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Open: 10:30am-5:00pm
Appt required? No
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011 (September 29, 2011 Itinerary)
Directions:
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Tasting:
Our first of multiple “presidential” winery stops on our most recent trip (Wm. Harrison came later), John Tyler was a pleasant surprise. With a newly constructed tasting room that opened in 2011, the winery is still not on most maps, but it is easily accessible off of Westside Road.
John Tyler Wines is the pet project of the Bacigalupis, a family that has sourced grapes for a number of top wineries in Russian River Valley (Williams Selyem and Gary Farrell, to name a few) but until recently had never made their own wine. No relation to the U.S. president, John Tyler is an experiment between John Bacigalupi and his nephew Tyler. The family decided to try their hand at making wine from their own grapes in 2002, producing a barrel of Zinfandel that they kept and enjoyed for themselves. Realizing that they could make a pretty decent product, they decided they’d see if they might try selling it.
We walked up and were greeted by a sweet German Shepherd lounging by the door. We were the only people there on a Thursday, and ended up doing a tasting at the half-hexagon bar with one of John’s twin daughters, Katey. John Tyler makes both Pinot Noir and Zinfandel; we decided we’d focus on Pinot Noir, and Katey set out four glasses to allow us to do a vertical tasting of their pinot noir, 2006-2009. As has been documented on this site, I’m a big fan of side-by-side wine comparisons (see Moshin, Robert Young, Zahtila, among others), and so I really enjoyed this experience. The 2007 Pinot stood out to me, but I wasn’t quite done.
“Would you mind if we tried a little Zinfandel as well?”
Of course not! Four more glasses, and 2004-2007 Zinfandel magically appeared. I’m glad we stuck around for an extra varietal – most Zins in the Russian River / Dry Creek area are released within two years of picking, and so it was a neat experience to try the older Zins, especially the 2004 which was at a really perfect and interesting point. Side-by-side, you could see the color on each year go from a deep berry red on the 2007 to an almost tawny brown on the 2004. The tawny color carried through to the taste on the 2004 and was interesting enough to warrant a bottle purchase.
Throughout the tasting, Katey couldn’t have been friendlier. We talked about the history of the winery, her babysitting Bob Cabral’s (winemaker at Williams Selyem) kid, and the family contributions to running the winery and tasting room. While the wine was good but not amazing for me, the atmosphere was fantastic and the experience was one I’d definitely recommend. This is a place we’ll certainly come back to visit.
John Tyler Wines is the pet project of the Bacigalupis, a family that has sourced grapes for a number of top wineries in Russian River Valley (Williams Selyem and Gary Farrell, to name a few) but until recently had never made their own wine. No relation to the U.S. president, John Tyler is an experiment between John Bacigalupi and his nephew Tyler. The family decided to try their hand at making wine from their own grapes in 2002, producing a barrel of Zinfandel that they kept and enjoyed for themselves. Realizing that they could make a pretty decent product, they decided they’d see if they might try selling it.
“Would you mind if we tried a little Zinfandel as well?”
Of course not! Four more glasses, and 2004-2007 Zinfandel magically appeared. I’m glad we stuck around for an extra varietal – most Zins in the Russian River / Dry Creek area are released within two years of picking, and so it was a neat experience to try the older Zins, especially the 2004 which was at a really perfect and interesting point. Side-by-side, you could see the color on each year go from a deep berry red on the 2007 to an almost tawny brown on the 2004. The tawny color carried through to the taste on the 2004 and was interesting enough to warrant a bottle purchase.
Throughout the tasting, Katey couldn’t have been friendlier. We talked about the history of the winery, her babysitting Bob Cabral’s (winemaker at Williams Selyem) kid, and the family contributions to running the winery and tasting room. While the wine was good but not amazing for me, the atmosphere was fantastic and the experience was one I’d definitely recommend. This is a place we’ll certainly come back to visit.
Recommended wine: I preferred the Zin to the Pinot (slightly), but you really can't go wrong with a 4-year vertical tasting!
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.00 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.25 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 5.00 |  VALUE | 4.75 |
 OVERALL | 4.50 | ||
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