The Wife of a Dairyman ~ Churned in Cali: barrel tasting

Showing posts with label barrel tasting. Show all posts

March 6, 2014

Barrel Tasting along the Wine Road

It's the beginning of March, there's been a break in our rainy weather and it's the second weekend of Barrel Tasting in the Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys, which means great wines, good food and picnicking and phenomenal people watching. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend this year's event but I thought you might like to, or at least take a peak into what it's all about. Tickets are still available at the door.....

The following photos are from Barrel Tasting 2012, when it was an unseasonably warm 70 plus degrees outside. A beautiful and memorable day.....

Our journey along the Wine Road began at Dutton Estate, where my friend, Debbie, was pouring....

We sampled some delicious wines right out of the barrel.....which will only get better with age.
We collected our samples directly from Terry, the wine maker.

Dutton wines were paired with very moist pulled pork and corn bread....so good.

There were 130 wineries participating in Barrel Tasting weekend this year. We managed to visit four of them. A. Rafanelli, in Healdsburg, was our second stop.

Rafanelli wines are not sold retail, only restaurants and on special wine event weekends....Barrel Tasting weekend is my opportunity to stock up on a few bottles.

There's is always a line to enter the tasting room at Rafenelli, but the people pleasers that they are, always have someone pouring down the line while you're waiting.......

Hello Big Bold Zin......

After our 15 minute wait to enter the tasting room, we were not disappointed.....we tasted, bought and tasted a little more.

All the wineries have beautiful scenery with everything beginning to bloom which = great photos, but not so great for allergies.....but I didn't complain.....at least not til later...

We were on a mission. We knew what wineries we wanted to hit, a list of top priorities. Third stop, Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves.....

Bella has beautiful grounds that include a picnic area with shaded tables under majestic trees, a country shabby chic tasting room, and cool, dark wine caves...........

a fabulous pairing of bacon and grits with their wines.

Bacon, I was in heaven.

We spent at least an hour at Bella, I don't think any of us wanted to leave.

But we did.....finally.

On to Armida, our last stop of the day.

For me, Armida is more about visual stimulation. Armida has beautiful picnic grounds as well. You can sit on their lawn, overlooking the pond and share a bottle of wine while eating from the picnic basket you've brought along.

For more info and a map to wineries participating in Barrel Tasting, click on WineRoad.com

Enjoy!

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March 5, 2012

Tasting Out of the Barrel ~ Wine Tasting

It's the beginning of March, it's 70+ degrees, the first weekend of Barrel Tasting in the Dry Creek Valley, which means great wines, good food and phenomenal people watching.

What more can one ask for?!

Not much.

Our journey along the Wine Road began at Dutton Estate, where my friend, Debbie works....

We sampled some delicious wines right out of the barrel.....which will only get better with age.
We collected our samples directly from Terry, the wine maker.

Dutton wines were paired with very moist pulled pork and corn bread....so good.

There's is always a line to enter the tasting room at Rafenelli, but the people pleasers that they are, always have someone pouring down the line while you're waiting.......

Hello Big Bold Zin......

After our 15 minute wait to enter the tasting room, we were not disappointed.....we tasted, bought and tasted a little more.

All the wineries have beautiful scenery with everything beginning to bloom which = great photos, but not so great for allergies.....but I didn't complain.....at least not til later...

We were on a mission. We knew what wineries we wanted to hit, a list of top priorities. Third stop, Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves.....

Bella has beautiful grounds that include a picnic area with shaded tables under majestic trees, a country shabby chic tasting room, and cool, dark wine caves...........

a fabulous pairing of bacon and grits with their wines.

Bacon, I was in heaven.

We spent at least an hour at Bella, I don't think any of us wanted to leave.

But we did.....finally.

On to Armida, our last stop of the day.

For me, Armida is more about visual stimulation. They have two tasting rooms; one where the Chardonnay is poured...."Heaven" and the second where all the reds are poured... "Hell".

"Hell" was the happening place.....for some.

Already looking forward to the next event.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment. I love to hear from you! Have a fantastic day!

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March 6, 2011

Happenings On The Wine Road

Every year during the first two weekends in March, the Barrel Tasting event of the year occurs in the Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley areas of Sonoma County.

A. Rafanelli Cellar

We had 145 wineries to choose from for this event. You can spread out your visits over the two days your ticket covers, but I am only going for the one day.

If you've never been barrel tasting, the reason behind it at an event like this is, you have the chance to taste wines before they're bottled, meet the winemakers and have the opportunity to buy 'futures' {at a great discount} of the wine which will be bottled 6-18 months from now.

We began our day with some high expectations......we were going to try and visit five wineries. I was designated driver, so I only tasted a little tiny bit and snapped a ton of photos.

Our first stop was Dutton Estate Winery. My friend, Kellie is having a taste and talking to the Winemaker, Terry.

We also had the chance to talk with Tracy Dutton {on left}, one of the owners who is super friendly and totally answered all our questions and even mapped out some other wineries she recommended for us.

Tracy Dutton & Jeannie

Our good friend, Deb works at Dutton, so it was fun hanging out with her for a while while she was pouring.

I bought. What can I say, I love Dutton Estate wine.

Dutton Estate Wines

Our next stop was quite a distance from where we started but well worth it because wine is only offered for purchase at A. Rafanelli Winery at events like this or by appointment.

I bought again.

We talked with Dave Rafanelli, owner and his daughter, Shelley, winemaker. Kellie and Shelley used to rope together so they had lots of catching up to do.

The first photo, above is taken at Rafanelli as well.

Kellie, Shelley Rafanelli-Fehlman & Dave Rafanelli

Okay, our last winery. Armida. We only made it to three! Kellie had never been to this winery and it's a must do if only for the entertainment factor and people watching.

The Armida Winery party has three tasting rooms for this event. Kellie and Jody ready to enter 'Hell' tasting area.

Armida Winery 'Hell' Entrance

This is where all the red wines are presented. And the feel of the room is very much like a Halloween party, fog machine, strobe lights and all.

Armida Winery 'Hell' Tasting Room

I like taking photos without the flash on so it gives a sense of the feel at the time, in my opinion anyway.

Here's one with the flash on....you don't see the red glow or the fog that was in the room and the photo is just blah.

Armida Winery 'Hell' Tasting Room

We then headed over to the 'Heaven' tasting room where the white wines are served from the barrel by an angel.

Armida Winery 'Heaven' Tasting Room

Armida Wine 'Poizin'

The view from Armida. Rain is on its way.

After our three stops we headed into the town of Healdsburg for a snack. I found some Sao Jorge Portuguese cheese....you know that cheese I LOVE with the nutty flavor, at the little market/deli so we bought some crackers and red pepper jelly and had the perfect snack to end a perfect day.

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March 15, 2010

Barrel Tasting with the Girls!!

It was a beautiful, sunny, spring-like Sunday.....a perfect day for Barrel Tasting Weekend with the girls.

But first, on our drive out of my driveway, at the commodity barn, we come upon two other 'girls' that were doing a little tasting for themselves......in the grain variety. Two heifers had escaped, either through the fence or over the fence, not sure from where. That's okay, I'll just find Dominic down on the ranch on our way out.....nope, couldn't find him. Hmmm, what to do? Well, precious barrel tasting time was a wastin'. I knew the heifers wouldn't move from their location with all that grain and tall green grass available to them, and I also knew Dominic would be driving up the hill to our house within 10 minutes or so.....he'll find them. Photos taken through my car window, (directly into the sunlight).... Driving past..... Okay, on to barrel tasting! The Barrel Tasting Event always lands on the first two weekends of March and it is your chance to sample wines still in the barrel, buy "futures" and meet the winemakers. There are over 100 wineries that participate in this event. The event covers Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley, all in Sonoma County, CA.

We decided to stay in the Russian River Valley to do our sampling for the day. We began our day at Harvest Moon......

Most of the wineries offer food pairings with their tastings for this event.... Our next stop was at Hook and Ladder Winery..... Here I am receiving a sample from the barrel from the Winemaker. I loved it so much, I ended up buying a bottle of the 'Station Ten' 2006 vintage. Station Ten is named after the San Francisco firehouse where the winery owner served his last ten years as a firefighter. Hook and Ladder definitely had a party atmosphere.... Debbie and Devi (our designated driver) thanks Devi! Our next stop was at Sunce....... Devi and me at Sunce. The have a beautiful outdoor setting, complete with a Bocce Ball court. You can also sample wine from their bottles along side the barrel. Debbie found a cocktail tank top....."If the ice melts you're drinking too slow" Our next stop was DeLoach Vineyards. Kellie and Debbie sampling from the barrel... DeLoach has a beautiful outdoor setting. They have a patio just outside their tasting room with tables, chairs and sun umbrellas. We met up with our friend, Jody here and I could have stayed the remainder of the afternoon, sitting on their patio, chatting and sipping wine.

This is their outdoor sculpture..... On our way to the next stop, we spy a draft horse grazing under the trees....beautiful... We all loved Benovia Winery. I especially liked their Pinot Noir. Kellie at the entrance..... Benovia vines..... Enjoying some live music..... Benovia had a blues band playing just outside their tasting room.... Benovia paired crab cakes, mini duck sandwiches and cream of mushroom soup with their wines. Benovia's tasting room..... Debbie, sampling from the barrel..... We arrived at our next stop, Kendell Jackson at 4:01 (barrel tasting ends at 4, but most serve until 5) The parking lot attendant told us to go ahead and go in to taste, but when we walked into the tasting room we were DENIED! We were told if we wanted, we could pay $10 each for a sampling from their bottles.....we chose not to. We knew wanted to make our last stop of the day a great one. We stumbled across Robert Rue Winery and we were SO happy we did. We had so much fun here, at this little winery. They were so welcoming, talkative and informative. Kellie sampling from the barrel.... Les was giving out samples from another barrel.......we're happy. We were able to meet and talk with Robert Rue himself.....