Before we get into this week's Wine Wednesday, I just want to say how sorry I am about the damage in Napa after the earthquake last weekend. I've seen how much time and energy goes into the wine making process and I can't even imagine what the loss of so many barrels will mean to the wine makers who have invested so much in their craft. If you'd like to help out, here are some resources:
While Napa is picking up the pieces though, my next two wine posts will feature lesser known wine areas in California. Napa and Sonoma get a lot of the attention but there are lots of wine regions in this state. On a camping trip a couple of weeks ago, we found ourselves driving through Anderson Valley and knew we'd have to pop into a few wineries on the way back.
Before we get to the wine though, let's just talk about where we camped. We went up to Navarro River Redwoods State Park and camped out at an awesome site right on the beach. We were able to spend an afternoon splashing around on the (very drought affected) river, and playing in some of the very climbable trees. It's definitely a trek from San Francisco (about a 3 hour drive) but it's fun to discover another corner of this beautiful state.
But let's get back to the important stuff... the wine tasting!
Our first stop was Brutocao Cellars. One of our fellow campers, said that she had seen a winery with a sign for Port and chocolate tastings. Everyone in our group thought this sounded amazing so our first mission on our drive back was to try to find that sign. Luckily, my boyfriend spotted it and we were quickly followed by our friends.
The first amazing thing about Anderson Valley tastings - they were all complimentary and involved long lists of wine, of which you could choose 5-6 to try. Anderson Valley is known for their Pinot Noir and Brutocao was no exception but they also carried a variety of other French and Italian wines. I had a long list of wines I wanted to try but limited myself to their 2010 Reserve Pinot Noir, 2010 Primitivo, and 2010 Quadriga (a blend of Sangiovese, Primitivo, Barbera, and Dolcetto). The former wines being excellent representations of their varietals and the latter being an exceptionally balanced and smooth blend of four tasty Italian grapes.
I also really enjoyed the chocolate tasting. There were 3 options, all being creamy truffle chocolates. My favorite was the Grand Marnier and I made sure to take home a jar of it as well.
Our seceond stop was Husch Vineyards which was just bonkers cute. Even though their tasting room was snug, they managed to fit out large group. There was a little deck, as well, that we trickled out onto (pictured below). Husch, is well known for their award winning Pinots. The style was a little different from what I tend to prefer, but I was fascinated by their dessert wines. The most interesting to me was the late harvest Sauvignon Blanc. I'd never seen someone make a dessert wine from that grape and it was interesting to see how the lighter qualities of the wine remained while still taking on the properties of a dessert white. I took a bottle home so that I can try it again sometime as it definitely was a unique wine (my favorite!).
Husch was also the first winery we went to that feautured grape juice - non-fermented wines. We had a few drivers and they loved it. It's so smart to have a non-alcholic beverage alternative for drivers, and our group really appreciated it. One person in our party even got a couple bottles of it.
The last winery was also gorgeous and that was Navarro Vineyards and Winery. They also had a big portfolio of wines. I was getting a little wine fatigue by then but I really enjoyed the Edelzwicker - a blend of 47% Pinot Gris, 27% Gewürztaminer, 25% Riesling and 1% Muscat. The dry Pinot Gris really balances out the sweet and floral notes of the other wines and it ends up being a really stand out blend.
This was also a winery that had tastings of their non-alcoholic wine juice. There were three options and the tasting room employee even offered to mix them into a wine juice cocktail for our DDs. Dan really liked his and once again, it was great to have an option other than water for the drivers.
If that wasn't enough, Navarro also had cheese tastings with pairings. There were several great options and my favorites were the Laychee goat & sheep milk cheese and the Boont Corners Reserve.
All in all, wine tasting in Anderson Valley was amazing. I really loved that all the wineries offered something extra whether it be cheese, chocolate, or just some non-alcoholic options. Even though I don't expect wineries to step outside of their specialties, it was a nice touch that really added to our experience. I know our group of friends, who varied in wine experience, all had a good time.
Of course, on our way home, my phone buzzed with a Facebook notification. It seemed that I was tagged in the ice bucket challenge for the second time. Since I had a cooler full of dirty camping ice water that was going to get dumped out anyways, I didn't really have any excuse. So, here's my ice bucket gif for all of you. I also donated to the WWF Tigers fund. I know the challenge is supposed to raise money for ALS but it seems like they've gotten a lot of donations so I decided to support a cause that is important to me... because tigers are awesome.
Also - thank you to Selin Sevencan for letting me use some of your photos! My phone was charging during some of our wine tastings so I didn't get to take as many pictures and I would have. I appreciate you letting me use yours!
No comments:
Post a Comment