Adastra Wines
2545 Las Amigas Road Napa, CA 94559
(707) 255-4818 adastrawines.com
Adastra Wines is located on Las Amigas Road in the Carneros region of Napa Valley Wine Country. Their tasting room is an old wooden barn with lots of rustic charm. Today for the Carneros Harvest Passport Experience, Adastra Wines was pouring their 2007 Adastra Chardonnay, 2006 Adastra Proximus Chardonnay and their 2007 Adastra Pinot Noir. They also offered a variety of cheeses to go with the wines, along with their pairing recommendations.
Bouchaine Vineyards & Winery
1075 Buchli Station Road Napa, CA 94559
(707) 252-9065 bouchaine.com
Bouchaine Vineyards & Winery is located in the world famous Carneros region of the Napa Valley. They are open from 10:30am to 4:00pm and they have an indoor tasting room plus an outdoor deck that is for food pairings. During the Carneros Harvest Passport Experience, Bouchaine Vineyards & Winery was pouring their 2008 Bouchaine Bacchus Collection Chardonnay, 2008 Bouchaine Bacchus Collection Pinot Blanc and their 2007 Bouchaine Bacchus Collection Pinot Noir...the last of which was our favorite. However, what we couldn't resist taking home with us was a bottle of their Bouchaine Chocolate Sauce, made from their very own Pinot Noir!
Ceja Vineyards
1019 Las Amigas Road
Napa, CA 94559
(707) 255-3954 cejavineyards.com
Ceja Vineyards was our 4th stop during the Carneros Harvest Passport Experience today. They have a bocce ball court and an outdoor kitchen where they were pouring some of the wines. Today, they featured their 2007 Ceja Carneros Chardonnay, 2007 Ceja Carneros Pinot Noir and their 2005 Ceja Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The highlight of our visit was the Truffle Gateau vendor, though...their chocolate truffles are SO decadently delicious that a $20 splurge for 6 pieces was worth it!
Etude Wines is located in the famous Carneros region in Napa county. The wines they were pouring for the Carneros Harvest Passport Experience ticket holders were their 2008 Pinot Gris Carneros and their 2006 Pinot Noir Carneros - Estate. Perhaps if we tried their Cabernet Sauvignon, we may have liked Etude Wines a little better. They do have a beautiful tasting room that overlooks the barrel storage area...and some interesting topiaries on their grounds!
Saintsbury Vineyard
1500 Los Carneros Ave. Napa, CA 94559
(707) 252-0592 saintsbury.com
Saintsbury Vineyard is located in the Carneros Region of the Napa Valley Wine Country. Normally, they are open by appointment only, but today they were open to Carneros Harvest Passport Experience ticket holders.
We were greeted by their very friendly French winemaker, who poured us the Chardonnay, and even their winery cat came by to say hello! Saintsbury specializes in the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wine varieties...and I thought their 2007 Saintsbury Lee Vineyard Carneros Pinot Noir was spectacular!
Come and celebrate the harvest with 18 different CWA (Carneros Wine Alliance) wineries in the highly acclaimed Carneros region, some of which will be their first time pouring wine to the public!
List of participating CWA wineries:
Acacia - 2750 Las Amigas Road, Napa, CA
Adastra - 2545 Las Amigas Road, Napa, CA
Bouchaine Vineyards - 1075 Buchli Station Road, Napa, CA
Buena Vista Carneros - 18000 Old Winery Road, Sonoma, CA
Ceja Vineyards - 1019 Las Amigas Road, Napa, CA
Clos du Val(pouring at the Carneros Vineyard) - Old Sonoma Road & Buhman Avenue, Napa, CA
Cuvaison Carneros Estate Wines(pouring at the Carneros Tasting Room) - 1221 Duhig Road, Napa, CA
Crazy Flower Wines(pouring at Merryvale Starmont/Carneros) - 1451 Stanly Lane, Napa, CA
Donum Estate (pouring at the Ramal Road Vineyard) - 24520 Ramal Road, Sonoma, CA
The Sonoma Valley Crush event weekend began and ended with wineries that turned out to be where we bought the most wine! Everyone at VJB Vineyards & Cellars was fantastic and we were glad our wine tasting weekend ended with such an outstanding experience.
The wines we couldn't resist taking home with us were their Rosso Family Blend, 2005 V Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Chardonnay Port. We also purchased a fabulous Caramel Port Sauce from VJB...after trying a sample, there was no way we were leaving without it!
We stopped in for a quick wine tasting at the tasting room for Muscardini Cellars and Ty Caton Vineyards. They were pretty busy towards the end of the Sonoma Valley Crush event, so we decided to try a few wines here before heading to our last stop of the weekend. We ended up being lucky enough to have Michael Muscardini pouring his own wine for us!
The wines we did taste were very good...the Sangiovese and the Barbera. We absolutely need to come back here when we're not limited on time and taste the rest of Muscardini's wines and all of Ty Caton's wines!
Kenwood Vineyards gives me a very comforting and cozy feeling, not only from its rustic, wooden structures but continuing on to its warm and welcoming staff. The tasting room itself is small, but behind those pair of doors lies a fabulous barrel storage room...where they keep their chocolate and cabernet tasting...shhhhh. Besides that ultimate pairing, my highlight of the visit was the discovery of "Sauvignon Blanc Juice" which they poured first. It was similar to a sweet nectar of the gods with a lighter consistency and I really loved it! Too bad they don't bottle and sell it...I would have bought an entire case! Instead, we bought a couple of bottles of their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, just like what was paired with the chocolate. :)
Kunde Estate Winery & Vineyards 9825 Sonoma Hwy Kenwood, CA 95452 (707) 833-5501 kunde.com
The Kunde Family Estate Winery has been around since 1989, although the property has been in the Kunde family since 1904. German-born Louis Kunde purchased 1,000 acres (which encompass approximately 2 1/2 miles along the Sonoma Highway) from Wildwood Vineyards. They have a beautiful facility and well-kept grounds including an outdoor patio overlooking a man-made pond, a demonstration vineyard and even a very cool aging wine cave with free tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
We started day two of the Sonoma Valley Crush Harvest Celebration event at Kunde Family Estate. Their tasting room reminded me of a Napa-style lodge with soaring wood-panel ceilings. The tasting for Crush participants was in a separate room from the regular tasting and they had crackers and dip laid out, as well as four varieties of grapes from their vineyards to taste.
The wines available for tasting today were their Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Barbera and Cuvee. Everything we tasted was good, although none were memorable enough for us to want to take home. Our wine pourer was very friendly and knowledgeable about the winery and told us that the estate had been the setting for scenes in the movie "Bottle Shock". We wouldn't mind coming back here for a wine cave tour and perhaps they might even be pouring something different that may catch our attention!
Wood Family Vineyards 7702 Cedar Mountain Drive Livermore, CA 94550 (925) 606-7411 woodfamilyvineyards.com
This was stop #5 during Livermore's First Barrel Tasting Weekend. We've been here once before (during last year's Harvest Festival) and we're glad we came back! The staff is a lot of fun and having a caterer on-hand passing out pulled pork sliders was a great idea...thanks, Wood Family Vineyards!
Here's a story on Day 1 of Livermore's First Barrel Tasting Weekend:
Deer Ridge Vineyards was offering a barrel tasting of their 2000 Chocolate Port to the first 100 people this weekend...so I decided to make them our first stop at Livermore's First Barrel Tasting Weekend!
Although we've been here once before, this visit was a like a wonderful new discovery...it was the first time we tasted their Chocolate Port and Chardonnay Port. Talk about liquid heaven in your mouth...mmm...we spent over $100 for 4 bottles of port!
Here's a story on Day 1 of the Livermore Barrel Tasting Weekend:
McGrail Vineyards and Winery 5600 Greenville Rd Livermore, CA 94550 (925) 373-6214 mcgrailvineyards.com
They have the most beautiful building and setting in the nearby vicinity. I've only been here once during the Harvest Festival, so it was quite busy and I don't think I even saw the McGrails...but wait a sec...I don't know who they are, so how would I know if I saw them? :)
My husband and I did enjoy the Olivina booth and talking with Charles Crohare...sampling the olive oil and balsamic was our favorite part of the visit. Oh, and I did leave with a bottle of Olivina Fig Balsamic Vinegar - YUM, YUM!
Unfortunately, I didn't really care for their wine (the other reviews rave about their Cabernet, but I'm not a Cabernet fan) and since it's all about the wine...I only gave them 3 stars.
Posts
