The Tour Before the Tour

As luck would have it, he got tied up at SFO, and arrived in Santa Rosa far too late to join us. Shaking our heads at the irony of him missing the event he organized, we convoyed by auto up Westside Road.

This first stop was a portent of things to come – obviously a working winery; no signs on the road; no tasting room; no gift shop – only the daughter of one of the principles pouring us a bottle of highly sought-after Pinot Noir.

John Jenness, Judson Byrn and Eric Slusser

We brought out our spanking new Riedel tasters, and spent some time sizing up the wine, and each other.

There were some remarkable similarities – both were a little tight and restrained at first, but opened quickly, and then showed some excellent character.

Margi Williams Wierenga

Margi was a delightful hostess – quite straightforward and candid, and willing to answer a barrage of questions regarding the recent sale of the winery. Happily, she will remain as the on-premises person – and – the winery has acquired additional acreage to be planted to Pinot, which will boost their production and improve availability. We added a dozen or so names to their mailing list, and motored a short distance north to Rochioli. 

Now, I admit to a certain degree of bias when it comes to wineries – I have my favorites, just like anybody else. Hell, just look at my cellar – it’s probably 40% Ridge. But for my money, there are only a handful of wineries that I can recommend without reservation, and Rochioli is one of them. I frequently tell people who are foolish enough to seek my advice that they can buy anything these folks produce, and be assured of outstanding quality. Unfortunately, others folks have the same opinion, which means they sell out quickly and often have little wine to pour and sell to the casual visitor. The tasting room staff, however, is always cordial and courteous.

The view from Rochioli’s new patio

One of our group, anticipating the aforementioned shortage, brought along a 96 Estate Chardonnay, and a 96 Estate Pinot Noir. We enjoyed these along with the 97 Estate Sauvignon Blanc (outstanding! – and a bargain at $14), and the Ranch Red – a limited bottling of 60% Zinfandel from the Sodoni Vineyard, and 40% Carignane from the estate. This wine was one of the treats of the day – fresh and vibrant flavors, and the most brilliant color of any red wine I have ever seen. We spent a few minutes enjoying the view of the Dry Creek Valley from their newly completed patio (and sucking down a Hanna Pourroy Zinfandel), then headed back south to Martinelli.

Say what you will about California’s wine goddess, but Ms. Turley has certainly raised the quality here a notch or two. We tasted across the entire line, and it was impressive. (When was the last time you tasted a Gewurtz with 15% alcohol?) The Chards were good, and the Pinot showed great promise, and they even sold us a little of the Jackass. Russell also dragged a few unsuspecting passersby into our special tasting – another habit we would get into over the next several days.

Martinelli Tasting Room

We headed back to the Holiday Inn, realizing we had forgotten to pickup Greg’s allocation of Williams-Selyem. When we got back, we were introduced to him, and thanked him profusely for allowing us to drink up his prized Pinot. What a GUY!!!

Relaxed and cheerful, we reorganized, and regrouped at Chevy’s in downtown Santa Rosa for Margaritas and fajitas. By the end of dinner (and 3 or 4 pitchers) we sounded more like a reunion than a first meeting.

Big day tomorrow – best to keep it an early night.

(Hmm… some interesting folks in this group)