Napa and Sonoma Wine Tasting: Moshin Vineyards (4.25)

http://www.moshinvineyards.com/

Open 11:00am-4:30pm

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011

Directions:

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Tasting:

Moshin Vineyards sits off Westside Road in the Russian River Valley, with a tasting room perched on a small hill with a long tasting bar. A giant hummingbird sculpture (their logo) greets visitors as they pull up the driveway to the weathered wood exterior of the tasting room. On our visit, the room was fairly crowded, but we were immediately and enthusiastically greeted by our host Kyle and set up at the end of the bar at the extra-low "handicapable" tasting area. Since my sister Meredith was with us for the tasting, this was apropos.

We split two tastings among the three of us, and Kyle encouraged us to start with a sampling of a new Dry Rosé that they had recently released. Given the 90+ degree temperatures outside, this tasted especially refreshing on a hot day. We then moved to a number of Pinot Noirs. Kyle loved to pour side-by-side tastings, and we loved to try our wine this way, so it was a match made in heaven. We did side-by-side tastes of the 2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and the 2007 Moshin Estate Pinot Noir (my personal favorite at this winery), followed by a side-by-side taste of the 2008 and 2009 Emoshin Pinot Noir. We then tried their Merlot, followed by a side-by-side taste of two Zinfandels. The ladies closed the tasting with a sample of the "Whisper in the Dark" Zinfandel Port.

The Pinot Noirs stood out wine-wise for me, but the real highlight of this trip was the ultra-friendly atmosphere and the thoughtful tasting approach from our host. Kyle was attentive (despite a very busy tasting room), conversant, knowledgeable, and happy to help in any way (he even got some extra goldfish palate cleansers from the back for Meredith, luckily saving us from another Sinskey "Nuts" incident). While I personally didn't fall in love with their wine, Moshin is the type of place I'd keep returning to in the hopes that I'd find one or two wines that I really enjoyed in order to give them some of my business.