Lynmar Estate (4.31)

http://www.lynmarwinery.com/

Open Mon-Thurs, 1:00-4:30; Fri-Sun, 11:00-4:30

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2009

Directions:

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Tasting:
Nestled off of Frei Road, the Lynmar estate (and it truly is an estate) is a posh and enjoyable setting to sample some solid wines. While it has a bit more of a commercial feel than a typical Barlin favorite tasting location, Lynmar offers visitors the opportunity to enjoy a sit-down tasting from the comfort of their outdoor patio with a beautiful view of the surrounding hillside vineyards.

Two tasting options are available: a Standard Tasting for $10, and a Reserve Tasting for $20, each of which gets you a sample of four wines. With the exception of a lone Syrah, Lynmar focuses solely on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The tasting menus feature 2 of each of these specialties. For our visit, my wife and I split one standard and one reserve tasting to maximize the number of wines "we" (read: "I") tried. The result was 3 unique chardonnays (2 estate, 1 reserve) and 3 unique Pinot Noirs (2 estate, 1 reserve).

I'll start by saying everything was good. There wasn't a wine in the bunch that I wouldn't enjoy drinking again. But when compared against their peers, especially when factoring in price point, Lynmar didn't provide the combination of excellent wine at a reasonable price that would distinguish it from other wineries in the area. The chardonnays were tasty, but at an average of $35/bottle (estate) and $60/bottle (reserve), they weren't in the same class as a Frank Family Chardonnay or a Miner Wild Yeast Chardonnay. Similar words could be written about the Pinots. These were some very good wines, but if given the choice at the price point, nothing distinguished the wines that would make me consistently choose them over a comparably priced competitive favorite.

Overall, the sit-down tasting and setting is really what distinguishes Lynmar. While their wines are very good and make this a strong overall tasting experience, the price point felt a little high for most of the wines.

Recommended wine: The Quail Hill Pinot Noir was excellent. I also thought that the Old Wente Chardonnay was very solid.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.50	TASTING ROOM	4.75
ATMOSPHERE	4.50	VALUE	3.50
OVERALL		4.31

Hartford Family (4.06)

http://www.hartfordwines.com/

Open 10:00-4:30

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011

Directions

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Tasting:

I hadn't heard of Hartford Family Winery before my most recent trip to Sonoma County, but the posh winery facility nestled in the hills of Green Valley was a surprisingly good find for us, at least from a wine standpoint. After arriving at the winery, visitors drive across a single-lane bridge to the winery facility, a massive grey-roofed white structure. I was expecting something cozy with a modest tasting room -- a small family winery -- but instead we found ourselves at a posh facility in the same class as a place like Gary Farrell.

The atmosphere left a bit to be desired at first.

The woman pouring for us was downright snooty and only warmed up once she realized we'd be buying some wine, but the wine certainly saved our experience. Hartford Family makes three varietals: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel. There were at least 2-3 wines per varietal to taste, and most were single vineyard wines. I don't think I had a disappointing wine out of all of them, and most were very good. Hartford's wines aren't cheap, but in many cases I felt that the price was justified. The Far Coast Pinot Noir was one of the best wines I had, not just at Hartford but throughout a week-long trip to wine country.

After a second trip back to Hartford, I still enjoy the winery, but it's shine is fading for me. The tasting room is too small to accommodate the number of people they seem to attract, and while the wine is good, I'm still smarting after being charged $33 to ship three bottles to Chicago. There's a missing personal feel from a trip to Hartford -- if ever a winery could benefit from a winery dog or holding more tastings outside on its beautiful grounds, it's this one! Instead, it sadly remains cramped, stuffy, and a bit overpriced.

Recommended wine: As mentioned, the Far Coast Pinot Noir was outstanding. I enjoyed the Fanucchi-Wood Road Zinfandel, if for no other reason than its name. The Highlands Zinfandel is also very good.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.75	TASTING ROOM	4.25
ATMOSPHERE	3.75	VALUE	3.50
OVERALL		4.06

Iron Horse (3.88)

http://www.ironhorsevineyards.com/

Open 10:00-3:30

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2009

Directions

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Tasting:
Spectacular views greet visitors to the Iron Horse winery, nestled 2-3 miles from Ross Station Road. As you drive up the final hill to the winery and walk to the outdoor tasting area, a valley smothered in vines provides a soothing backdrop and a natural complement to Iron Horse's mellow sparkling wines, Chardonnays, and Pinot Noirs.

The winery allows the setting to take center stage, as tastings are conducted from the makeshift outdoor bar. The "dump bucket" was "over there by the vines" according to our hostess, and the atmosphere was relaxed. It was fairly busy when we went, and the information on the wines and personal attention was somewhat limited. However, we were able to try at least one "off menu" wine (the "Q" Pinot Noir) and I felt the experience allowed me to get a good sense of Iron Horse wine.

Recommended wine: I went into the tasting with high expectations, and I was a little bit disappointed. I thought all of the wines we tried were pretty good, but I didn't taste anything great. Compared to some other stops that day (Hartford, Martinelli), the quality of the Iron Horse pinot noirs couldn't hold up to the competition or justify the price tag. We were able to try the "Q" Pinot Noir, which was still tight but should be very good in a few years. Otherwise, nothing spectacular. Go for the view and the tasting, not to purchase.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	3.75	TASTING ROOM	4.25
ATMOSPHERE	4.25	VALUE	3.25
OVERALL		3.88

Russian Hill Estate (2.63)

Open 10:00-4:00, Thursday-Monday only

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2009

Directions:

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Tasting:
Russian Hill is a small winery situated on the southern end of the Russian River Valley. The tasting room and winery sits perched on a hillside overlooking vineyards and estates.

The view was the highlight of our trip to Russian Hill, unfortunately. Based on feedback from other visitors, I think this was mostly due to timing. We visited the winery on July 4 -- it was a Saturday, but the woman working the tasting room even said at some point that she "thought we should have been closed today". She clearly didn't want to be there, and it impacted the tasting.

Russian Hill makes primarily Pinot Noir and Syrah. They only had open the worst of their wines, and I didn't have the heart to ask for others on such a slow day. We started the tasting with their Viognier -- somewhat decent, but forgettable. She then poured their "Patio Pink", a dry of Rosé of Pinot Noir, that at $14 a bottle was overpriced.

We tasted their estate Pinot Noir and and their estate Syrah as well, and while they were okay, neither of the two wines impressed me. Overall, it's a beautiful view from Russian Hill, but on this particular day, both the wine and the tasting room failed to deliver.

Recommended wine: Nothing that I tasted was recommendable. I'd be interested to try some of their single vineyard Pinots, but the wines we had were pretty average.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	2.50	TASTING ROOM	4.00
ATMOSPHERE	1.00	VALUE	3.00
OVERALL		2.63

Ledson (4.25)

http://www.ledsonwinery.com/

Open 10:00-5:00, Private tastings available by appointment

Appt required? No (only for private tastings)

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2009

Directions

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Tasting:
Think of a varietal, and Ledson probably makes a wine from it. Correction: Ledson probably makes 4 different wines from it! Two things dominate a tasting at Ledson...the sheer volume of wines produced, and The Castle.

The Ledson estate sits well back from Hwy 12, and a castle/mansion initially intended for use as the Ledson residence now houses Ledson's tastings and offices instead of the family. Built in the French Normandy style and designed by Steve Ledson, tasting in the castle is certainly a unique experience. Public tastings are held at tasting bars scattered throughout the 16,000 sq ft structure, and private tastings are held in their "wine suites" on the upper floors.

Ledson produces over 70 wines, truly a ridiculous number. All are typically fewer than 1000 cases, but the winery (and the wine) has the commercialized feel of one of the big guys. After all, 1000 cases times 70 wines gets you 70,000 cases...not a small number. The number of wines requires some forethought and a game plan before going in to taste, and while not every wine is available to taste, I would estimate at least half of them are, if not more.

I've tasted twice at Ledson -- once at a standard public tasting, and most recently in a private "wine suite" tasting. The private tasting is basically the same as the public tasting, with the addition of some cheese and crackers to pair with the wine and the greater likelihood that some barrel futures will be tasted. At the most recent tasting, we ended up sampling **11** wines, most of which were good, none of which were spectacular. Overall, I was more impressed by the facility than the wine.

Recommended wine: Nothing truly outstanding here, but there were a couple of solid Zinfandels (out of the 15 they produce!). I also liked the Sangiovese and their Napa Valley Pinot Noir.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	3.75	TASTING ROOM	5.00
ATMOSPHERE	4.50	VALUE	3.75
OVERALL		4.25

Jarvis (4.25)

http://www.jarviswines.com/

Open By appointment

Appt required? Yes

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2009

Directions:

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Tasting:
From the moment you enter the Jarvis compound (and compound is really the best word for it), you sense that you're stepping foot on the property of an intense individual. Black wrought iron gates guard the driveway entrance and require you to announce yourself over intercom before you're allowed to enter. As the gates swing open and you make your way up a winding driveway to the parking area, the winery entrance -- a set of double doors in the side of the mountain which, from a distance, distinctly resemble a skull -- looms a quarter mile away. There is the impression that this skull gates might be holding back some sort of giant or mad scientist.

William Jarvis is neither a mad scientist nor a giant, but he is without a doubt interesting and a carpe diem sort of individual. Googling William Jarvis will direct you to both the winery web site and William's personal web page, and a quick read through the table of contents of his online autobiography show you that this is an individual for whom the best relaxation is intense activity. Having never met the man, I hesitate to presume what he may be like, but the Jarvis winery is certainly one of a kind, and William's intensity and ego permeate the Jarvis property and winemaking process.

The winery tour and tasting costs a hefty $40, and they make sure to collect that fee upfront (no fee waiving for purchasing wine at this place!). Once the financial formalities are out of the way and cameras were collected for "safe keeping" (translation: no pictures allowed, and even though we say that, we still don't trust you), it's time for the tour. A light touch by our hostess to a panel on the wall opens 14-foot golden double doors and you enter the main section of the wine cave.



The best cop out description, and one that was used by a guest on our tour (and probably every tour before ours), is that walking into the Jarvis wine cave is like walking into the Emerald City of Oz. Jarvis excavated a 50,000 sq. ft wine cave. To put that into perspective, that's nearly as large as a football field: in short, it's a massive structure that's truly hard to believe until you see it. The cave is laid out in the shape of a wagon wheel -- a large circle, with spokes bisecting the circle at varies points. The cave is loud, due to the constant roar of rushing water from the interior waterfall. No joke -- they hit a mountain spring while excavating the cave, but William is the type of person that loves to make lemonade out of lemons. So rather than attempt to contain the spring, William had the engineers convert the spring into a waterfall that pools in the center of the cave. From the waterfall pool, a stream runs throughout the cave. The water helps to keep humidity at the right levels, and the temperature at a constant 61 degrees. What they don't tell you on the tour is that the spring is actually a hot spring, and that Jarvis spends $77,000 annually to cool the water so that the cave temperatures remain at the appropriate level.

All winery business is conducted from within the cave. As we strode along the outer rim of the "wheel", we passed barrels of wine, William's office, wine vats for processing, a bottling room, Leticia's (William's wife) office. We took a detour off the wheel to view (I kid you not) their crystal gallery: giant crystal structures acquired from various parts of the world. Attached to that was a large banquet hall in which they hold winery parties. We eventually made our way back into the "wagon wheel" portion of the cave, along one of the spokes and past the waterfall. Seemingly out of nowhere, we came upon a glass-fronted room carved into the mountain featuring a large table surrounded by 10 felt-covered chairs and a small bar in the back. To access the room, we had to carefully make our way across the stream via a stepping stone bridge, but at last we had arrived at the Jarvis tasting room.

Six empty glasses greeted each guest for the tasting, as well as assorted cheeses, water crackers, and dried fruit. Our first wine to sample was the '07 Finch Hollow Chardonnay. Rich and buttery, it stood up to the other great Napa chardonnays. A glance at the price sheet told me it was $42...a lot for a chardonnay, but this one justified that sort of price. But wait! That was the half bottle column I was looking at! The Finch Hollow Chardonnay was a whopping $95 a bottle! And thus a trend was started.

We tried five additional wines: the '04 Cabernet Franc, '06 Merlot, '04 Lake William blend (a wine created by accident when an overzealous William in the early years in the cellar, when he pumped the liquid from a cabernet franc vat into a cabernet sauvignon vat by mistake during fermentation), the '02 Cabernet, and the '01 Reserve Cabernet. Every wine was quite good -- I especially liked the Merlot and the Lkae William -- but every one was significantly overpriced (in my humble opinion). The Cab Franc and Merlot each went for $90, when comparable or even better versions of both wines (see Bremer) can be found in the $50-60 range. The Lake William sells for a pricey $115 -- not bad for a mistake! -- and the Cabernets sell for $85 and a whopping $160 respectively.

Overall, Jarvis is a great one-time experience, and I felt like I got my money's worth for the tour given the unique experience that it brings. There really is no other place like it in Napa Valley that I know of. As tours go, I think I'd take my $40 to Del Dotto for their cave tour first (especially factoring in the direct bottling they will do from a specific barrel that you taste -- see my Del Dotto review for more details), but the "Emerald City of Napa" is worth a trip once in your life.

Recommended wine: The Merlot stood out for me, as did the Reserve Cabernet, but neither could justify the price tag. The Lake William was also quite good, but again, not priced in line with its competition.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.50	TASTING ROOM	5.00
ATMOSPHERE	4.50	VALUE	3.00
OVERALL		4.25