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Open: 10am-5pm
Appt required? No
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012
Directions:
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Tasting:
I had visited Mill Creek several years earlier, and I was interested to see what I thought of it hundreds of wineries and thousands of wines later. All I remembered from my initial visit was their big water wheel, a good Gewurztraminer, and a Freddie Prinze, Jr. look-alike pouring wine that had the girls in the group drooling.
On my 2012 return trip, much had changed. The big water wheel was still in place, but Freddie Prinze, Jr. was long gone, tastings were now $15, and there was no Gewurztraminer. Ah well. This stop also marked tasting #1 of the May 2012 trip with my sister Meredith, who is my version of Bill Bryson’s Katz. Her primary differentiating factor among wine tastings is “whether or not they feed (her)”, and she enjoys taking obnoxious pictures, all of which will grace these pages.
We started the tasting with a crisp, light 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, and then tried two Chardonnays: the 2010 Unoaked Chardonnay and the 2007 Chardonnay Reserve, which spent 10 months in French oak. Both were just so-so for me. With no Gewurztraminer, we moved on to reds with the 2006 Merlot. This dry and somewhat chewy wine was the best wine up to that point in the tasting. We followed it with a 2007 Zinfandel that I thought was just so-so and a 2004 Reserve Cab from Alexander Valley, which I thought I would like more than I did.
Nearing the end of the tasting and with only an average Merlot as the best wine so far, it wasn’t looking so hot for Mill Creek. However, they managed to rebound a bit with our final wine, the 2006 Syrah. This turned out to be my favorite wine of the tasting (and by favorite, that’s just in relation to a bunch of other so-so wines).
Overall, the wines were okay but a tier below what I typically enjoy. I like the Mill Creek property, and this could be a nice spot for a picnic, but I prefer the wine at several other Russian River Valley stops.
On my 2012 return trip, much had changed. The big water wheel was still in place, but Freddie Prinze, Jr. was long gone, tastings were now $15, and there was no Gewurztraminer. Ah well. This stop also marked tasting #1 of the May 2012 trip with my sister Meredith, who is my version of Bill Bryson’s Katz. Her primary differentiating factor among wine tastings is “whether or not they feed (her)”, and she enjoys taking obnoxious pictures, all of which will grace these pages.
Nearing the end of the tasting and with only an average Merlot as the best wine so far, it wasn’t looking so hot for Mill Creek. However, they managed to rebound a bit with our final wine, the 2006 Syrah. This turned out to be my favorite wine of the tasting (and by favorite, that’s just in relation to a bunch of other so-so wines).
Overall, the wines were okay but a tier below what I typically enjoy. I like the Mill Creek property, and this could be a nice spot for a picnic, but I prefer the wine at several other Russian River Valley stops.
Recommended wine: Nothing I would recommend from here, but the Syrah was my favorite that I tried.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 3.50 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.25 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 4.00 |  VALUE | 4.25 |
 OVERALL | 4.00 | ||
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