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Open: By appointment
Appt required? Yes
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2013
Directions:
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Tasting:
I had not heard of Sherwin Vineyards before I started planning my 2011 day on Spring Mountain, and I never expected to discover what I did. Sherwin was my “fill-in” tasting, conveniently located in between two spots I knew I wanted to hit (Pride and Barnett). I had hopes for a nice smaller winery we could relax at before finishing our day at Barnett, and I found that and then some.
The Sherwin tasting room is in what looks by all accounts to be a home. There is a kitchen, and I believe I saw a bedroom made up. The house backs up to a beautiful porch overlooking a large pond. As the only two guests at our 2pm tasting, we had the pick of spots at which to try Sherwin wines, and Stephanie and I selected a shaded patio table with large cushioned chairs near their outdoor fireplace. We asked if we could have our lunch while we tasted and were told that of course this would be fine.
Sherwin Winery has 3 employees: the owner (and winemaker) Steve Sherwin and his wife, plus Donna, who runs hospitality and hosted our tasting. Sherwin uses Mike Hirby as a winemaking consultant, and Donna started us with a pour of a chardonnay that the Mike had made for himself and Sherwin had purchased a few bottles of. As we ate sandwiches from Dean and Deluca, we moved on to try Sherwin’s “Cellar Scraps” wine, a blend that they produce each year. This was quite good, but couldn’t prepare us for the Sherwin 2007 Cabernet, possibly my favorite wine of the day.
We noticed that all of the bottles had wax tops, and Donna explained that when the winery was just starting out, the Sherwins wanted a way to distinguish themselves and so they decided to hand-dip all of the bottles. The winery is still quite small, but much larger than it was in those days, but they now spend (with Donna’s help) 2-3 weeks hand dipping each year’s wines. The extra personal touch is indicative of the type of relationship Sherwin likes to have with its customers.
We finished the tasting with a very good Syrah. My only surprise was the order sheet – I expected given the size of the winery that the prices would have been a bit more favorable, but the Cellar Scraps was listed at $55, the Cabernet at $90, and the Syrah at $70. While I think the wines were probably worth the price, they certainly weren’t underpriced by any means, and I likely would have taken more with me if they were more what I expected ($45 and $65 for the Cellar Scraps and Cabernet, respectively). Aside from the slightly expensive on wine, everything else about the tasting was great.
The Sherwin tasting room is in what looks by all accounts to be a home. There is a kitchen, and I believe I saw a bedroom made up. The house backs up to a beautiful porch overlooking a large pond. As the only two guests at our 2pm tasting, we had the pick of spots at which to try Sherwin wines, and Stephanie and I selected a shaded patio table with large cushioned chairs near their outdoor fireplace. We asked if we could have our lunch while we tasted and were told that of course this would be fine.
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Sherwin Winery has 3 employees: the owner (and winemaker) Steve Sherwin and his wife, plus Donna, who runs hospitality and hosted our tasting. Sherwin uses Mike Hirby as a winemaking consultant, and Donna started us with a pour of a chardonnay that the Mike had made for himself and Sherwin had purchased a few bottles of. As we ate sandwiches from Dean and Deluca, we moved on to try Sherwin’s “Cellar Scraps” wine, a blend that they produce each year. This was quite good, but couldn’t prepare us for the Sherwin 2007 Cabernet, possibly my favorite wine of the day.
We noticed that all of the bottles had wax tops, and Donna explained that when the winery was just starting out, the Sherwins wanted a way to distinguish themselves and so they decided to hand-dip all of the bottles. The winery is still quite small, but much larger than it was in those days, but they now spend (with Donna’s help) 2-3 weeks hand dipping each year’s wines. The extra personal touch is indicative of the type of relationship Sherwin likes to have with its customers.
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We finished the tasting with a very good Syrah. My only surprise was the order sheet – I expected given the size of the winery that the prices would have been a bit more favorable, but the Cellar Scraps was listed at $55, the Cabernet at $90, and the Syrah at $70. While I think the wines were probably worth the price, they certainly weren’t underpriced by any means, and I likely would have taken more with me if they were more what I expected ($45 and $65 for the Cellar Scraps and Cabernet, respectively). Aside from the slightly expensive on wine, everything else about the tasting was great.
Recommended wine:The 2007 Sherwin Cabernet was outstanding -- one of the better wines of the trip. The Cellar Scraps was also very good.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 5.00 |  TASTING ROOM | 5.00 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 5.00 |  VALUE | 4.00 |
 OVERALL | 4.69 | ||
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