 |  |
Open 11:00am-5:00pm
Appt required? No
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011
Directions:
View Sonoma in a larger map or Get Directions
Tasting:
We drove past Soda Rock Winery early in our latest wine trip, and it immediately stood out as an interesting spot. “It looks like a frontier town!” exclaimed Stephanie. I’d have to agree – the winery storefront we later learned is the original site of the Alexander Valley general store and post office from the 1800s, still with the original walls. We had already planned on stopping there a few days later, and the exterior was interesting enough that this solidified its position on our schedule. Little did I know that within those walls I would experience one of the most bizarre tasting visits of my life.
“I’ve only been to the hospital twice in my life; once when I got in an accident and once when I had my stroke. I had all of my kids at home.”
In this world, people fall somewhere along the privacy spectrum. On one end of the spectrum are those people that share nothing of their personal lives with anyone but those closest to them. On the other end of the spectrum are those people that have no qualms sharing details of their personal life with complete strangers. And somewhere even beyond that end of the spectrum was Joanne, our hostess for our tasting at Soda Rock.
I suspected something was a little off with Soda Rock when we walked into the spacious tasting room and were greeted by a massive portrait of Amber Valletta’s face. Oh, maybe she has something to do with the winery? Nope! It turns out the owner (Ken Wilson, husband of Wilson winemaker Diane) just thinks she’s hot. The Soda Rock tasting room is actually a great space – high ceilings, a long tasting bar, and the aforementioned old walls make it a bizarre contrast of modern posh with historic charm. Throw in Amber’s portrait and an inexplicable stuffed wild boar and we were officially in crazy town. I take that back – this was the train depot to crazy town, but we’d be there before too long.
“I have a degree in Nutrition and my Master’s in Marketing, and I’ve released 34 brands. All baby health foods without nitrates and things in them. But I decided to change careers when I got tired of dealing with hippies who would just take their tops off, so I went to work for Nike where I was a top executive.”
We started our tasting with Soda Rock’s Sauvignon Blanc and began hearing the life story of our hostess. Joanne was a super nice lady and quite the talker. I don’t know if she just felt comfortable around us, if it was late in the day and she was bored, or if everyone got the same treatment, but Joanne set the new standard for over-sharing of personal information. As we moved on from Sauvignon Blanc to a tasty and refreshing Rosé, we got the following when we asked Joanne about her time at Nike:
“The money was pretty good. Actually, it was just okay – I made $85,000 per year. I was just very stressed at Nike. So stressed, I actually had a stroke. For a while I couldn’t even make a fist with this hand, but the physical therapy was amazing. I’ll never have the same strength in this side, but I can do almost everything I could before. I’ll tell you, though, I lost a part of myself when that happened. I forget things…”
Well, after a day of hearing about barrel aging and malolactic fermentation, I wasn’t expecting that one! We moved on to reds, and tried Soda Rock’s Zinfandel and Meritage, branded “Mercantile” apparently since the term Meritage is protected (using it requires a payment of eight cents a bottle to the Meritage Society). I hadn’t known that fact prior to our visit, and now the stream of randomly branded Bordeaux blends that have cropped up in the last five years made more sense. I enjoyed both the Zinfandel and the Mercantile quite a bit, but I’ll be honest: at this point in the tasting, I was even more excited to hear what would come out of Joanne’s mouth than to taste what she poured in my glass.
“My husband is a successful winemaker, but I thought that I could make something pretty decent. So I made a Pinot Noir that won an award at the fair, and I started a company that was all female. We didn’t hire one man!”
This was quickly becoming a life story worthy of an A&E Biography episode or VH1's "Behind the Wine". Multiple college degrees, topless hippies, working for Nike, making wine, a catastrophic medical event – what hadn’t Joanne done before? We moved on to the two big reds that Soda Rock produces: The General and the Five Star General. Basically a Cabernet and Reserve Cabernet. Both were quite tasty, but the The General was my preference, and also significantly less expensive. Then came my favorite quote of the day from Joanne:
“Case of wine, 50% off, and you can mix and match from anything on the list.”
Well, I’m not sure that’s exactly the way it was supposed to work. Soda Rock did have 4 of their wines on this special deal, one of which was The General, but we ended taking a mixed case of The General, the Zinfandel, and the Mercatile, all at 50% off.
“I just decided to stop my Coumadin. I was having bruising from it and I wasn’t having any issues, so I just stopped it. I should probably talk to my doctor about it.”
Joanne left us with that quote as she and Steph discussed the particulars of modern medicine before we bid her farewell. Overall, the wines at Soda Rock were better than I expected and reasonably priced at their regular retail price point. Throw in 50% off an entire mixed case, intended or not, and the value was tops on our trip. The experience was bizarre and crazy, and part of me is reluctant to return because I can’t imagine any way the next visit would be more memorable. I think I’ll just preserve this trip as it is in my memory, unsullied by future visits, and thought of fondly as I sip wine from my half-price case.
“I’ve only been to the hospital twice in my life; once when I got in an accident and once when I had my stroke. I had all of my kids at home.”
In this world, people fall somewhere along the privacy spectrum. On one end of the spectrum are those people that share nothing of their personal lives with anyone but those closest to them. On the other end of the spectrum are those people that have no qualms sharing details of their personal life with complete strangers. And somewhere even beyond that end of the spectrum was Joanne, our hostess for our tasting at Soda Rock.
“I have a degree in Nutrition and my Master’s in Marketing, and I’ve released 34 brands. All baby health foods without nitrates and things in them. But I decided to change careers when I got tired of dealing with hippies who would just take their tops off, so I went to work for Nike where I was a top executive.”
We started our tasting with Soda Rock’s Sauvignon Blanc and began hearing the life story of our hostess. Joanne was a super nice lady and quite the talker. I don’t know if she just felt comfortable around us, if it was late in the day and she was bored, or if everyone got the same treatment, but Joanne set the new standard for over-sharing of personal information. As we moved on from Sauvignon Blanc to a tasty and refreshing Rosé, we got the following when we asked Joanne about her time at Nike:
“The money was pretty good. Actually, it was just okay – I made $85,000 per year. I was just very stressed at Nike. So stressed, I actually had a stroke. For a while I couldn’t even make a fist with this hand, but the physical therapy was amazing. I’ll never have the same strength in this side, but I can do almost everything I could before. I’ll tell you, though, I lost a part of myself when that happened. I forget things…”
“My husband is a successful winemaker, but I thought that I could make something pretty decent. So I made a Pinot Noir that won an award at the fair, and I started a company that was all female. We didn’t hire one man!”
This was quickly becoming a life story worthy of an A&E Biography episode or VH1's "Behind the Wine". Multiple college degrees, topless hippies, working for Nike, making wine, a catastrophic medical event – what hadn’t Joanne done before? We moved on to the two big reds that Soda Rock produces: The General and the Five Star General. Basically a Cabernet and Reserve Cabernet. Both were quite tasty, but the The General was my preference, and also significantly less expensive. Then came my favorite quote of the day from Joanne:
“Case of wine, 50% off, and you can mix and match from anything on the list.”
Well, I’m not sure that’s exactly the way it was supposed to work. Soda Rock did have 4 of their wines on this special deal, one of which was The General, but we ended taking a mixed case of The General, the Zinfandel, and the Mercatile, all at 50% off.
“I just decided to stop my Coumadin. I was having bruising from it and I wasn’t having any issues, so I just stopped it. I should probably talk to my doctor about it.”
Joanne left us with that quote as she and Steph discussed the particulars of modern medicine before we bid her farewell. Overall, the wines at Soda Rock were better than I expected and reasonably priced at their regular retail price point. Throw in 50% off an entire mixed case, intended or not, and the value was tops on our trip. The experience was bizarre and crazy, and part of me is reluctant to return because I can’t imagine any way the next visit would be more memorable. I think I’ll just preserve this trip as it is in my memory, unsullied by future visits, and thought of fondly as I sip wine from my half-price case.
Recommended wine:We enjoyed The General, the Mercantile, and also their Zin. The Rosé was actually pretty tasy, but of all the wine on the list, that $22 bottle was the one Joanne was reluctant to include in the 50% off case. Go figure.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 3.75 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.25 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 4.50 |  VALUE | 5.00 |
 OVERALL | 4.38 | ||
No comments:
Post a Comment