23212 Mon Mar 03 14:59:26 -0800 2003 18 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 87756 The first weekend in March is Barrel Tasting weekend along the Russian River Wine Road (www.wineroad.com). This year, there were 88 participating wineries offering free barrel, current release, and library wine tasting. Although wines are the star of the weekend, you can find all sorts of food offered, also. This year I only went to four wineries (Siduri, Christopher Creek, Limerick Lane, and Lynmar), but I've been to others in the past. The food winner this time was the grilled sausage and French bread at Christopher Creek (which they do every year). Last year, the fancy prepared mustards (esp. the Zinfandel Orange) and grape-seed oils at Lambert Bridge got my attention, and the year before that, it was the peppered Salami at DeLoach that was soooo good. The peppered Salami was so good, that I asked them where they got it, and that is how I found the Fiesta Market in Sebastapol. Now here is a chowhounds candy store. They have all kinds of interesting foods including special wine-country things like Kozlowski Farms products (more mustards). Fiesta also had a barbeque going out front on the sidewalk on Sunday. They were selling pork ribs and sirloin tip roasts (half, full and tumbled (?)). Order, Pay Inside, And Pick Up Outside. I suppose I should say something about the wine. Siduri is a small family winery run by the husband and wife team of Adam and Dianna Lee (my pick for the world's friendliest winemakers). They buy grapes and make small batches (they were showing 30 wines!) of amazingly intense Pinot Noirs and Syrahs (plus the odd Zin and Merlot). The 2001 Gary's Vineyard Syrah (Novy Wines) they were pouring yesterday tasted very (VERY) peppery and reminded me of a few Northern Rhones that had similar tastes. Lynmar makes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, both of which I am fond of. It was interesting to compare the wines of Limerick Lane and Christopher Creek, as they are almost next to one another on the same road. Limerick Lane makes smooth, easy drinking stuff, which I'll bet is a real hit with restaurants. Christopher Creek takes almost the same grapes and makes something with some stuffing that has the tannins to last a while. It was an interesting contrast in winemaking styles. Mon Mar 03 14:59:26 -0800 2003 0 Paul H 1 87772 I was at the Barrel Tasting on Saturday as well. Out of the 80-plus wineries, we tried to go to the ones that are usually not open for tastings. So we went to Joseph Swann, Hartford Court, Gary Farrell, Martin Family, Roshambo and Bella. That's more than enough for one day. The Barrel Tasting is a promotional event. You taste brand-new wine from a barrel (wine from a barrel usually tastes great) and then you have the option to buy futures for the wine which will be bottled from the barrels and ready for pickup about 6-12 months or so later. Alongside the barrels, there is usually some food to munch on. All the wine we tasted were good and tasty, but the munchies were vastly different. Joseph Swann in Forrestville had nothing that I saw food-wise, not even bread. Great Zins, though. Hartford Court is in an elegant, chateau-style winery also in Forrestville. They had very good spring rolls to go with some excellent Chardonnay. They had some unusual, very spicy, almost Zinfandel-like, Pinot Noir from Sonoma Coast. Gary Farrell, in an impressive brand-new winery facility set on a mountain top (around Forrestville as well), didn't have much in the food department, as I recall. Just the usual pieces of bread and cheese. Roshambo, another newish winery in Dry Creek with a very cool architecture, didn't have much either to graze on beside some bread. Not that I minded. The place was full of young people with tattoos, body rings and hair color not usually found in nature. All swaying to some light rock music. Bella, at the north end of Dry Creek, had the usual bread/cheese munchies, but they also offered very decent small chocolate truffles matched by a Zinfandel Port. The best food in this lot was at Martin Family Winery, which I never heard of before. I saw their sign on Westside Road just north of Rochioli Winery, so I turned onto their road. Three miles later, on an always-up, twisty and often-rutted road, we arrived at something that looked like a barn way above Dry Creek Valley. There were lots of happy-looking people sitting down, eating and drinking. They had some of the best grilled sausages I've had in a long time. The grill guy said they were from something called Sonoma Sausages that he got in town (I don't know what town he was talking about; up there it could have been Santa Rosa, Healdsburg or Sebastopol). They also had some killer tomales and roasted peppers. Nice spread. It was a nice event to attend. The weather was perfect and, with the exception of Rafanelli, Armida and Pezzi King wineries, it wasn't particularly crowded. We finished off the day with an excellent dinner at Mirepoix in Windsor. I posted a report on that yesterday. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/23202#87716 Mon Mar 03 17:23:53 -0800 2003 87756 0 svL 2 87797 Thank you for the reports on the newer wineries during the barrell tasting. My wife and I passed by those new ones along Westside Highway but since we were pressed for time only went to 2 that we wanted to get some replenishment from (these were Petersons and Davis Bynum). How were the wines from Martin Family and Gary Farrell? Also, thank you for the Mirepoix review. I had considered dining there and now have a better idea of what to expect. Mon Mar 03 20:22:43 -0800 2003 87772 0 rcc 3 87799 At Gary Farrell they have limited parking so they had a limited number of people they let in at one time. Once in, you got a quick tour (walk-through, really) of the winery and then Gary himself handled tastings from a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir barrels. That was kind of thrilling: you got to ask Gary himself all the stupid questions he's heard a thousand times before. He appears to be a nice and patient guy. The Chardonnay wasn't particularly memorable and the Pinot was kind of muted (at least compared to some fruit bombs we tasted at Hartford Court just before Farrell's). They offered a good deal on the Pinot futures (about $19/bottle), ready to pick up a year from now. Since you like Bynum you probably are familiar with Farrell's wines. This particular Pinot is not a single-vineyard production, but rather a blend. I think (but don't hold me to it) that if you are interested about the futures, you can call them on it. Martin Family was the highlight of the day for us. We are quite familiar with Dry Creek and RR Valley wineries so it was interesting to discover something new. They are way above Dry Creek on the Western side. Naturally, they had great views up there. As I said, their food was the best. The winery is a labor of love for the owner whose day job is dentistry. It's a modest effort (especially compared to Farrell's whose production is now about 12,000 cases) but they are doing a great job. They had tastings from about ten barrels. Very extracted and spicy Zins from various vineyards (both their own and purchased grapes), a big Cabernet, Petite Sirah, a 90-10 Zin-Petite Sirah blend, and even a Merlot (I think; didn't try it). I also tasted their bottled wines from the 2001 vintage. These are not shy wines and probably would do well in competitions. I particularly liked their Rattlesnake Rock Zin (around $30 a bottle). Tons of berries, plums, some black and white pepper and a touch of cedar. Mon Mar 03 21:10:27 -0800 2003 87797 0 svL 2 87811 Roshambo is a must miss in my opinion. Totally obnoxious and their wine is completely unremarkable at best. I am just not into the whole "scene" they have going there. We stopped at Unti and Quivera, both of which were pouring nothing but winners. The Quivera Zins and Unti Syrahs were standouts. Mon Mar 03 23:47:37 -0800 2003 87772 0 MikeW 3 87813 Agreed on both Unti and Quivira. I really like their stuff. But you are too harsh on Roshambo. It's definitely a scene, but it's OK because everyone I talked to there loves wine. And that view they have from their terrace... Tue Mar 04 00:54:30 -0800 2003 87811 0 svL 4 87839 Maybe I caught it on a bad day but the people pouring were so unfriendly I couldn't believe it. I felt like I had just walked into some swanky club in LA and couldn't get served because I wasn't "hip" enough. Not what I go to Sonoma for. I am more into the Rafanelli, Unti low key friendly family run approach Tue Mar 04 13:12:06 -0800 2003 87813 0 MikeW 5 87842 Wow. Totally the opposite on Saturday. They couldn't have been friendlier. Maybe it was because it was a special-event day? Tue Mar 04 13:37:50 -0800 2003 87839 0 svL 1 87777 We were at Christopher Creek yesterday and agree the sausages were good. We thought they tasted like the ones we get at Costco that we love so we asked and those were indeed the ones. I don't remember the brand but they also do a sundried tomato sausage that is awesome. So now you know where you can get them for yourself! Mon Mar 03 17:47:58 -0800 2003 87756 0 Kitty 1 87779 Just wanted to add a note that while Christopher Creek and Limerick Lane wineries are located next to each other, the fruit for CC's zinfandel is from the owners' home vineyard in Dry Creek Valley. LL's zin is from the Collins vineyard right there by the winery in Russian River Valley. So, they have very different character due to appellation origin and not just winemaking style. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/16259#44187 Mon Mar 03 17:57:21 -0800 2003 87756 0 Melanie Wong 2 87782 Melanie, thanks for the clarification on CC Zins. The Zins may indeed be partially different because of the location, but I tasted every wine on display at each place, and I really think there was a theme which pointed to a different style or philosophy. Fred (?) at CC opined it was because they don't do any fining or filtering which he claims removes some of the tannins. I don't know if that is true, but limiting the comparison just to the Syrahs, which are both from the north side of Limerick Lane, I felt CC makes a bigger, more chewy style. In any event I bought a case from CC and passed on LL! Mon Mar 03 18:12:35 -0800 2003 87779 0 Paul H 3 87790 [Disclaimer: Fred and Pam Wasserman of Christopher Creek are long-time personal friends.] Sorry, when I think of Limerick Lane, I automatically go to Zinfandel. The Syrah program is much newer at this estate. If we're talking Syrah, the vines at CC are older which accounts for part of the difference. Also Fred and Pam love Aussie Shiraz. When they purchased the winery, their goal was to make the Syrahs bigger and more robust ("killer") than the previous Francophile administration. Limerick Lane looks for a Northern Rhone silky-textured style. There is sometimes some Petite Sirah in the CC Syrah blend too, which adds extra structure. From your observations, it sounds like CC has honed in on achieving the owners' intentions. FWIW, a tannin management program includes many other elements besides fining and filtration - those are last resort measures. Tannin levels are managed in the vineyard by crop level, berry size management, harvest criteria, etc., and then in the cellar at every step during the extraction in the fermentation process and maturation of tannins in the elevage process. Each of the decisions in these areas that the vigneron makes along the way to bottling affects tannin structure and wine style. Mon Mar 03 18:31:10 -0800 2003 87782 0 Melanie Wong 2 87784 Melanie! Thanks for the pointer to the Sonoma Chowhound Treasures thread (my name). This is truly a great resource and I intend on using it to do some serious chowhounding my next trip up north. Mon Mar 03 18:18:36 -0800 2003 87779 0 Paul H 3 87791 It's 2 1/2 years old now and the restaurant info is out of date. But the food purveyor info should serve you well for your next outing. Mon Mar 03 18:34:02 -0800 2003 87784 0 Melanie Wong 1 87810 Did you taste any other Novy wines besided the Gary's Vineyard? I live Novy's wine and last years Gary's Vineyard was incredible. Mon Mar 03 23:44:57 -0800 2003 87756 0 Mike W 2 87816 I tasted a barrel sample Merlot (with was the most tannic Merlot I've ever tasted, but which might actually turn out okay given some time) and a Syrah, and a Zin both of which I found to be quite good. I think Adam Lee actually makes all the Siduri and Novy wines. Tue Mar 04 01:50:26 -0800 2003 87810 0 Paul H 3 87825 Novy is Diana Lee's maiden name - her parents are partners with the Lees in that label. Diana is the hands on winemaker for both Siduri and Novy, although both of them share production responsibilities. [Disclaimer: Diana and Adam Lee are long-time personal friends.] Tue Mar 04 03:55:14 -0800 2003 87816 0 Melanie Wong 4 87840 Have you tasted any of the 2001 wines? I am trying to decide what to order on futures from their mailer. Tue Mar 04 13:13:37 -0800 2003 87825 0 MikeW 5 87946 Sorry, no, I haven't tried the '01s yet. Wed Mar 05 18:35:22 -0800 2003 87840 0 Melanie Wong