit card at home when wine tasting.  This serves as a blessing in disguise when you have had too much to drink and have been nearly talked into joining the wine club.
3.  Always have something diplomatic to say about the winery you visited previously.  This way you don't self-select as either a snob or an idiot.


Since our last winery blog, we have been to six wineries (and doubled our taste count on the tasting meter ->).  While we aren't in the business of writing advertisements for wineries, we had good experiences at all six of these and thought we'd give a brief description of each and why we enjoyed them.


Lambert Bridge Winery - if you want a single stop that presents gorgeous grounds, exquisite wines and true wine experts in the tasting room, you must visit at this lovely winery and you will probably join their club, like we did.  Better start saving those pennies.


Arista Winery - a uniquely designed winery with Japanese garden and pond, providing a lovely place to stroll while sipping some really nice wines.  If you are lucky, the winemaker will be in the tasting room pouring wines himself.


Porter Creek Vineyards - after feeling a bit like a trespasser on a hippie farm, brave souls (who have made it past the 14 year-old shepherd guard dog) can enjoy some fantastically made organic, biodynamic wines in a casual and intimate tasting cottage.


Rosenblum Cellars - recommended to us for their famous Zinfandels, the tasting room is a stone's throw from Healdsburg plaza, full of eager tasters and knowledgeable winery staff, and if you look closely and ignore the store signs, you might recognize the exterior as the police station in 'Scream' (the original).

Dry Creek Vineyard - one the post-prohibition pioneers of Dry Creek Valley, DCVineyard offers a wide range of varietals and gives the option of tasting a representative selection or a flight of a single varietal.  We tasted the Sauvignon Blanc flight, which was surprisingly diverse, including a great Musqué! 


Quivira Vineyards - home to pigs, goats, and other farm-y things, the winery manages to present a tasting atmosphere that is lovely, sophisticated and garden-like.  It is evident in the style of the wines, grounds and conversation, that Quivira is committed to preserving the farming roots of the region. That's not to say that they aren't also committed to (and successful at) creating great wine!

Two Girls and Lots and Lots of Barrels

First, we would like to apologize to our loyal readers for the break in postings.  Denise and Marissa took back-to-back vacations over the last two weeks (alas, the demands of wine tasting and blogging required a break!)  

Since we claimed we would drink a whole barrel of wine, our resident Sommelier-friend suggested that we do a cooperage tour to actually learn about the barrel-making process.  As you may know, most wines are aged to some extent in oak barrels - in this region both French and American oak are primarily used.  

So last week we visited Winemakers' Cooperage in Cloverdale, CA and were treated to a fantastic tour by one of the owners, Quinn.  Decked out in neon yellow vests and protective eye-wear, we joined a group from our friend's restaurant.  The whole hour+ was chalk full of education.  We learned about nearly every aspect of the cooperage process, starting with the age of the trees and which parts of the oak logs can be used for barrels down to the different degrees of barrel toasting specified by wine-makers.  When you think about the biological make-up of the logs, the shape of the staves (slats of wood), and the direction of the wood grain, it's an art-form in itself to deconstruct a log, knowing it will directly impact the flavor of the wines later stored.   We were also struck by how traditional the process is.  All stages of constructing and seasoning the barrels seem to be done by an actual person, which was interesting considering how many modern tools and materials are available.  For example, the barrels are constructed using dove-tailed slats for the heads, which are fitted into grooves with a flour/water paste; a man still moves each barrel over fire pits while tossing oak chips in to keep the fire at the right temperature; and the hoops are in many stages, hammered by hand into place.  This is not to say that there aren't gigantic machines everywhere that aid in the process (making sure the hoops are at the right height, routing out the grooves for the barrel heads, etc.)  But the manual aspects of the construction really stood out as an illustration of the commitment to wine as an art-form and not just a commodity.  Winemakers' Cooperage had at least a dozen guys at a time actually building barrels (this is their slow season) and cranking out a mere (yet impressive) 40 barrels a day.

Though it was clear that each stage of the cooperage process plays a particular and critical role in achieving the right wine-aging components, it was the toasting stage where our senses actually got to experience the effect of the oak.  The characteristics that we've tasted in many of the wines we drink were present in the air as we witnessed this process - including, vanilla, spices, smokiness.  It was pretty cool!

Our question of the week is: Do you have any questions for us?  Go ahead, ask us your barrel questions, test our listening skills.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Will Work For Wine

This past weekend we celebrated Wild Steelhead month at the 3rd Annual Healdsburg Wild Steelhead Festival. What does steelhead have to do with wine, you ask? Ha! You must not know Healdsburg! In Healdsburg everything has to do with wine. In particular, many local

wineries are instrumental in raising money and supporting causes. The Russian River, which runs through the town of Healdsburg and through the Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley wine regions, supports the largest spawning population of Central California Coast Steelhead, but its population is believed to have declined seven-fold since the mid-1960s. (For more information see NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service). Loss of habitat and water pollution are major threats to this species and the festival helps bring awareness of that threat to the greater community.

We're sure that in this case the cause was reason enough for the fishers of Sonoma County to gather - there were booths dedicated to water conservation, habitat protection, fishing equipment, arts and crafts for kids, actual steehead, steelhead art, and the list goes on. But interspersed throughout the plaza were also quite a few tables set up where, in exchange for red tickets (purchased from the festival organizers), you could taste a great selection of local wines. And this is, admittedly, what drew us in. A few favorites include Michel Schlumberger, Camellia Cellars, Simi, Quivera, as well as a few we weren't as familiar with but are definitely on our list (all to be visited at a later date). Of course there were also booths set up around the perimeter of the festival by some local restaurants - for us, worth battling the rain to try the special festival offerings. As non-fishers, it felt a little bit awkward to simultaneously support preservation efforts and consumption of the same fish. But we learned that the steelhead offered "two ways" by Dry Creek Kitchen was sustainably farmed. Still, "save the fish, eat the fish" was a mantra that came to mind while eating. After tasting the delicious steelhead cakes topped with steelhead roe we determined that the life of that fish was well served!

After tasting most of the wines, we were given the opportunity (putting it more accurately: we were lured) to stand in for our friends at the Camellia Cellars table while they took a lunch break across the street. Thank goodness for the band, whose lively tunes saved us from the freezing cold! The wine helped with that as well. We had a great time in our spontaneous roles as pourers (putting some of our new skills and wine knowledge to the test). It became apparent to us quite quickly that Chris and Bruce are beloved by this community when nearly everyone passing by asked where they were. Nevertheless, we did manage to pour every drop of the Camellia wine and with Steve's help we collected a lot of red tickets (don't mess with CC's friend Steve - no ticket? no taste!)

TOP 10 THINGS WE LEARNED AT THE WILD STEELHEAD FESTIVAL

10. Go to as many wine-serving festivals as possible - there is a good chance you will be hosted by the winery owner or wine-maker themselves;

9. Tuna is the "other trout" (according to the tuna-sandwich booth);

8. You can get a Polish Dog at John & Zekes if you know the right people (or maybe there's a password? We'll look into it);

7. If you hang around your friends' table hoping for free wine long enough, you will eventually have to "pay" for it;

6. There are two different ways you can make a steelhead out of nothing but a paper plate;

5. It is difficult to concentrate on the "nose" of a wine when your nose is freezing cold;

4. Even though it sounds impossible, soft, smooth felt on the bottom of shoes stops you from slipping on slimy rocks;

3. If you were born on or before February 6, 1989 you were allowed to drink wine at the festival (this is also rather difficult to believe, especially for the ladies who checked our ID's, telling us we "barely made it" when their count was off by 10 years);

2. It is possible to be sipping wine in the rain in a slicker in Healdsburg at 3:30pm and still make it to a black-tie fundraiser in San Francisco that starts at 5:30 without getting a speeding ticket (but we don't condone nor recommend our readers try this); AND, DRUMROLL PLEASE...

1. Do not attempt to swirl your wine if you are drinking out of a dixie cup.