View from the Burrell School House tasting room... We started out the trip with a tasting at Vinocruz, the proprietor is very knowledgeable and helpful. We shared a flight, and purchased two bottles from wineries we knew we would not be able to visit. We purchased a chard from Mt. Eden and a Pinot from Sonnet, which unbeknownst to us at the time received an awful score from WS. From there we checked into our room and got ready for a valentines day wine dinner put on by Testarossa Vineyards in Los Gatos, built on a 19th century monastery. When we arrived we are greeted warmly and given a nice glass of Pinot Rose, chilled and ready to take on any summer BBQ. This place is gorgeous. Behind the tasting room is a wonderfully decorated dinning room. The wines are perfectly paired with each course. In a word, transcendence. The owners of this winery Rob and Diane Jensen are very gracious hosts and are down to earth. The wine pours throughout the (prepared by a local chef) meals are very generous and are re-filled at your request, at $ 130.00 a piece, I thought it was well worth it. We retired to our abode and planned the next days wine tasting journey. Day 2, we again stopped at Testarossa, to re-taste some of the wines and we purchased a case of wine to have shipped home. We joined the wine club to help with the pricing, which is somewhat excessive. The 2005 La Cruz Chard., which we rated very good and WS gave a similar impression with 87 pt's. We tried this one again when we got home and found it to be as as good or better then our tasting room experience. We also purchased the 2006 Palazzio PN,05 Schultz PN which like WS who gave the Palazzio an 89pts, we thought these are very good. The pinot's will lay down a year or two before we approach them again. We left there to go to David Bruce, but were warned at Testarossa to call ahead.. and because they were having technical difficulties we cruised over to Byington, not really knowing too much about them. It is a very twisty road, but wow when we came upon it, we marveled at the size of the estate.. the gentlemen serving the wine was excellent and gracious. From Byington we purchased 6 of the Chard. Quenneville 06, 2 Cab Cerro Prieto 04 and Cab Signature 04. We really enjoyed these wines and thought them worthy of shipping them our home. Another case purchase. We also picked up two Tre anos porto very good. BTW, Oh if you live in the area and want to have a wedding or the reception here, I would highly recommend it. being in the wedding biz... We left Byington and cruised by David Bruce once more on our way to the Burrell School House, the tasting room is amazing, great views and with the vines in full view.. we sniffed, swirled and sipped, but alas we purchased nothing, we did meet a wonderful group of folks from the DC area. We left the school house and went to Cooper-Garrod, I recommend going there for the horse riding. We did purchase a bottle of Cab-Franc, we later paired with a pizza down the road. Day 3, we trekked up to ridge .(watch out for the bicycles) Now I know why they call it Ridge.. a great place to plan for a picnic lunch and views are wonderful. Well worth the trip. We obviously had a newbie server, as he knew little or nothing about the wines and zero  people skills.. We did walk away with 4 of the 05 Zin Dusi Ranch (which we liked the best), 05 Zin Carmichael and the 06 Chard Mikulaco. This place gets very busy, very quickly. Go as early as possible to avoid the crowds.. then heading back down the hill we stopped at Picchetti, they had a great area for families to have a picnic and watch the peacocks, while quaffing your wine. The only thing I didn't like is the limited wine tasting menu, but we did end up buying a case, we really liked the white Pavone 06, a blend of Vio, Gewtz, and Chard. bring on the spicy cuisine. We also got the100% Merlot, Santa Clara 05, the red Pavone a rich cuvee, Cab,Cab Frc,Lagrein n Pet. Ver. We also picked up the Cab 05 Quarry Hill, and Leslie's Estate Cab. SCM 04 and a couple of zins.. nice tasting room. Day 4, Sunday we finally went to David Bruce, this place was hopping and they only had a cple of folks working the room. They must have remodeled or smthg, it was immaculate and the bldg and grnds stunning, and the wines are very good. The first one I want to draw your attention to is the 2005 Petite Sirah, Central Coast $20 ea. This is beautiful wine!! Buy it now before anyone else finds out just how wonderful it is drinking right  now..the nose is intense fruity and brooding with raspberry and blueberry aromas. On the palate, it's is a velvet rope. Dark and ultra rich!! BTW, if you like dry dusty Bordeaux's don't bother, you'll hate it!! We also loved the PN 05, Sonoma Coast, PN 02 Chalone which is drinking very nicely and the Cab, Santa Clara Valley 02, in a word, wonderful!! Well done David Bruce! We did taste the Dedication. We purchased their discovery sampler case @ 30% off. $199.99 for a case of great wine. We really scored some very good wines on this trip and made some new friends. If anyone would like further details than what I've posted here please let me know, also see my posting about the restaurants we visited while in the area. Also I have all the photos posted on my MS page. Cheers everyone! |