Herman Story Weekend

Herman Story is one of our favorite wineries.  If you aren’t familiar with it, you should get to know it. Winemaker, Russell P. From, makes bold, flavorful wines without going over the top.  Every bottle leaves you wanting more.  We recently had a “Herman Story Weekend”, by enjoying two of our favorites ~

2010 On The Road ~ 100% Grenache

What better way to enjoy one of your favorite wines than at one of your favorite restaurants.  We started the weekend by bringing this bottle with us to Terra.  When Emily popped the cork, her first words pretty much summed it all up, “I smell blueberry”.  This wine had heavy flavors of blueberry compote, and was silky smooth.  At first pour, it did have a little ‘sting’ on the back end.  But, this definitely mellowed out the longer it was open. If you’ve never had 100% Grenache, this may not be the one to start with… as it will ruin all others (sorry Emily!).  Yes, it is that darn good. 

2010 White Hawk Syrah ~ 97% Syrah, 3% Viognier

Clearly cooking was not in the cards this particular weekend.  The next night, we brought a bottle of White Hawk Syrah with us to Poseidon in Del Mar.  While the sunset views can be quite stunning here, the wine definitely won the night.  Like the 2009, this wine is rich in color and flavor.  Very structured and well balanced, full of raspberry, hints of herbs and notes of white pepper. 

The wines are somewhat hard to find.  The best way to get your hands on some is to join the club (well, join the wait list).  Or, visit the tasting room in Paso Robles and pick up as much as you can while there.  Every now and then you may find a bottle or two in a specialty wine store (like San Diego Wine Co.).  But, your best bet is to find someone who is already a club member and get them to share a bottle! 

Herman Story – White Hawk Syrah

Herman Story is one of our favorite wineries, which we discovered in the best way ~ sharing a bottle with friends (Herman Story – a winery you need to know).  Winemaker Russell P. From has a knack for creating full flavored wines that are just damn good.  We recently opened a bottle of his 2009 White Hawk Syrah, and it definitely held up to reputation.

This wine, which is a blend of 98% Syrah, 2% Viognier, is deep in color, and robust in taste.  It starts with a nose of dark berries with hints of floral and earthiness.  The bold flavors punch right at first sip.  This full-bodied wine fills your mouth with blackberries and raspberries, offering a long, well-balanced, and very smooth finish.  It is very enjoyable on its own, or paired with food.  We enjoyed our bottle with a butternut squash and Italian sausage pasta (also incredibly delicious).  A perfect wine to warm up with on a cool winter night! 

Unfortunately, Herman Story wines are typically only available to wine club members and at the tasting room.  So, find a friend who is a wine club member and get them to share a bottle.  Or, if you find yourself in Paso Robles, we highly recommend a visit to the tasting room where you’ll enjoy great wines with great people! 

Two new shared bottles we really really like

Sally and I hit the jackpot this weekend with two dinner invitations from friends who share our passion for great wine. We firmly believe that shared bottles are the best bottles and lucky for us, they do too. And, as luck would have it, we discovered an amazing new wine at each dinner.

On Friday, we dined with our friends Gaby and Steve. They have turned us on to a lot of wonderful wineries over the years including Herman Story (see "Herman Story - a winery you need to know"). This time, they shared a bottle of 2007 McPrice Myers Beautiful Earth, which is a GSM blend of 70% Syrah, 24% Grenache, and 6% Mourvedre. It's silky smooth with substantially more body and deeper, darker flavors than you'd expect out of this type of blend.

McPrice Myers runs Barrel 27, which used to be a collaboration between McPrice Myers and Russell From, until From left in 2011 to focus full time on his own label, Herman Story. Yes, the circle of (wine) life is complete.

On Saturday, we visited our friends Karin and Jeff. Like us, they enjoy a wide range of varietals. Lamb shank was on the menu, which pairs well with Pinot Noir or Syrah, so they generously provided both options. One of the wines they served was a 2009 Seufert "Johan Vineyard" Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. It was an excellent example of Oregon Pinot: good earth tones, bright but subtle fruit characteristics, and light bodied but bold enough to pair very well with food. Needless to say, we were all disappointed when the bottle was finally empty.

This really is the best way to discover great wine - make friends with good, generous people who will share a bottle of their good stuff with you and then try to score a dinner invitation. 

“Drink Yourself Blind” and Discover New Wine

One of my favorite ways to discover new wines is with unique tasting experiences.  It’s a fun way to share wine with friends and try something you may not otherwise.  This week, co-workers were in town and our friends at Bacchus Wine Market & Tasting Room set up a very fun tasting experience for us, “Drink Yourself Blind”. 

For the tasting, we were served 8 mystery wines ~ 4 white, 4 red.  We were provided a list of possible wines.  Of course, they didn’t make it easy, as each list had an extra wine that was not part of the tasting.  We were also provided grape descriptions to help us along.  Here’s the list of our potential wines with actual selections marked with (x):

WHITE:

(x) Le Capitaine Vouvray Chenin Blanc, France

(x) Cavallotto Chardonnay, Italy

(x) J. Rickards Sauvignon Blanc, California

(x) Trefethen Riesling, California

Lagar de Cervera Albarino, Spain

RED:

(x) Medlock Ames Merlot, California

(x) White Hawk Syrah, California

(x) In Situ Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

J. Rickards Zinfandel, California

(x) Aster Ribera del Duero Tempranillo, Spain

The wines were served one at a time, starting with the whites.  After every taste, we each made a guess and then took the most common answer as our ‘team pick’.  After tasting all the whites, I learned, well… I really suck at this ~ it was hard!  I only got 2 correct.  Our collective team pick scored the same, and we gave mad props to our co-worker who successfully picked three.  I was confident I’d do better with the reds.  Not so much.  I didn’t get any correct (ouch!), and I once again matched our team score.  The best among our group was a total of 4 correct picks. 

I have convinced myself I would do better if the wines were tasted all together and I could compare side by side.  Then again, maybe I just need the practice, and should take it as a sign to share more wine!

Bacchus is holding the "Drink Yourself Blind" event on Friday, Oct 12, 4-8:30pm and Saturday, Oct 13, 2-8:30pm.  Tickets are only $20. If you are in San Diego during this time, I highly recommend it ~ tons of fun!

Sharing a fun wine tasting experience with co-workers at Bacchus Wine Market, downtown San Diego

Santa Ynez Valley Wine Adventure

Last June we made our first trip to the Santa Ynez Valley as part of our California Wine Adventure.  We only had a half day to explore the region, so we knew a return trip was a must. This weekend, we made finally made it back, extending our time and travelling with family (Jeff’s parents, Kathy & Bob) ~ both making it an even better trip than the last!    

In planning our adventure, each couple chose three wineries to visit. Selections were based on recommendations from friends, wines that had been tried before and wanted to learn more about, as well as old favorites.  This gave us a wide variety of wines, and tasting experiences ~ here’s a recap of our discoveries:

Firestone Winery

We opted for the reserve flight, which included a tasting of 6 wines, and one bonus pour.  They served a mix of white and reds, all from their reserve and Chairman Series. The tasting room has great views of the valley. Overall, the wines had muted flavors and heavy tannins, and were generally not to our liking.  But, we were glad we gave it a try. 

Andrew Murray

We first discovered their tasting room in Los Olivos on our first trip.  We enjoyed the experience and the wine so much that we wanted to introduce it to Kathy & Bob.  Once again, the crew, and wine, at Andrew Murray did not disappoint!  We had a wonderful time with Stephanie and Tracy, tasting wines from the Eleven series, as well as a number of their great Syrah wines produced under the Andrew Murray label.  We all left with smiles on our faces (and purple teeth)!

Gainey Vineyard

This winery was a recommendation of our friends, Sarah and David.  The winery grounds were beautiful, and the tasting room setting was great ~ located just off the barrel room, and among walls of strategically placed bottles.  The atmosphere added to the fun, and all the wines we tasted were really good.  Drew navigated us through a couple of whites, and select reds for the Gainey Vineyard and Even’s Ranch.  I was excited to see a Cab Franc!

Cambria

Located in the Santa Maria Bench, Cambria specializes in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  During our visit, we tasted a number of their Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, as well as a Pinot Gris, Syrah, and a Late Harvest Viognier.  All wines were quite good, but with their slightly higher than average prices, we left empty handed.  A number of the wines are well distributed, and we will keep an eye out for special deals in our local wine shops. 

Foxen – Foxen 7200

This was a unique experience, as they have two wine tasting rooms ~ Foxen is served at a more modern tasting room located just slightly up the road from the original shack where they serve up Foxen 7200.  We sampled several great Pinot Noirs, a tasty Sangiovese, and another excellent Cab Franc!

Zaca Mesa

This tasting room was more commercial than the others, bringing in higher crowds than the others we had visited on the trip.  With that said, the staff was very helpful in securing us a spot, and were very attentive during the tasting.  We had the chance to sip a few different varieties than we had been tasting around the valley, including a granache, a roussanne, and several tasty syrahs.  All the wines would be great with food, but few stood out to enjoy on their own.

Rusack

Even with the heavy clouds and rain rolling in, the views from the winery were still stunning.  The wines had big flavors, and were quite enjoyable.  A number of them are distributed at BevMo and our favorite wine shop, San Diego Wine Company.  We still walked out with a couple of bottles of ones with limited distribution or hard to find. 

Wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley are producing some tasty treats!  If you come across one, especially Pinot Noir or Syrah, give it a try!