2012 Barrel Tasting

Let the games begin! It's that time of year again when the winemakers are anxious to get some feedback on their "brews" still stewing in the barrels. (They'll kill me for mixing non-wine metaphors.) And let the feedback come in the form of cha-ching$$! Futures are a fantastic way to stake your claim to the last remaining "gold" in northern California. It also keeps the wineries afloat for another season (wink - just kidding).

All right, enough blathering... We're going to take a slightly different tack this year. Yes, we'll make some standard stops (if for no other reason than to pick up last year's futures), but we'll be invading some new territory, as well. Spontaneity is the word of the day (if I can spell it right).

Friday
Fritz - of course
Mazzocco - to beat the weekend rush
Freemark Abbey - wait, what?! They're in St. Helena, not Sonoma... Yep, I wanted to return to Napa Valley for a quick stop or two before the weekend swarm.
Grgich Hills - ugh. More to follow on this stop...
Jessup Cellars - Wine club pickup and a surprise in the chardonnay department...

Saturday
Joseph Swan - Picking up last year's

Woodenhead - New place to try; discovered that they don't SELL futures

Russian Hill - Opted out of barrel tasting this year, but it's worth a stop (and a pickup)

Siduri/Novy - Met friends here in the p.m. Learned something new...Always make this your FIRST stop

Sheldon Wines

Sunday

Windsor Oaks

Sapphire Hill

Lessons Learned from this year's event:

1. Going into the weekend without so much as a rudimentary plan will really limit the number of places you end up going. This year was eleven (11)...a far cry fewer than any years past. As a consequence, we missed (yet again) A. Rafanelli. Spontaneity has its consequences.

2. Two bodies intersecting at a tangent, share energy, in pursuit of equilibrium. In other words, if you find yourself off tasting on your own "path" and agree to meet another group, on THEIR own path for just one stop, you will find that you're respective momentums will be dramatically reduced. Such was the case on Saturday @ Siduri. The stop lasted 2.5 hours, twice as long as it would have if both groups had started/ended the day on the exact same path.

3. If you want to go out to wine country during the wine tasting event, but don't want to particpate, you may have a problem. I learned for the first time that wineries (who are particpating) are not allowed ANY tasting for patrons who haven't purchased the tickets. You're not even allowed to PAY for a tasting.

4. I think I'm going to stop measuring our "success" by the number of wineries and, instead, measure it by the number of wines tasted. We made two stops this weekend that, by most measures, would be considered 3 stops, each! We tasted two dozen wines at Siduri and Windsor Oaks, each!

5. With all of the wine tasting at one stop, I need to come up with a new way to "slow the sizzle" of my palate. After a certain number of wines, my tongue is fried (and so is my ability to make subtle/substantial distinctions in flavors. What the hell's the point, then?