We went up to Sonoma County today for the 30th annual Russian River Barrel Tasting. This time, we visited Christopher Creek, Trentadue, Coffaro, Michel-Schlumberger, Wilson, Mazocco, Hawkes, Stryker and Murphy-Goode.
The Barrel Tasting event has really grown over the last few years. When we first went about five years ago, the event was just one weekend, it cost $5 and the crowds were relatively small, except at the largest wineries. Last year they expanded it to two weekends. This year the charge was $20 per weekend. Also, the crowds are now quite large, even at the smaller wineries. It’s still a lot of fun, though, and we had a great time.
After the official barrel tasting event, we headed up to Sandra’s relatives’ house for a tasting of their first bottling under the name Munselle Vineyards. The grapes come from the Wasson and Munselle Vineyards. The Chardonnay was delicious. It had a delicate flavor with a nice acidity and not overly oaky. They were also tasting two Cabernets from the 2006 harvest that are still in the barrel. I’ll definitely be posting more about these wines in the future.
Sounds like fun – it brings back memories of some barrel tasting we did many years back (before kids).
BTW: if you like reds, try my brother-in-law’s wine – MarrCellars.com, it is very good stuff.
(oh, and its cool you’re using reCaptcha – I first heard of it on NPR last night and it seems like a good use of my time)