 |
Open: 10am-4pm
Appt required? Their website says by appointment, but we walked in
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011
Directions:
View Napa in a larger map or Get Directions
Tasting:
We stopped in at Baldacci on the recommendation of Tom Robinson from Robinson Family Vineyards. The winery and tasting room is located on the southern half of the Silverado Trail and boasts two tasting bars (one medium-sized and one small) as well as some patio chairs on the porch to allow for extra capacity. The day we visited, the Baldacci sons were hard at work in the tasting room managing a weekend crowd.
We started our tasting with a glass of Chardonnay which was quite good. We then moved to the “Elizabeth” Pinot Noir. This Carneros-sourced wine well-represented that region and was reasonably priced at $35/bottle. Following the Pinot, we moved to Cabs, starting with the IV Sons Cabernet. This wine was one of the better values I found on our most recent trip, packed with 2007 Stag’s Leap District fruit and very affordably priced, also at $35/bottle. We finished the tasting with the “black label” 2007 Stag’s Leap Cabernet. This was an outstanding wine and one we took later to Ad Hoc for dinner. At $65/bottle, it was quite good and fairly priced but not necessarily the value that its IV Sons counterpart was.
Throughout the tasting in a busy room, both Baldacci sons who helped us were courteous and attentive. Overall, they were fairly short on information about the wine, but they kept the tasting moving. We had seen padded wine carriers at multiple wineries on our trip, but Baldacci was running a special: buy a case, get a free wine carrier. We took them up on their offer! Good value for the tasting, good wines for the price, and a stop that I would recommend.
We stopped in at Baldacci on the recommendation of Tom Robinson from Robinson Family Vineyards. The winery and tasting room is located on the southern half of the Silverado Trail and boasts two tasting bars (one medium-sized and one small) as well as some patio chairs on the porch to allow for extra capacity. The day we visited, the Baldacci sons were hard at work in the tasting room managing a weekend crowd.
We started our tasting with a glass of Chardonnay which was quite good. We then moved to the “Elizabeth” Pinot Noir. This Carneros-sourced wine well-represented that region and was reasonably priced at $35/bottle. Following the Pinot, we moved to Cabs, starting with the IV Sons Cabernet. This wine was one of the better values I found on our most recent trip, packed with 2007 Stag’s Leap District fruit and very affordably priced, also at $35/bottle. We finished the tasting with the “black label” 2007 Stag’s Leap Cabernet. This was an outstanding wine and one we took later to Ad Hoc for dinner. At $65/bottle, it was quite good and fairly priced but not necessarily the value that its IV Sons counterpart was.
Throughout the tasting in a busy room, both Baldacci sons who helped us were courteous and attentive. Overall, they were fairly short on information about the wine, but they kept the tasting moving. We had seen padded wine carriers at multiple wineries on our trip, but Baldacci was running a special: buy a case, get a free wine carrier. We took them up on their offer! Good value for the tasting, good wines for the price, and a stop that I would recommend.
Recommended wine: Solid wines across the board. My personal favorite was the Black Label Cabernet, but the IV Sons wins on value.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.50 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.00 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 4.00 |  VALUE | 4.75 |
 OVERALL | 4.31 | ||
We have visited Baldacci many times, and have enjoyed their wines for years. I have never encountered anyone in the tasting room that is not pleasant, friendly, and eager to please. I totally agree with your review of them.
ReplyDelete