On to Part three of the wines I can’t forget. We will venture into Paso Robles, Virginia and Oregon!
Okay it’s no secret that I have a wine crush on Neil Collins and I had done research on their winery before going there so I was extra excited when his sister was pouring for us. The grounds transport you before you ever enter the tasting room. The story behind The Will probably got to me also. The Will is a blend of Petite Sirah, Grenache Noir and Zinfandel source fromt he organic dry farmed Heaton Vineyards. It is known to stain teeth! The grapes are grown on Will’s Hill named after the Heaton’s son Will. The wine is named in memory of Will.
Here’s my Shout out to Virginia wineries! I did a wine tasting day with my two best friends from College in Virginia this year and fell in love with Virginia Cabernet Franc. My best friend found a new favorite wine in Cab Franc. It is rich without being big and fruity, and it is easier drinking than Cabernet Sauvignon. This was the last stop of our day at Veritas and after our tasting we enjoyed a bottle out on the patio. Of course the setting and the company made the wine taste better and makes me want to drink it to revisit that day, but also, Cabernet Franc is one of my favorite reds!
Wildhorse Unbridled Bien Nacido Pinot Noir.
I happen to be a big fan of Kenneth Volk. I love the way he pushes boundaries. So going to Wildhorse was a little like a pilgrimage. It was late in the day in the middle of the week and we were the only ones in the tasting room. We had a fantastic tasting with a fabulously well informed (if not enthusiastic) pourer. I enjoyed everything, but when he poured the Unbridled Bien Nacido Pinot Noir I was enthralled. This is barnyard in the best sense. All hail to Bien Nacido for providing such incredible fruit! We left with a bottle and I will track this wine down! This is a wine that I will drink with my eyes closed.
Trisaetum was one of the last vineyards we visited in the Dundee Hills and it is WAY out on a backroad. We were there early and were the first tasters of the day. This was a departure from our Oregon tastings because they specialize in Reisling. The variety of Reisling that they create from several different vineyards is amazing. Their Coast Range Reisling stands in my memory as my favorite.
When we visited the winery we did get great service from an eager and knowledgeable pourer and once others wandered in for tastings we were able to stroll the beautiful art gallery in the tasting room. So ambience and people played a part in our initial love of the wine.
It’s fall and time for me to order some of this! We were lucky this summer to find that Khoury’s had a few bottles of their Estate Reserve Reisling so we snatched those up. And yes, compared to other Reislings that we had been drinking this was still far superior.
So…that’s the tip of my iceberg for wines that I can’t forget. Of course as I have been writing more and more wines have come to mind and I know that there are many more out there that I have yet to taste. And…did I answer the question as to why? Probably not. As usual wine is hard to pin down, the experience and the taste are connected in ways that we cannot fully understand or describe but that we can most certainly enjoy.
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