Open: By appointment. One tour and tasting at 10:00am; tasting only at 2:00pm
Appt required? Yes
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2013
Directions:
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Tasting:
Within the last year, Spottswoode started doing tours and tastings. Given the reputation of the wine, I made a point to add it to our last itinerary.
When we visited, Spottswoode was conducting a single tour and tasting each day, at 10am (they have since added a seated tasting only at 2pm). They limit the tastings to 10 people, so it’s best to book several weeks in advance. We arrived a few minutes early and waited with around inside their small reception house for our tour to begin. While we waited, we saw what awaited us: a seated tasting of what appeared to be 3 wines.
The tour started promptly at 10:00am with a walk down the road from the winery to the Spottswoode home. We stopped for a moment to gaze at the estate vineyard while our guide explained some of Spottswoode’s farming techniques which are, for the most part, identical to most of the rest of the Valley. The walk to the residence is not insignificant – I would guess it’s about a quarter mile. We arrived at the home somewhere around 10:20 or so, did a lap around the driveway while our guide talked to us about the diverse flora that the family had brought in (pretty interesting), and then headed back to the winery.
When we got back to the winery (around 10:45), we weren’t done touring yet. We took a quick look at the production facility, as well as the very old barrel room they still use today. Around 11:00am, it was finally time to sit down for a little wine.
We did in fact try 3 wines: the 2012 Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc, the 2011 Lyndenhurst Cabernet, and the 2010 Spottswoode Estate Cabernet. The Sauvignon Blanc was pretty good, but not amazing and not something I’d look to purchase. The Lyndenhurst Cab, made as a more affordable introductory Cab (although still $70), was just not very good at all. Some of this may be due to the year – the 2011s we had on this trip were for the most part consistently bad, even from great wineries like Vineyard 29 (we tried the 2011 Cru, a wine I typically love, but you should avoid this vintage at all costs!). Finally, I moved to the 2010 Spottswoode Estate Cabernet. Aside from some strange outside sediment (possibly a bug) that found its way into my first glass and got me a fresh pour at the insistence of our guide, this was a very good wine. However, it wasn’t amazing, and it was a notch below the other wines we tried in that price range ($145) on the trip.
Aside from an hour tour without a splash of wine, my least favorite part of this one was the pricing structure. The tour cost $45/person, which would be credited toward a 6-bottle purchase of Spottswoode Estate Cabernet. $45 is a lot for only 3 wines, especially when only one of the three was a high-end wine. The tour was nice and informative, but this felt more like a moneymaking venture on the part of the winery than what I believe tours and tastings should be: marketing spend. I would have purchased a bottle or two if our tasting fee would have contributed to it, but given we would have had to spend ~$1,600 to recoup our two tasting fees, we left with nothing except some mild disappointment.
Overall, I’d skip this one. The tour is interesting if you want to walk, wineless, for an hour, but the wine was not great enough to justify the cost of the tour or the time spent when there are so many other great options in the area. If you want to drop $45 to try a high-end Cab, go to Opus One and enjoy a full glass of wine there, stop by Shafer for some amazing Hillside Select, or spend another $15 to take the barrel tasting tour and try 5x as many wines at Del Dotto.
When we visited, Spottswoode was conducting a single tour and tasting each day, at 10am (they have since added a seated tasting only at 2pm). They limit the tastings to 10 people, so it’s best to book several weeks in advance. We arrived a few minutes early and waited with around inside their small reception house for our tour to begin. While we waited, we saw what awaited us: a seated tasting of what appeared to be 3 wines.
We did in fact try 3 wines: the 2012 Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc, the 2011 Lyndenhurst Cabernet, and the 2010 Spottswoode Estate Cabernet. The Sauvignon Blanc was pretty good, but not amazing and not something I’d look to purchase. The Lyndenhurst Cab, made as a more affordable introductory Cab (although still $70), was just not very good at all. Some of this may be due to the year – the 2011s we had on this trip were for the most part consistently bad, even from great wineries like Vineyard 29 (we tried the 2011 Cru, a wine I typically love, but you should avoid this vintage at all costs!). Finally, I moved to the 2010 Spottswoode Estate Cabernet. Aside from some strange outside sediment (possibly a bug) that found its way into my first glass and got me a fresh pour at the insistence of our guide, this was a very good wine. However, it wasn’t amazing, and it was a notch below the other wines we tried in that price range ($145) on the trip.
Overall, I’d skip this one. The tour is interesting if you want to walk, wineless, for an hour, but the wine was not great enough to justify the cost of the tour or the time spent when there are so many other great options in the area. If you want to drop $45 to try a high-end Cab, go to Opus One and enjoy a full glass of wine there, stop by Shafer for some amazing Hillside Select, or spend another $15 to take the barrel tasting tour and try 5x as many wines at Del Dotto.
Recommended wine: The Estate Cab is good, but probably not $145 good. Definitely avoid the Lyndenhurst, at least the 2011 vintage
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.00 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.75 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 4.00 |  VALUE | 3.75 |
 OVERALL | 4.13 | ||
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