Fisher Vineyards (4.63)




Open: Monday-Saturday, by appointment. Preferred visit times are 11am and 2pm

Appt required? Yes

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2013

Directions:

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Tasting:
I had originally planned to visit Fisher Vineyards with my sister, Meredith, on a recent trip in May. But when she had to leave for a job interview (I know…where are her priorities?) it ended up just being me. It definitely turned out to be her loss.

Fisher is located on the Sonoma side of Spring Mountain, and I highly recommended you use the map they’ll send to you when you make your appointment! There are few signs and even fewer cars on this side of the mountain, but a trip through the trees can be a welcome change from the weekend gridlock of Hwy 29. Fisher is family-owned and family-run; daughter Whitney is the winemaker, son Rob is the General Manager, and my tasting was conducted with youngest daughter Cameron Fisher, the head of Sales & Marketing.

After I was buzzed through the gate, Cameron strolled down the driveway to meet me as I parked. She was preceded by a VERY excited four-legged welcoming committee, which also let me know that Fisher doesn’t get the volume of visitors some of its easier-to-find wineries do. We made our way up the hill and around to the back of the winery, where a picnic area atop a shady knoll awaited our presence. Cameron talked me through some of what it was like growing up in a wine family, how it is working with her siblings, and the challenges of the 2011 growing season.

And of course there was wine! Four bottles anxiously awaited my consumption. We started out with the 2010 Mountain Estate Chardonnay. This was well balanced and extremely drinkable. Cameron made it clear she wouldn’t be offended if I didn’t finish all of my wine, and after several sips I set the Chardonnay aside in anticipation of the Cabernets Fisher is known for.

Before we got into their most well-known red blend, the Coach Insignia, Cameron went and grabbed a 5th bottle to initiate the shift to red wine. The 2009 Cameron Red Wine, named after the woman sitting in front of me, was actually not a blend at all, but 100% Cabernet from young vines in Fisher’s Napa Valley Estate in the Palisades near Calistoga. Given the percentage, it could have been called a Cabernet, but Cameron’s winemaking sister Whitney likes to adjust the blend occasionally. 2010 was 83% and 17% Malbec, for example. The wine was pretty good, but tasted young. A good entry level offering to highlight the depth of the wines I was about to try.

Next up was the 2007 Coach Insignia, Fisher’s flagship blend. While typically heavily Cabernet, Whitney occasionally blends in around 10% of other Bordeaux varietals. For 2007, the blend was 90% Cab, 7% Malbec, and 3% Cabernet Franc. This was like a mature and very solid version of the Cameron and definitely a quality wine. Fortunately, it’s also fairly widely distributed and available locally for me.

At this point we shifted our attention to Spring Mountain and the 2008 Mountain Estate Vineyard Cabernet. Like the Chardonnay at the start of the tasting, this wine came from the vines surrounding our picnic perch. The wine was a classic example of Spring Mountain and very well made, and it was my favorite of the visit up to that point.

I had one wine left to try, though, and Cameron saved the best for last. The 2007 Lamb Vineyard Cabernet was perhaps the best wine I had over the course of 8 days in wine country. Delicious, beautifully crafted, smooth but with excellent structure, this was an instant favorite. The Lamb Vineyard is a block within Fisher’s Napa Valley Estate Vineyard, and it was truly excellent.

Up to this point, the visit has been almost flawless. Great wine, a relaxed and friendly atmosphere in a perfect setting, but I had yet to see a price list. I loved all of the wines and definitely wanted to ship some back to Chicago. The price list came out…and my precious Lamb Vineyard Cabernet was a whopping $150/bottle. Now, I think it’s worth that, but if it had been priced south of $100 I would have been ecstatic. The other wines were also quite expensive, with the Cameron clocking in at $65, the Mountain Estate Cab at $80, and the Coach Insignia at $85. I think the quality of the wine justified the price tag on all, but I was hopeful that this small family winery might have small family prices. No such luck.

We wrapped up the tasting with a stroll through the winery production facility, and Cameron bid me adieu as she returned to set up for a lunch party that would follow my visit. Overall, I think this is an excellent stop for any lover of big Napa reds. The Chardonnay shouldn’t be overlooked, but the Cabernets Fisher is crafting are all 90+ point wines. Combine that with the fantastic setting for the tasting, and this is a highly recommended stop. Keep in mind that an appointment is required (and Fisher requests at least 7 days notice), so this is not a drop-in spot, but it's absolutely worth the pre-planning required.


Recommended wine: The Lamb Vineyard Cabernet is amazing, and the other reds are also all quite good.

Ratings (out of 5):


WINE
4.50
TASTING ROOM
5.00

ATMOSPHERE
5.00
VALUE
4.00

OVERALL
4.63

Schweiger (4.31)



Open 10:00am-4:00pm

Appt required? Yes

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012

Directions

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Tasting:
Tasting notes forthcoming...

Recommended wine: Pretty solid wines across the board, with the Cabernet standing out for me.

Ratings (out of 5):


WINE
4.25
TASTING ROOM
4.25

ATMOSPHERE
4.50
VALUE
4.25

OVERALL
4.31

Dry Creek Vineyard (4.19)




Open 10:30am-4:30pm

Appt required? No.

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012

Directions

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Tasting:
It had probably been four or five years since my last trip to Dry Creek Vineyard. I still have a hefty bottle of Endeavour Cabernet in my cellar, and I remembered liking some of their other wines as well made and reasonably priced. Meredith and I rolled in around 11:45am, thinking we’d do a quick tasting and then enjoy our "coppa and turkey" sandwiches from the Dry Creek General Store in Dry Creek Vineyard’s expansive picnic area.

We bellied up to the bar and got started on a tasting. DCV keeps it simple – a $5.00 Signature Series tasting of four widely distributed wines, or a $10.00 “Wine Club Selections” tasting of four wines typically only sold from the winery or distributed to club members. Naturally we did the Wine Club Selections tasting.

We started off with the 2011 Petite Zin Rosé, a bright and fruity offering which was the perfect cure on a hot summer day. We then tried the 2009 DCV10 Pinot Noir, a so-so wine and one that we quickly moved on from. We targeted Zinfandel next (the 2009 Somers Ranch), but our host stopped us and had us flip over the tasting sheet for the Signature Series wines. He poured us two bonus wines, the 2009 Heritage Zinfandel and 2008 Old Vine Zinfandel. The Heritage was light and fruity with some structure, but I preferred the Old Vine with its fuller body and earthier tones.

After the brief detour, we returned to our “four” wines with the 2009 Somers Ranch Zinfandel. This is a wine I remembered enjoying and purchasing in the past, and I liked it again on this visit. We finished the tasting with the 2006 Endeavour Cabernet, the flagship wine of Dry Creek Vineyards. This one is built to last, and as expected this was the best wine we tried at DCV. I’m typically not a fan of Sonoma Cabs, preferring to stick to Napa when it comes to the classic big red grape, but the Endeavour can at least hold its own when compared to Napa Cabs in its price range.

When we arrived at 11:45am at Dry Creek Vineyards, there were 4 other people in the tasting room. By the time we finished our tasting at 12:15pm, there were 25 other people. Dry Creek Vineyard has, in a way, become the “V Sattui of Dry Creek Valley”, with an ever-expanding selection of souvenirs and a penchant for attracting a lunch crowd (and busloads of people) to populate their picnic lawn. As we prepared to join the masses on the lawn, we decided to do what I haven’t done since my early days of wine tasting: buy wine to have with lunch! Our tasting was $10, but it was fully refundable with purchase. With temperatures rising, and nice glass of the Petite Zin Rosé sounded mighty fine to me, and at a net $8 for the entire bottle, we didn't feel obligated to finish the entire thing.

With our tasting wrapped up, our bottle of rosé secured, and our Dry Creek General Store sandwiches in tow, we lucked out by snagging one of the last remaining picnic tables and wrapped up our visit to DCV with lunch on a perfect Spring day. Overall, the wines are pretty good for the area, the atmosphere friendly (although at times extremely busy), and the prices fair. Dry Creek Vineyard will likely be on your list if you’re visiting Dry Creek Valley, and it should be. Definitely recommended mid-week or during slower parts of the year, but an enjoyable experience despite how busy it can get.


Recommended wine: The Endeavour is a solid wine, as are both limited release Zinfandels (Somers Ranch and Beeson Ranch).

Ratings (out of 5):


WINE
4.00
TASTING ROOM
4.00

ATMOSPHERE
4.25
VALUE
4.50

OVERALL
4.19

Quivira (4.25)



Open: 11am-5pm

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012

Directions:

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Tasting:
After Meredith’s "special time" with Bernie the St. Bernard at posh Lambert Bridge, we moved just up the road to Quivira for our second tasting of the day. Quivira sits on the valley floor, and the main winery building’s roof is completely covered with solar panels. A fully organic garden sits adjacent to the winery. Clearly, green is Quivira’s favorite color.

We were among the first visitors of the day, and things started off well for Meredith when she realized the modest tasting bar had built in purse hooks. Electing as usual to split a tasting, we were presented with the 5-wine tasting list for $10. We decided to jump right in.

Wine #1 was the 2010 Refuge Sauvignon Blanc. The tasting notes described the finish as “bracing and clean”, and I agreed wholeheartedly. We offset that first taste with our second wine, a balanced Viognier/Sauvignon Blanc 50-50 blend which I thought was pretty good and preferred to the straight Sauvignon Blanc.

With white wine offerings exhausted, we moved to reds with three light and fruity offerings. Our first red, the 2009 Flight Zinfandel, was a light wine that exploded with bright red fruit. This was a wine that didn’t taste like a typical Zinfandel, but it was perhaps my favorite of the visit. We next tried the 2009 Grenache. Its heavy notes of strawberry also made this an easy-to-drink fruit-forward offering.

Last of the light trio was the 2009 Elusive, a Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre blend. On all of Quivira’s bottles, a different animal is pictured above the winery name. The Elusive happened to feature an owl, which led our host to share an extended story of his childhood and how he raised an owl. He found it injured in their barn, took it to the vet and had it patched up, and they were inseparable after. He even claimed that it would fly above him as he walked to school and be waiting for him at the end of the school day. On the surface it sounds like bullshit, but he was heavy on the details and managed not to crack up while telling it, and so I’m inclined to believe it might actually be true. I wouldn’t fault him if he was just entertaining himself (Lord knows I would if I poured wine for 6 hours every day), but it definitely made for an interesting five minutes.

Our final wine to try was the 2009 Petite Sirah, a significant shift from the three light reds that preceded it. Despite my preference for big red wines, I found the Petite to be just okay and not as enjoyable as the lighter offerings from Quivira.

Throughout the visit, the atmosphere was friendly and informative. We heard about the organic farm on site from which the winery hosts monthly farm-to-table dinners and also manufactures food products like honey and preserves. The tasting room can probably comfortably serve 8-10 guests at a time, and picnic facilities are available for customers wishing to eat lunch while enjoying a bottle of Quivira wine. Overall, the wines were pretty good if you enjoy lighter, fruit-forward reds and the winery worth a stop if you’re in the area.


Recommended wine: Nothing amazing, but the "Elusive" blend was pretty good.

Ratings (out of 5):


WINE
4.00
TASTING ROOM
4.25

ATMOSPHERE
4.25
VALUE
4.50

OVERALL
4.25