Depending on who you talk to, we are either bad, selfish parents for dragging our girl around wine tasting with us or we are giving her an early exposure to and knowledge and appreciation of wine. Obviously, we prefer to think it's the latter. At age eight, my daughter knows more about wine than a lot of grown ups. We've been taking her wine tasting with us since before she could walk. With a couple of notable exceptions, most wineries welcome well-behaved children and even go out of their way to treat them well. As Jim Morris of Michel-Schlumberger said (as he poured my girl a glass of sparkling cider), "I'm securing my future customers thirteen years in advance." I love that!
We spent this past President's Weekend in Healdsburg. Our goal for this trip was to try new-to-us wineries instead of going to our tried and true favorites (with a quick exception). We kept the schedule fairly low-key, hitting 8 wineries over 2 days. We spent time with some fabulous people and found some new favorite wineries. Of the 8 we visited, the following are our Top 3 finds of the weekend (in order visited). It's no coincidence that all three wineries not only had excellent wines, but they each provided an "experience", a personal touch, and treated my daughter like a real person.
Carol Shelton Wines (www.carolshelton.com)
I was thrilled to be able to briefly meet Carol after speaking with her on the telephone. She and her husband were on their way to San Francisco for the Chronicle Wine Competition but took the time to say hello, and Joanne took excellent care of us in the tasting room. Carol Shelton is cited as the most awarded winemaker in the U.S. and has been honored as Winemaker of the Year numerous times. After tasting her wines, I see why. After years of working with top winemakers and wineries, Carol and her husband, Mitch, launched Carol Shelton Wines in 2000, focusing on zinfandel. You can read more about Carol Shelton and her wines on her website.
I was thrilled to be able to briefly meet Carol after speaking with her on the telephone. She and her husband were on their way to San Francisco for the Chronicle Wine Competition but took the time to say hello, and Joanne took excellent care of us in the tasting room. Carol Shelton is cited as the most awarded winemaker in the U.S. and has been honored as Winemaker of the Year numerous times. After tasting her wines, I see why. After years of working with top winemakers and wineries, Carol and her husband, Mitch, launched Carol Shelton Wines in 2000, focusing on zinfandel. You can read more about Carol Shelton and her wines on her website.
Of the many (and there were a lot!) wines we tasted on Saturday, there wasn't a bad one in the bunch (I even loved the Rhone style white, Coquille Blanc). One that stands out even a few days later is the 2007 Rocky Reserve Zin. This Zin from the Rockpile appellation (one of my favorites) is a really elegant wine with notes of very dark chocolate and blackberry fruit, with some pepper and oak on the finish. I can't wait to see how this one ages - if I can keep from drinking it!
Carol Shelton wines range in price from $15 to $52, with most bottles at $33. If you join the wine club, you get a discount of 20%. Rather than bore you with description after description of each of the wines we tasted, I encourage you to try some of Carol's wines. You can even try six of her wines in the comfort of your own home by ordering a tasting kit, either through her web site or through www.tastingroom.com. You won't be sorry!
Michel-Schlumberger (www.michelschlumberger.com)
We had talked about stopping here many times and just hadn't made it. This trip, we had the incentive of trying their wines and meeting some people I had gotten to know on Twitter. Talk about the best of both worlds! Michel-Schlumberger is a little bit off the main track in Dry Creek Valley but well worth the extra few minutes drive. It is spectacularly beautiful. We didn't take advantage of any of their tours this time but plan to change that very soon. The tasting room is a very different experience than most. You feel like you're walking into a friend's house, complete with tables and comfortable chairs. It was such a nice change of pace to have a seated tasting. We were met by Jim Morris and Deborah Kravitz of Michel-Schlumberger, along with the Housmans, and were made to feel like old friends.
We had talked about stopping here many times and just hadn't made it. This trip, we had the incentive of trying their wines and meeting some people I had gotten to know on Twitter. Talk about the best of both worlds! Michel-Schlumberger is a little bit off the main track in Dry Creek Valley but well worth the extra few minutes drive. It is spectacularly beautiful. We didn't take advantage of any of their tours this time but plan to change that very soon. The tasting room is a very different experience than most. You feel like you're walking into a friend's house, complete with tables and comfortable chairs. It was such a nice change of pace to have a seated tasting. We were met by Jim Morris and Deborah Kravitz of Michel-Schlumberger, along with the Housmans, and were made to feel like old friends.
I feel like I first need to say something very important: I liked the 2007 La Brume Chardonnay ($25) so much that I - wait for it - bought a bottle (Jason was thrilled). I know! I, too, wondered if the world was coming to an end. Anyway, the Chardonnay was fabulous. As I rarely (ok, never) drink it, I don't know much about it, but the tasting menu describes it as being a classic Burgundian style Chardonnay with creamy balance and minerality with flavors of citrus blossom, honeysuckle and pear. Deb did tell us that this was unlike most Chardonnays and she was right!
All of the wines we tasted were good and we especially loved the 2006 La Source Syrah ($32) and the 2007 La Cime Cabernet Sauvignon ($40). At the end of our tasting we were treated to a taste of the 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon and wow, it was delicious! Talk about finishing on a high note! I highly recommend Michel-Schlumberger next time you're in the area. Michel-Schlumberger offers four levels of wine club memberships with discounts of 15-20%. As with the Carol Shelton wines, you can sample the wines of Michel-Schlumberger without leaving the comfort of your home by purchasing one of the tasting kits from www.tastingroom.com. (I love TastingRoom.com, in case you hadn't noticed. If you haven't heard of it yet, go check it out! But beware: it's addicting!)
J. Keverson Winery (www.jkeverson.com)
This previously unknown to us winery was recommended by our friends the Housmans. And what a find it was! I'm a sucker for good wines and wineries with a good story, and J. Keverson fits the bill.
This previously unknown to us winery was recommended by our friends the Housmans. And what a find it was! I'm a sucker for good wines and wineries with a good story, and J. Keverson fits the bill.
"John, Kevin, Scott and Doug. Four fast friends who love a good game of bocce and the next quest in life. After sharing many wonderful meals and hard to find wines, our quest became a unified passion for making wine from some of the most highly regarded vineyards throughout Northern California."
Our tasting experience here was great. John treated us, and my daughter, like family. After making our way through the tasting menu, John treated us to a barrel sample of his soon-to-be-released Cabernet Sauvignon. All of us fell immediately in love. If it tastes half as good once it's bottled and released as it did the other day, this wine will be a big winner. We can't wait to pick it up this Fall!
While we were tasting here on Sunday afternoon, J. Keverson's wines were also being judged at the 2011 San Francisco Wine Competition, which judges 5050 wines from 23 states over 4 days. And so you don't have to take my word for just how good these wines are, take a look at the results of that competition:
J. Keverson takes DOUBLE GOLD at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for our 2008 Starkey's Court Zinfandel. Our other medls winners include:
GOLD - 07 Sangiovese
SILVER - 08 Starkey's Court Chardonnay
SILVER - 08 Sonoma Zinfandel
GOLD - 07 Sangiovese
SILVER - 08 Starkey's Court Chardonnay
SILVER - 08 Sonoma Zinfandel
Huge congratulations to the team at J. Keverson Wines! And thanks again for a great experience. We can't wait to drink some of that wine. In fact, tonight is sounding good....
Special thanks to Sherri and Dennis Hausman for a great day. We really enjoyed spending time with you and look forward to doing it again soon.
And, lest you still fear that we are terrible parents, Monday was declared a No Wine Tasting Day and my girl chose our activities. These included a visit to the Charles Schulz Museum (fantastic!), a nice lunch, and a chocolate tasting at Tcho Chocolates in San Francisco. A great end to a great weekend. Cheers, and happy Wine Wednesday!
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