2011 Barrel Tasting

This turned out to be quite a nice adventure. I'm only starting to realize it as I sit in my cozy, leather couch drinking one of my luscious, treasured finds. If you've spent time, year after year, going to barrel tasting as we have, you might find yourself becoming inured to the charm of the event. The crowds get bigger and younger every year (not that we get older), and it somehow feels more like a travelling frat/sorority party than a weekend of discovering new wines while they are barely zygotes (so to speak). Part of the challenge of late is to keep it fresh while trying not to kill or maim those airheaded, mindless neophytes that surround you. You work to keep it fresh by finding one or two new wineries you've never tried before; one-in-three will be fruitful. Volume of wineries visited also helps keep things fresh. On any given three-day weekend, we will visit 20-30 wineries. This allows us to revisit many of our old haunts and slip in more than a few new ones.

The other thing that keeps things fresh is to bring along newcomers..."fresh meat", as it were. Of course, it's important to be selective; you don't want them to blend in with the chuckleheads (like the year I took my sister). This year, we happened to introduce a couple to the experience (and wine-tasting, as a practice) on the second day of the event. The experience was so successful, they changed their other plans and joined us again on Sunday. Rookies will usually slow the pace a bit, but after the first day, we were all into the swing of things. All told, our three-day tally was 17 wineries and just as many cases of wine.

While I'm on the point of returning home with such a booty, I have to say I was surprised at my success in bringing so much home. In years past, our sojourns have been in our Toyota Prius which, through repetition and learned efficiencies I've come to be able to pack 18 cases, luggage for two, and a passenger. On this trip, I was in our Lexus IS350C (a convertible) and was concerned that I'd have to leave some of "our soldiers" behind. My persistence prevailed, however, and we (myself and my soldiers) were treated to the most comfortable 800 mile ride home ever! As impressive as it was (to me, anyway) that the ride was still smooth, it was even more exciting that the car didn't lose a step in it's zip! All I can say is...Ahhhh!

So here's the short version of our event weekend; the details will be forthcoming.

Friday - 3/11/11

Fritz (of course) - Dry Creek Valley

Sbragia - Dry Creek Valley

Unti - Dry Creek Valley

Mill Creek - Russian River Valley

Saturday - 3/12/11

Buena Vista

Siduri/Novy

Armida

Matrix

Sunday - 3/13/11

Russian Hill

Harvest Moon

Joseph Swan

Sapphire Hill

Stonestreet

Robert Young

Clos du Bois

Mauritson

Sheldon Wines

The Take was 7 cases (by volume) out the door, and 4.5 cases on futures. Purchases were made from 12 of the 17 wineries (futures or otherwise). I call that quite productive.