Open 10:30am-4:30pm, Friday-Monday
Appt required? No
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2010
Directions
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Tasting:
Stuhlmuller Vineyards lies nestled away by itself down a long dusty road in Alexander Valley. After positive experiences at other AV wineries (Hawkes, Robert Young), we looked forward to sampling what else this appellation had to offer.
We pulled up to the memorable red barn tasting room and wandered inside. Waiting to greet us was a floor-to-ceiling painting of a grizzly bear. Hello there, Bear! This seemed like the type of place I'd like. Unfortunately, the bear was friendlier than the staff at first. We were an afterthought for the first 5 minutes as the lone person at the counter hobnobbed with a group of people who had been there for a while. Once we got started, though, the tasting was fairly positive.
We tried Stuhlmuller's Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Cabernet and Reserve Cabernet. The wines were okay...until we got to the 2006 Reserve Cabernet. This was a delicious wine, and at $65/bottle, expensive but I think very fairly priced for the quality. We also happened to be there as they were picking and crushing 2010 Chardonnay, and so we were able to taste some fresh-crushed grape juice, seeds and all! Our tasting trip finished with a quick tour of the crush equipment outside the tasting room.
Overall, after the slow start, this was worth our stop given the friendly finish and the excellent reserve cab.
We pulled up to the memorable red barn tasting room and wandered inside. Waiting to greet us was a floor-to-ceiling painting of a grizzly bear. Hello there, Bear! This seemed like the type of place I'd like. Unfortunately, the bear was friendlier than the staff at first. We were an afterthought for the first 5 minutes as the lone person at the counter hobnobbed with a group of people who had been there for a while. Once we got started, though, the tasting was fairly positive.
Overall, after the slow start, this was worth our stop given the friendly finish and the excellent reserve cab.
Recommended wine:The Reserve Cabernet was excellent and fairly priced for the quality.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.00 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.00 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 3.75 |  VALUE | 4.00 |
 OVERALL | 3.94 | ||
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