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Open: 11am-5pm
Appt required? No
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011 (September 29, 2011 Itinerary)
Directions:
View Sonoma in a larger map or Get Directions
Tasting:
I’d never noticed Thomas George before we randomly stumbled upon the winery while traveling from Porter Creek to Rochioli on Westside Road, but I’m happy that I found it. We passed the entrance and started up a winding road. Greeting us on the right was a nice statue of the Virgin Mary...or was it? Too many years spent under her watchful gaze at ND, I suppose, because upon closer inspection, it was very clearly not Mary. Guarding the entrance to the winery sits a life-size statue of a wizard with a crystal ball (assuming the average wizard is as big as an average human -- I'm not an expert on these things). Random! But I like it! We made our way up the remainder of the drive and found the following scene. To our left rested the tasting room, flanked by parking spaces and a few picnic tables; to our right, more picnic tables, a path back into the woods, and the entrance to a wine cave built into the hillside, the numeral 2010 etched into the rock over its entrance. This was a new facility, but they had an ambitious plan from the start.
We entered the spacious tasting room and found a lengthy tasting bar. A unique feature -- an old oak set of mail slots -- now held something far more exciting than letters: WINE! We bellied up to the bar and tried two very good chardonnays, followed by three Pinots. As many readers of this blog know, I'm heavily partial to red wine, but the Estate Chardonnay and the Stuhlmuller Vineyard Chardonnay (sourced from our friends over at Stuhlmuller Winery) were both quite good. We followed those with the Russian River Valley Estate Pinot Noir, the Lancel Creek Pinot Noir, and the Campbell Ranch Pinot Noir from Sonoma Coast. All were solid, but I slightly preferred the Campbell Ranch to the other two.
I thought the wine was better than average, the large tasting bar a nice roomy alternative after a smaller rooms at Copain and the extra-tiny Porter Creek, and the staff attentive and helpful. This stop was a pleasant unscheduled surprise and somewhere I’ll be interested to try again, particularly in years where Sonoma Pinot Noir is especially good. I'd also be interested in tasting in their caves, something that I think just requires some advance setup with the winery. Next time!
I thought the wine was better than average, the large tasting bar a nice roomy alternative after a smaller rooms at Copain and the extra-tiny Porter Creek, and the staff attentive and helpful. This stop was a pleasant unscheduled surprise and somewhere I’ll be interested to try again, particularly in years where Sonoma Pinot Noir is especially good. I'd also be interested in tasting in their caves, something that I think just requires some advance setup with the winery. Next time! Recommended wine: All of the wine was good, but my preference of the five we tried was for the Campbell Ranch Pinot Noir
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.25 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.50 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 4.25 |  VALUE | 4.00 |
 OVERALL | 4.25 | ||
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