Viansa (N/A)

http://www.viansa.com/

Open: 10:00am-5:00pm

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (May 17, 2012 Itinerary)

Directions:

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Tasting:

Can I review a tasting room without trying a drop of wine? Is my name embedded in the URL at the top of the page? Of course I can!

I stopped in to Viansa for the first time in 7 or 8 years on a Thursday morning around 10:15. The winery had been open for 15 minutes, and already there were three buses there and the tasting bar was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with loud visitors, while another 20 people roamed through their store. I had expected a bit of the touristy traffic that you get at places like Viansa and V. Sattui, but this was a bit much. Rather than fight the crowds, I decided I’d just skip the wine, take a few pictures, and cut my losses.

From a setting standpoint, Viansa has a beautiful property, filled with statuary and vegetation that give it a classic Italian villa feel. The tasting room is geared toward the bus crowds, with a marketplace full of foodstuffs and wine country trinkets. From what I remember from previous visits, Viansa makes A LOT of wines (over 30), and you have the opportunity to try several of them. Unfortunately, if it was packed at 10:15 on a Thursday morning, you’re probably going to be dealing with a pretty crowded tasting room no matter when you go.

Recommended wine: I do remember generally liking their wine, but it's been 8 years since I've had it so I can't really comment.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	N/A	TASTING ROOM	4.50
ATMOSPHERE	3.75	VALUE	N/A
OVERALL		N/A

Mill Creek (4.00)

http://www.millcreekwinery.com/

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.

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

Elizabeth Spencer (4.25)

http://www.elizabethspencerwines.com/

Open: 10:00am-4:30pm

Appt required? No, but accepted if you desire

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (May 17, 2012 Itinerary)

Directions:

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Tasting:

Elizabeth Spencer is located in a small old post office and just down the road from one of my favorite change-of-pace lunch stops, La Luna Taqueria. The tiny room and tasting bar could accommodate a max of about 6 people comfortably. I came in after lunch at La Luna and began tasting with a gent. After my first pour, he pawned me off on his colleague Pamela, allegedly so that he could go on his lunch break.

It turned out to be a big upgrade in tasting host. The initial guy told me that it was a tasting of four wines (Chardonnay, Riesling, Syrah and Cabernet) for $20. They also had two Rosés available by the glass. As Pamela prepared to pour my 2nd taste, I asked if it might be okay if I swapped one of the roses in for the Riesling.

“You don’t have to swap – you can do both,” she replied.

My kind of tasting lady! Not only did Pamela pour me both a Rose and the Riesling, she poured me both Rosés side-by-side so I could compare them, followed them with the Riesling and the Syrah, and then poured not one, not two, but 3 Cabernets: the 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet, 2005 Rutherford Cabernet, and 2007 Howell Mountain Cabernet.

The Syrahs stood out for me here. Both the 2006 Block Nine Syrah and the Rose of Syrah were my favorites of the stop. I badly wanted to love the Howell Mountain Cab, but I thought it (and the other Cabernets) were good but not amazing.

Overall, this turned out to be a much better tasting with Pamela than had I only been able to try the four standard wines, and so I struggle with how to rate it. What if I’d been stuck with the other guy? Would he have poured as many wines as Pamela? Probably not, but I always rate the experience I had. For me, this was a worthwhile, friendly and quiet stop.

Recommended wine: The Cabernets were pretty good, but the Syrah and Rosé of Syrah were my two favorite wines.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.25	TASTING ROOM	4.25
ATMOSPHERE	4.50	VALUE	4.00
OVERALL		4.25

Whitehall Lane (4.06)

http://www.whitehalllane.com/

Open: 10am-6pm

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (May 16, 2012 Itinerary)

Directions:

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Tasting:

I’d had Whitehall Lane Cabernet before, but I’d never been to the winery to taste. I decided to check it off my list when I was in Napa in May.

The Whitehall Lane tasting room is open until 6pm, and so it can occasionally attract the tipsy end-of-the-day crowd. Finding myself approaching that condition, I figured I'd fit right in. Wrong! These folks weren't just tipsy...they were DRUNK. Take a gander at the picture below – you had all types in the room. A girl dressed up and on her way to a wedding rehearsal dinner, a couple who’s making out in the tasting room (nothing says wine country like sweet camo pants!), and some other people just off-camera who came on a bus and were wasted.

Well, when in Rome, as they say! Time to get caught up. I bellied up to a fairly crowded tasting table in their production room, and was greeted by a wise-cracking Boston native. The tasting was for 5 wines, starting with a Sauvignon Blanc. As was my custom, I suggested I’d skip the Sauvignon Blanc and head straight to the reds. Into my glass went…Sauvignon Blanc. “It’s the first pour for everyone!” my Boston friend cackled. Ah well…no sense wasting it! It turned out to be pretty good.

Wine #2 was a Pinot Noir, which was okay. Wine #3 significantly improved things with a very good Merlot, which was one of my favorite wines of the stop. We then moved into what I came for: Cabernet. I started with their regular 2009 Cabernet, a solid wine, but one that I actually preferred the Merlot to. The last wine of the tasting was the 2008 Reserve Cab, and this was the best of the bunch.

The wines were decent and atmosphere a bit raucous, I think partially driven by the guy pouring. I snagged a bottle of the Reserve Cab and beat a hasty retreat. If I hustled, I could squeeze in one more stop before dinner!

Recommended wine: The '08 Reserve Cab was what left with me, but I also liked the Merlot.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.00	TASTING ROOM	4.25
ATMOSPHERE	4.25	VALUE	3.75
OVERALL		4.06

Rutherford Grove (3.94)

http://www.rutherfordgrove.com/

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!

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