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Open: Open daily. Appointments on the hour from 10:00am-3:00pm
Appt required? Yes
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011
Directions:
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Tasting:
Barnett Vineyards is perched high on a peak on Spring Mountain. While I hate tasting fees, and this one boasted a whopping non-refundable $40 charge, the experience and wine sounded impressive enough for me to try it once.
Our end of day tasting turned out to be a private one, as we were the only people scheduled for that time. Our hostess Kristen gave us a tour of Barnett’s wine cave while we sampled their Sauvignon Blanc before escorting us outside to a shaded picnic table with a stunning view of the valley floor east of Spring Mountain. While she poured us their Savoy Vineyard Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley, she pointed out some of what were were looking at. “If you see that white building with the silver roof…” she started, before I interrupted her: “Is that Larkmead?”. Sure enough, I was right! I don’t know if Kristen was impressed or frightened, but it was neat to be able to recognize it from 2000 feet up.
We continued through the tasting, trying the Merlot which was very good but not on par with Pride's, and then decided to move just inside the cave due to the beastly hot temperatures. Even in the shade. and at 2100 ft, it was hotter than Hades (or "hotter than Haiti" as my sister is fond of saying). Once in the blissfully cool cave, we finished the tasting with the Spring Mountain Cabernet and finally Barnett’s well-regarded Rattlesnake Cabernet out of the barrel. The Rattlesnake was definitely one of the more interesting we tried over the course of the entire trip, with a taste on the finish that I just couldn’t place. Completely unique and very good, but the $125 futures price tag seemed a bit steep to me. The same could be said for most of the Barnett wines that we tried.
Overall, the wines were quite good and the views amazing, but I don’t think the wines stood up to the price tag. The tour is probably worth it at least once just for the location, but I’d sacrifice a little bit of the view to get similar scenery and better wine from Pride for a mere $10 refundable tasting fee.
Our end of day tasting turned out to be a private one, as we were the only people scheduled for that time. Our hostess Kristen gave us a tour of Barnett’s wine cave while we sampled their Sauvignon Blanc before escorting us outside to a shaded picnic table with a stunning view of the valley floor east of Spring Mountain. While she poured us their Savoy Vineyard Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley, she pointed out some of what were were looking at. “If you see that white building with the silver roof…” she started, before I interrupted her: “Is that Larkmead?”. Sure enough, I was right! I don’t know if Kristen was impressed or frightened, but it was neat to be able to recognize it from 2000 feet up.
Overall, the wines were quite good and the views amazing, but I don’t think the wines stood up to the price tag. The tour is probably worth it at least once just for the location, but I’d sacrifice a little bit of the view to get similar scenery and better wine from Pride for a mere $10 refundable tasting fee.
Recommended wine:The Rattlesnake Cabernet is definitely worth trying at some point. Everything else was good but not overly memorable.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.25 |  TASTING ROOM | 5.00 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 4.00 |  VALUE | 3.25 |
 OVERALL | 4.13 | ||
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