When visiting wine country there are hundreds of little tasting rooms which you can just drop into, and for a nominal fee (2 for 1 or free tasting coupons aside) taste a good selection of wines. If time is an issue, it usually is, these drop-in tastings facilitate experiencing more wines than wine-tasting by appointment, but there is a trade-off in intimacy.
We did a number of these wine tastings off-the-cuff; here I'll mention four of them.
Poseidon/Obsidian was a wonderful place to visit,
with consistently good wines, friendly hostesses, and a lovely setting.
My wine of choice was the
Obsidian Ridge Estate 2012 Syrah, $30, 90 points.
Poseidon/Obsidian trademark oak influence was their
We visited the downtown Sonoma walk-in tasting room which was very informal,
but we had the opportunity to taste a number of their wines,
of which the
$20.00, 90 points, was for me the most memorable.
Roche wines were just incredible, and almost everyone of them a stunner.
My favorites (not easy to pick) were the:
Carneros French Oak Reserve 2012 Chardonnay, 95 points, was restrained power and elegance with an amazingly balanced array of flavors carried by a sleek and lingering body.
Barrel tasted 2014 Merlot Reserve, 93 points, singles-out this Merlot as one of the best Merlot red wines I've tasted (Miles eat your heart out).
Roche Alexander Valley Old Vines 2012 Zinfandel, $32.95, 91 points, was a splendid lighter-bodied Zinfandel with red fruit notes and a long finish of spice.
Truett Hurst Winery was bounded by the Dry Creek (fed by the Mendocino Lake) and afforded green shade trees (much of Dry Creek is very dry at this time and off-dusty to brown blah colors), and with picnic tables and a lovely setting made for a great place for lunch while all the time piggybacking our wine tasting.
My memorable wine pick was the Truett-Hurst Red Rooster Old Vine 2012 Zinfandel, $32.99, 91 points, which was more a medium-bodied Zin with a good balance of red and black fruits with a long finish of black pepper and not too much heat.
