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

Bremer Family (4.94)

http://www.bremerfamilywinery.com/

Open By appointment

Appt required? Yes

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2014 (April 17, 2012 Itinerary)

Directions:

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Tasting:

Away from the hustle and bustle of Hwy 29 and the Silverado Trail, Bremer Family Winery allows wine lovers to experience the best of Napa Valley without the crowdedness, the pretension, or the commercialism of the average Napa establishment. Nestled amid a no-nonsense set of buildings in the Howell Mountain foothills, Bremer invites guests to come and experience wine tasting the way I believe it should be.

Upon arrival at Bremer, guests are typically greeted and invited to taste in one of three locations. When the weather is average and the group is small, the Bremer office allows for a sit down tasting, often paired with some small snacks to help cleanse the palate between tastes. For larger groups, tastings can be conducted in a larger tasting room (up to 6), and when the weather is nice, tastings can be conducted at one of Bremer's many shaded picnic tables. Tastings typically include Bremer's smooth and oakey Chardonnay, 1-2 Zinfandels (they make a Howell Mountain and a Napa Zin), 1-2 Cabernets, a Merlot, and their delicious Claret. They also produce a Cabernet Franc when the fruit allows. There's not a bad wine in the group, and I think I can safely say every wine I've had from them is excellent.

With regards to a tasting experience, Bremer separates themselves from other wineries by their desire to simply showcase their product and the enjoyment they take from the pleasure it brings to their guests. I've never had a host aggressively push wine on me; never have I heard a rating mentioned at Bremer. There's no wine club or logo merchandise for sale...just delicious wine to sample and appreciate. On a recent trip, we did vertical tastings of their Claret ('02, '03, '04) and Merlot, and they were genuinely interested in our feedback, even passing out tasting sheets that they asked us to return with questions like "Do you think this wine ready to drink now? If not, when do you think it will peak?"

As the folks at Bremer will tell you, they're not on a lot of maps, and that's how they like it. They've started to expand in recent years, adding an outdoor pizza oven (which they'll fire up on weekends and serve complimentary gourmet flatbreads to go with your wine tasting). They have also been working on constructing wine caves on the property to take their craft to an even higher level. One of their employees, Richard, said to me on my first visit that "If you try to classify a wine, good and bad is simply a matter of taste. The best wine in the world won't taste good to certain people. But what fewer people would debate is whether a wine is fine or not. Even if they don't think a wine tastes good to their palate, most people can agree that it is or is not a fine wine". Those words rang true to me, and the wine at Bremer is undoubtedly fine (and also good!).

Recommended wine: I've been happy with every wine I've had from Bremer. While the Claret stands out as my favorite, I think they are universally good.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	5.00	TASTING ROOM	5.00
ATMOSPHERE	5.00	VALUE	4.75
OVERALL		4.94

Anderson's Conn Valley (5.00)

http://www.connvalleyvineyards.com/

Open By appointment

Appt required? Yes (same day okay)

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2009

Directions:

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Tasting:
Part of the fun of going to Anderson's Conn Valley is the drive. Well off the beaten path, Conn Valley lies approximately 3 miles east of the Silverado Trail, and a winding trip up Howell Mountain Rd. leads you eventually to the winery.

Conn Valley has a guest house on the property, where guests are typically greeted and introduced to the winery. Tastings take place either on the porch behind the house (if it's not being rented) or up the mountain in their hillside caves.

We strolled through the caves and were seated at a large ornate iron table, smothered with bottles of Conn Valley wine. ACV produces wine under 3 labels: their standard Anderson's Conn Valley label (seen above), their black label reserve wines, and winemaker Todd Anderson's personal label, Ghost Horse. As I surveyed the bottles on the table, I did a double-take...was that a smokey, horse-like apparition I see on one of those bottles?

We started our tasting with a sample of their Sauvignon Blanc, but the moved on to reds. Conn Valley makes a Pinot Noir like a cab -- lots of barrel age, a deep red color, as well as a Cabernet and two blends, their Right Bank and the Eloge. In addition to the Pinot, both the Cabernet and the Eloge were tasting beautifully.

But we weren't finished. Not even close, actually. Our timing for the visit turned out to be extremely fortuitous, for earlier in the day a significant Ghost Horse member had visited, and the four distinct Ghost Horse wines sat corked and waiting on our tasting table. For the uninitiated, Ghost Horse wine is Todd Anderson's personal pet project to make the finest (and most expensive) wine on the planet. All four Ghost Horse wines are 100% Cabernet and are priced from $500/bottle to $3500/bottle. Did we really have $6500 worth of open wine sitting on our table?

We most certainly did, and in the next few minutes, I had a good $300-$500 worth of it poured into my glass. We tasted 3 of the 4 wines: the Ghost Horse Cabernet ($500/bottle), the Spectre ($3500/bottle), and the Fantome ($1000/bottle). All three wines were completely unique, and while they're way out of my price range, it was an amazing experience to get to try them.

Our host Dave then checked on our schedule for the rest of the day. Having learned my lesson the last time we were at ACV, I had nothing booked afterwards, and with our available time, Dave invited us down to the house to play some bocce ball and try a few more wines. While he went through another tasting (sans Ghost Horse...suckers!) for a different group on the back porch, we sat in the sun, played bocce, enjoyed a few more wine samples (the 1999 Eloge -- still tasting beautifully, and the black label Block 1 Cabernet -- outstanding), and spent the rest of our afternoon at Conn Valley.

In 9 or 10 years of visits to wine country and hundreds of tastings, this was without a doubt the most memorable and the best. In the words of Barney Stinson, it was LEGEN....(wait for it...wait for it...)...DARY! Thank you Dave, and thank you Conn Valley!

Recommended wine: Um...all of the Ghost Horse? Actually, at its price point, I really can't recommend it (although I think the Fantome may be worth every penny). If I'm dropping over a grand on wine, though, I think I'd rather have a full case of Lewis Reserve Cabernet than one bottle of Ghost Horse, but the wines were pretty fantastic. Better yet, how about a mixed case of Anderson's Conn Valley? The highlights were the 2004 Cabernet, the 2005 Pinot Noir, and the 2005 Eloge. The 1999 Eloge was also excellent, as was the Block 1 Cabernet.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	5.00	TASTING ROOM	5.00
ATMOSPHERE	5.00	VALUE	5.00
OVERALL		5.00