Open: 10am-4:30pm
Appt required? No
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (May 16, 2012 Itinerary)
Directions:
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Tasting:
I stopped in to Rutherford Grove later on a Wednesday afternoon and found the tasting room empty. I bellied up to the bar and was originally greeted by an older gent, who quickly passed me off to a woman named Barbara. This brings up an interesting point – this is not the first time that I’ve started a tasting with one person only to quickly have them say, “No thanks, you deal with this guy.” It always makes me wonder what the reason is for the switch. Do they have a rotation they follow like a restaurant seating people in different servers’ sections? Do they try to align tasting room staff with guests? Do they use the Bob and Monica Thomas technique of having women sell to men and men sell to women? Or am I just super-annoying and they start looking for a way out as soon as I walk in?
Regardless of the reason, Barbara was stuck with me, and we embarked on our tasting journey. The tasting offered the day I visited was of five wines, and the $15 tasting fee was waived with a $30 purchase. The first wine was a Sauvignon Blanc, which I elected to bypass in favor of the reds on the list, moving on instead to the 2009 Quakenbush Zinfandel. Nothing special about that wine, nor the next, the 2007 Estate Merlot.
Barbara poured me the next wine, the 2007 Estate Cabernet, which was a big improvement over the first two wines. It was around this time that a wine club member came and proudly introduced his mom who was out tasting with him. They got started on their tasting, and I moved on to the 2007 Spring Creek Vineyard Petite Sirah. This was decent, but not nearly as good as the Petite from my previous stop at Madrigal. I sipped this while I scanned the list of other wines for sale. I had come in hoping to try Rutherford Grove’s Howell Mountain Cab, a wine I had purchased without having tried it from Wine Access with Howell Mountain super fan Bob Thomas. I had lamented earlier in the tasting that it wasn’t on the list and Barbara had just shrugged. After a couple of heavy pour tastings at Vineyard 29 and Madrigal previously that afternoon, I was feeling emboldened:
“Hey Barbara, come here for a second.” I urged her to lean in close so I could share a confidential thought.
“You probably want to pour the 2007 Howell Mountain Cab for your wine club member over there, right?” I gave her my best devilish smile.
“Oh, aren’t you special…” she laughed…and then opened the 2007 Howell Mountain Cab. Thanks Barbara! The wine was quite good – I was happy with my Wine Access purchase, and I decided to augment it with one more bottle as a thank you to Barbara for opening for me, er, I mean opening it for her wine club member.
No complaints with Rutherford Grove. Nothing particularly special about the tasting experience or the wines, but a pleasant experience. At Barbara’s suggestion, I took a quick spin through the namesake grove of trees adjacent to the winery on my way out, which was worth it. Old trees towered over a grassy courtyard, and several picnic tables dotted a shady area. I snapped a few pictures, but it was time to hit the road. The clock was ticking, and I still had wineries left to visit!
Regardless of the reason, Barbara was stuck with me, and we embarked on our tasting journey. The tasting offered the day I visited was of five wines, and the $15 tasting fee was waived with a $30 purchase. The first wine was a Sauvignon Blanc, which I elected to bypass in favor of the reds on the list, moving on instead to the 2009 Quakenbush Zinfandel. Nothing special about that wine, nor the next, the 2007 Estate Merlot.
“Hey Barbara, come here for a second.” I urged her to lean in close so I could share a confidential thought.
“You probably want to pour the 2007 Howell Mountain Cab for your wine club member over there, right?” I gave her my best devilish smile.
“Oh, aren’t you special…” she laughed…and then opened the 2007 Howell Mountain Cab. Thanks Barbara! The wine was quite good – I was happy with my Wine Access purchase, and I decided to augment it with one more bottle as a thank you to Barbara for opening for me, er, I mean opening it for her wine club member.
No complaints with Rutherford Grove. Nothing particularly special about the tasting experience or the wines, but a pleasant experience. At Barbara’s suggestion, I took a quick spin through the namesake grove of trees adjacent to the winery on my way out, which was worth it. Old trees towered over a grassy courtyard, and several picnic tables dotted a shady area. I snapped a few pictures, but it was time to hit the road. The clock was ticking, and I still had wineries left to visit!
Recommended wine: The '07 Howell Mountain Cab was pretty good, but that was the only wine I think I would recommend.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 3.75 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.00 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 4.00 |  VALUE | 4.00 |
 OVERALL | 3.94 | ||
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