Another day, another 4 wineries!!! Up today, Wellington, Pedroncelli, Dry Creek, & Iron Horse!

Edit: Me!

rpm wrote:A heartfelt Thank You! to the formerly Newbie Tourists. Now officially Veteran Tourists, Class of 2012.

You were a fantastic class! Great people, excellent students! Not a gulper or swigger in the bunch!
Welcome to the (someday) Long Purple Line with the Veteran Tourists, Classes of 2008 and 2010!

Sounds like there just may be another tour someday after all.
EDIT: Oops! Forgot bahwm was signed on.
ddeuddeg

Regarding buying wine on the tour, in this thread I'd posted this:

MarkDaSpark wrote:Edit: Me!

That sound you hear is very loud laughter from Seattle. Thanks for the pictures!

edited to add: that wine animation is the best!

zTimothyBz wrote:Regarding buying wine on the tour, in this thread I'd posted this:

I love it! Tim, you are the best!

Thank you guys so much for letting me and molarchae crash day 1 of the vet's tour. It was great to get out there with rpm and friends both old and new. I'm incredibly disappointed that I couldn't swing the entire tour, but thanks to some inside information I know we were there the right day

Congrats to HAK and cheron!

Huge thank you to woop and rpm for doing yet another amazing job with scheduling and winery wrangling to give us all the best possible tour. Also a huge thank you to WD, winefarm, George, Neil, and everybody else who helped make last night one to remember.

Favourite wines of the evening: 2001 TyC Merlot, 2010 Wellington surprise varietal, Inspiration 2007 Zin, and the goodies brought by rpm, joatmon, and bsevern.

Yes, thank you to WD and Winefarm for having us over, and RPM and Woop for letting us crash! It was great to see everyone again and meet some new people.

Just left Wellington, where we made huge dents in his inventory. So much for buying minimal amounts at each winery.

I think we bought out the last of the 2001 Port.

Started out with a 2011 Mohrhardt Ridge Cab barrel sample. Then in order:

2004 Mohrhardt Ridge Cab
1999 MR Cab
1994 MR Cab
1989 MR Cab (23 years young, his first year starting Wellington)

Plus the new Duchess white wine, along with a newer MR and Karrin Cav

Sad to return home, but happy to meet all of the wooters who I've gotten to know over the years.

Even happier to see my kids!

A very special thanks to woopdedoo for all the logistical work, as well as to RPM for sharing his knowledge, even when we didn't ask for it.

Scott and Jana are such nice, welcoming people. A delight and highlight of the tour for both of us. Meeting Peter on several occasions as well was quite the highlight, not to mention meeting several of the owners/winemakers along the way.

Lastly, I'd like to thank David, Cindy, George, Neil and the crew at WCC for the hospitality. The party last night and meeting many of the wine makers was a fitting end to the tour.

You all have won over my wife. She is already asking about the next tour.

Left Pedroncelli, wonderful lunch. More later.

At Dry Creek now.

klezman wrote:Thank you guys so much for letting me and molarchae crash day 1 of the vet's tour. It was great to get out there with rpm and friends both old and new. I'm incredibly disappointed that I couldn't swing the entire tour, but thanks to some inside information I know we were there the right day

Congrats to HAK and cheron!

Huge thank you to woop and rpm for doing yet another amazing job with scheduling and winery wrangling to give us all the best possible tour. Also a huge thank you to WD, winefarm, George, Neil, and everybody else who helped make last night one to remember.

Favourite wines of the evening: 2001 TyC Merlot, 2010 Wellington surprise varietal, Inspiration 2007 Zin, and the goodies brought by rpm, joatmon, and bsevern.

Klez- I think you missed crediting Chris of Super Sonoman for the incredible bottle he brought that RPM enjoyed so much.

MarkDaSpark wrote:Left Pedroncelli, wonderful lunch. More later.

At Dry Creek now.

At Pedroncelli, we tasted:

1995 Vintage Selection, 2002 & 2009 Three Vineyards, and a 2009 Morris Fay cabs. First one is Sonoma County, the 3 vineyards are Dry Creek, and the Morris is Alexander Valley.


Lunch was terrific, had a Sauv Blanc, Zin, & their Port (w/ their choc cupcake!).

Leaving Dry Creek now for Iron Horse. Will try to post when signal is strong.

Okay, at Dry Creek we tried ...

100% Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec, & Petit Verdot (all unfinished).

Then we had their 2008 Meritage, 2008 Endeavor (also a Meritage), 1997 Endeavor Cab, and a 1995 Vinter's Selection Cab.

Pedroncelli and Dry Creek were the two biggest surprises of the tour for me. We had such a great meal at the P's, and Ed was just a hoot. Just all around nice people.

cmaldoon wrote:Klez- I think you missed crediting Chris of Super Sonoman for the incredible bottle he brought that RPM enjoyed so much.

The '78 BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve? I never saw who brought it or opened it. rpm simply came by and gave me a taste. I assumed he'd brought it. So thanks to Chris for bringing that!

I know that envy is one of the seven deadly sins, but I can't help falling prey to it when I read the posts here. It looks like woop and RPM (and WD and all of the other wonderful folks) have put together another stellar tour!

MarkDaSpark wrote:Okay, at Dry Creek we tried ...

100% Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec, & Petit Verdot (all unfinished).

Then we had their 2008 Meritage, 2008 Endeavor (also a Meritage), 1997 Endeavor Cab, and a 1995 Vinter's Selection Cab.

Ok, now it is my turn to be jealous. You guys are getting extra especially fun tastings. I had a blast, but I'm still jealous.

cmaldoon wrote:Ok, now it is my turn to be jealous. You guys are getting extra especially fun tastings. I had a blast, but I'm still jealous.

Then I suppose I shouldn't post what a wonderful time we had at Iron Horse w/ Joy, her terrific parents, and her great, hardworking niece.

The only sad part is that RPM and Woop made us leave early!


Edit: on our way back to BW-SVI now.

cmaldoon wrote:Ok, now it is my turn to be jealous. You guys are getting extra especially fun tastings. I had a blast, but I'm still jealous.

I had a feeling the vet tour would be like that. Extra sadness at missing 2/3 of it.

Iron Horse, lot's of Iron Horse:
all starting out with a 2007 Brut base and then get dosage

• 2007 (no dosage) Brut
  
• Brut X: the above Brut dosed with 10ml 2007 Rued Chard
  
• 2007 Classic Vintage Brut: dosed with 16ml mix of 28% brix blend of 25% Chard 75% Pinot Noir.
  
• China Cuvee:above but with added 4ml dosage of 2009 Stony Hill Chard
  
• 2007 Russian Cuvee:base, 5ml brut LEX, 6ml Special LEX and 4 ml 2007 Rued Chard

• 2009 UnOaked Chardonnay
  
• 2009 Estate Chardonnay

• 2006 Brute Rose
  
• 2010 Thomas Rd. Pinot Noir

Damage so far:

• Zahtila = 3 bottles (one Muse, one 2005 George Cab, two PS Dessert)
  
• Corison = 3 bottles (one 2009 Napa Cab, two 2006 Kronos)
  
• St. Supery = 2 bottles & a hat (one 2003 Elu, one 2011 Moscato)
  
• Robert Craig = 1 bottle (375ml Affinity Cab)
  
• End of Day 1
  
• Wellington = 24 bottles (summary at bottom)
  
• Pedroncelli = 6 bottles (two 2008 PS, two 2009 Morris Fay Cab, two 4 Grapes Port)
  
• Dry Creek = 10 bottles (four 2009 Heritage Zin, two 2009 Old Vine Zin, two 2007 Soleil (dessert), one 2007 Endeavour Cab, one 1995 Vintners Cabernet)
  
• Iron Horse = 1 bottle, 2 Flutes (one Russian Cuvee with 2 IH Flutes special)
  

Do you have enough storage space for all this, or do you need another wine locker and when are you going to drink all this juice? Maybe its good that rpm tour is only every other year, otherwise you would really overload your storage capability.

It was great to finally meet my fellow wine wooters, this was a really great trip!

Thanks to RPM and Whoop for putting the tour together, and a big thanks to WineDavid, winefarm, George, and Neil for your hospitality and your hand in the tour as well, it was a terrifically unique experience!!!

You vets are killing me with all of these aged cabs....we heard the virtues of great aged cabs on our entire tour, yet sadly did not taste a single one. The cabs we tried were still in diapers - LOL...well except for the ones at WineDavids dinner party.

That 1906 Spanish wine was fantastic, what was it ?

tiger7610 wrote:Do you have enough storage space for all this, or do you need another wine locker and when are you going to drink all this juice? Maybe its good that rpm tour is only every other year, otherwise you would really overload your storage capability.

Will have to upgrade my 24 case locker to bigger ....

bsevern wrote:It was great to finally meet my fellow wine wooters, this was a really great trip!

Thanks to RPM and Whoop for putting the tour together, and a big thanks to WineDavid, winefarm, George, and Neil for your hospitality and your hand in the tour as well, it was a terrifically unique experience!!!

You vets are killing me with all of these aged cabs....we heard the virtues of great aged cabs on our entire tour, yet sadly did not taste a single one on the entire tour. The cabs we tried were still in diapers - LOL...well except for the ones at WineDavids dinner party.

That 1906 Spanish wine was fantastic, what was it ?

It was a Madeira, I just don't know which one.

Finally made it home to Atlanta, and 100 degree heat with 80% humidity! Already missing NoCal. Huge thanks to everyone for a great newbie tour, especially rpm, woop, winedavid, winefarm, George, neilfindswine, and all the incredible wineries and wine makers (and any others I may have missed!) - what a treat!

EDIT: though I have to echo cmaldoon's jealousy of the veteran tour's tasting list - I guess I have to go next time!

cmaldoon wrote:Klez- I think you missed crediting Chris of Super Sonoman for the incredible bottle he brought that RPM enjoyed so much.

This is absolutely correct: Chris Taddei from Super Sonoman was so energized by the discussion we had on the boards a couple of weeks ago, he said he wanted to taste something special with me when I came to California next.

When he found out about the Tour and the planned shindig at WineFarm's ranch, he outdid himself with generosity and brought the 1978 Beaulieu Vineyards Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from his personal cellar - a wine that has been perfectly stored its entire life.

The wine was gorgeous! Wonderfully complex nose with all of the lovely bottle age components, yet still with some underlying fruit notes. The fruit flavors on entry were muted (as one would expect) but still noticeable - the wine felt and tasted far younger than its years in the middle palate - very balanced among the flavors, acid and matured tannin - and had that long, long velvet finish associated with fully mature Cabernet. This was a wine that could be fully appreciated now, but that has a good bit of life in it. There was the slightest, barely perceptible, hint of acetic acid at the beginning of the finish - which I interpret in a wine like this that it is fully mature. It's when the flavors fade more, the wine "dries out" and the finish gradually becomes less velvet tannin and more acetic that you know the wine is fading and going over the hill.

As I proclaimed (probably ad nauseum), this wine showed beautifully what I have been talking about the way well-made California Cabernet Sauvignon is capable of aging and why your patience will be rewarded if you can wait to drink classically made Cabernet at least until it is into its mid-teens (or longer).

Unfortunately, there was not enough to give everyone a taste of this glorious wine, but I did make a point of trying to get everyone at least the opportunity to smell the wines wonderful bouquet.

Again, thanks to my new BFF Chris who made it possible to share a fine vintage* of a fully mature great Cabernet from some of best vineyards in the Napa Valley with so many of you.

It was a beautiful segue into the generosity of our winery hosts on Thursday, each of whom poured winery-aged Cabernet from the 1990s (and even earlier in Peter Wellington's case).

*For premium Napa Cabernet, 1978 is generally regarded as the second best vintage of the 1970s -- second only to 1970 -- and probably one of the half-dozen or so best vintages of last quarter of the 20th century.

jhkey wrote:Finally made it home to Atlanta, and 100 degree heat with 80% humidity! Already missing NoCal. Huge thanks to everyone for a great newbie tour, especially rpm, woop, winedavid, winefarm, George, neilfindswine, and all the incredible wineries and wine makers (and any others I may have missed!) - what a treat!

EDIT: though I have to echo cmaldoon's jealousy of the veteran tour's tasting list - I guess I have to go next time!

Well, if we can help persuade him to do it again, there will be a break in between. Probably a Tues/Wed/Thur tour, then break, and the next starts Mon/Tues/Wed.

MarkDaSpark wrote:Well, if we can help persuade him to do it again, there will be a break in between. Probably a Tues/Wed/Thur tour, then break, and the next starts Mon/Tues/Wed.

I want to go! Mind you I'd probably have to have much more money (should I start saving now?) and vacation days... but I think with enough notice I might be able to go.

MarkDaSpark wrote:Well, if we can help persuade him to do it again, there will be a break in between. Probably a Tues/Wed/Thur tour, then break, and the next starts Mon/Tues/Wed.

That's right. Or maybe Wed/Thurs/Fri and Mon/Tues/Wed. I will not even consider doing the overlap again.

First of all, I will not desert the Newbies for the last day again - for which I again apologize.

Secondly, it is simply too exhausting physically and mentally and demanding on my palate.

inkycatz wrote:I want to go! Mind you I'd probably have to have much more money (should I start saving now?) and vacation days... but I think with enough notice I might be able to go.

3-5 days of vacation shouldn't be an issue, should it? The trip itself isn't that costly, other than travel and hotel. The real cost is in the wine you purchase from the wineries you visit. This can easily double your overall trip costs (or triple). So to answer your question, yes, start saving now (I am doing the same!) because RPM can't deny us his knowledge forever.

Finally some downtime to properly thank RPM, Woop, WD, WF, Neil, George, the wineries and the winemakers for the wonderful tour. It was so nice to meet everybody. I did more damage than I wanted, but now I have lots of yummy wines for now and later.

Will hopefully get the many pics I took organized and posted within the next couple of weeks.

It was so nice to meet new people and see some of the faces I already know. Hoping for another tour in 2 years!

Last night at Iron Horse was amazing. So grateful I could join in!

Leaving Louis M. Martini, wonderful tour by the founder's grandson (& current head winemaker for Martini & Gallo).

Started off with their '09 Napa Cab, then went on a tour of their facilities. Amazing number of barrels. Then we went down into their cellar for a horizontal of their 1968 cabs.

1st one was 100% Cab. 2nd was 75% cab, 15% Merlot, & 10% Malbec. 3rd was 60% cab, 25% Merlot, & 15% Malbec. You could taste the Redwood in all of them (they used redwood barrels til the '70's.

Then we went upstairs for their '08 Monte Rosso Cab, '09 Gnarley Vine Zin, & '09 Petite Sirah.

We could taste their Moscato.


Edit: Personal damage = 6 bottles, plus Wine Club (along w/ zTimBz)

MarkDaSpark wrote:Started off with their '09 Napa Cab, then went on a tour of their facilities. Amazing number of barrels. Then we went down into their cellar for a horizontal of their 1968 cabs.

Seriously?! I had a feeling they'd be pulling out something interesting with their long history. While you were drinking 45 year old cab, I was on a client call. Sad face.

I'm still trying to digest all the wonderful experiences that were packed into 3 days on the newbie tour.

I don't know how to begin to properly thank everyone who helped make it happen but from the bottom of our hearts, we truly appreciated all of the amazing kindness, generosity, hospitality, knowledge and wine that was bestowed upon us and really enjoyed getting a chance to meet everybody. I think we learned that *sharing* the passion for wine is nearly as enjoyable as the passion itself.

Please let me know when to plunk down my deposit for the 2014 tour. Please?

MarkDaSpark wrote:Sorry for the delay, but hobnobbing with winemakers at WD's takes precedence!



Oh, and here was the view ...

HAK, you're such a romantic! Congrats to both of you!

Hall: wonderful lush facility with amazing artwork. But you can tell they cater to high-end clients.

We started off with their 2011 Sauvignon Blanc. Then a 2011 T-Bar-T Ranch Cab (yes, they bought the famous T-Bar-T.

Then downstairs thru an amazing cave to the tasting area. We then had a 2009 Napa Cab. Followed by:
'04 hall Cab, last their '06 St. Helena Bergfeld Vineyard.

Miracle happened! I bought nothing!

At Wm. Harrison now, but Pine Ridge It's SUMMER!

Lunch was nice, a bag from Bouchon (sandwich, chips, pear, still or sparkling water, & a cookie).

With lunch, we had their 2011 Chenin Blanc / Viognier.

After a trip thru the cave, and a barrel sample of '11 Napa Cab, we went into their tasting room. We had their '09 Napa Cab, '08 Stag's Leap Cab, & their '07 Fortis.