Open: 11:00am-5:00pm
Appt required? No
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012
Directions:
View Sonoma in a larger map or Get Directions
Tasting:
I tasted at Arista for the first time this past May with wine club member (and BarlineWIne.com guest blogger) Bob Thomas, his wife Krysten, and the infamous Meredith Barlin. We showed up after a stop at Williams Selyem, and I was still riding the high of Chelsea’s improbable equalizer and eventual victory in the Champions League finale. In short, we were in a good mood.
The mood was dampened quickly thanks to the amateurs at Arista. The tasting room was busy on a Saturday – no great surprise – but there was some room at the bar and Bob and I found space for us. The 20-something guy behind the counter gave us a once-over.
“Hey guys, there’s a tasting bar outside, and they’re pouring all the same wines…”
He trailed off, letting us take the hint that we should explore out there. No problem, it was a nice day, and the guy inside seemed douchey anyway. We got outside, and the girl at the outdoor back bar told us to head back in. “Sorry, we’re shutting down out here.” Great. This was an interesting choice, given their tasting hours are 11:00am-5:00pm, it was still busy, and it was only around 3:30. It felt like when you're waiting at the DMV behind 25 people and one of the workers closes up her station to go on a lunch break.
Back inside, we clued in the fella behind the bar that he was stuck with us and he reluctantly got us two glasses for our shared tastings. Bob let him know he was a wine club member…which got us nothing. “That guy just wants to bang bachelorettes,” said Meredith. I think she was right.
I don’t have detailed notes on the wines we tried (getting a tasting sheet was completely out of the question), but I’ll do my best to remember. Most of Arista’s wines are small production, with typically only 6 or 7 barrels produced. None of the limited release wines was available for us to taste (despite Bob’s wine club membership), but we were able to have a couple of single vineyard Pinots, and the wines we did try were actually REALLY good. We started with the 2010 Bacigalupi Vineyard Pinot Noir sourced from our friends at John Tyler, followed by the 2009 Hawks View Vineyard Pinot from, oddly, Willamette Valley, Oregon. We then had the 2010 Mendocino Ridge / Anderson Valley Pinot, which Arista acknowledges is the leftovers after they're done making their Perli Vineyard and Ferrington Vineyard Pinots, before finally closing with the 2009 Mononi Vineyard Pinot from Russian River down near Olivet Lane. All of the wines were good, with the Bacigalupi and Mononi standing out for me.
Given the quality of the wine, I’d be willing to give Arista one more chance, preferably on a slow mid-week day as opposed to the Saturday we were there. With as good as the larger production Pinots were that we tried, I can only imagine that some of the more limited production single vineyards are outstanding (Bob assures me they are), and I think given the right tasting environment this could be a great stop. We definitely struck out on atmosphere and customer service, but the wines and nice property make me willing to give it another shot.
I tasted at Arista for the first time this past May with wine club member (and BarlineWIne.com guest blogger) Bob Thomas, his wife Krysten, and the infamous Meredith Barlin. We showed up after a stop at Williams Selyem, and I was still riding the high of Chelsea’s improbable equalizer and eventual victory in the Champions League finale. In short, we were in a good mood.The mood was dampened quickly thanks to the amateurs at Arista. The tasting room was busy on a Saturday – no great surprise – but there was some room at the bar and Bob and I found space for us. The 20-something guy behind the counter gave us a once-over.
“Hey guys, there’s a tasting bar outside, and they’re pouring all the same wines…”He trailed off, letting us take the hint that we should explore out there. No problem, it was a nice day, and the guy inside seemed douchey anyway. We got outside, and the girl at the outdoor back bar told us to head back in. “Sorry, we’re shutting down out here.” Great. This was an interesting choice, given their tasting hours are 11:00am-5:00pm, it was still busy, and it was only around 3:30. It felt like when you're waiting at the DMV behind 25 people and one of the workers closes up her station to go on a lunch break.
Back inside, we clued in the fella behind the bar that he was stuck with us and he reluctantly got us two glasses for our shared tastings. Bob let him know he was a wine club member…which got us nothing. “That guy just wants to bang bachelorettes,” said Meredith. I think she was right.
I don’t have detailed notes on the wines we tried (getting a tasting sheet was completely out of the question), but I’ll do my best to remember. Most of Arista’s wines are small production, with typically only 6 or 7 barrels produced. None of the limited release wines was available for us to taste (despite Bob’s wine club membership), but we were able to have a couple of single vineyard Pinots, and the wines we did try were actually REALLY good. We started with the 2010 Bacigalupi Vineyard Pinot Noir sourced from our friends at John Tyler, followed by the 2009 Hawks View Vineyard Pinot from, oddly, Willamette Valley, Oregon. We then had the 2010 Mendocino Ridge / Anderson Valley Pinot, which Arista acknowledges is the leftovers after they're done making their Perli Vineyard and Ferrington Vineyard Pinots, before finally closing with the 2009 Mononi Vineyard Pinot from Russian River down near Olivet Lane. All of the wines were good, with the Bacigalupi and Mononi standing out for me. Given the quality of the wine, I’d be willing to give Arista one more chance, preferably on a slow mid-week day as opposed to the Saturday we were there. With as good as the larger production Pinots were that we tried, I can only imagine that some of the more limited production single vineyards are outstanding (Bob assures me they are), and I think given the right tasting environment this could be a great stop. We definitely struck out on atmosphere and customer service, but the wines and nice property make me willing to give it another shot.
Recommended wine: All of the appellation Pinots we tried here were actually quite good. I suspect the single vineyard Pinots are excellent.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.50 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.50 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 2.50 |  VALUE | 4.00 |
 OVERALL | 3.88 | ||
No comments:
Post a Comment