Monday, July 28, 2008

A Day of Tasting...Part 1

Karen and I recently took a day to go wine tasting around the Napa Valley. Living here, we find that we don’t often get out for tasting unless we have friends visiting from out of town. But we figured it was time to go explore our own backyard and visit some wineries we had never been to before. On the list – Peju Province, Sawyer Cellars and Ehlers Estate.

Our first stop was Peju Province Winery where we tasted through some delightful wines and then ate our picnic lunch of Giuni’s sandwiches in their lovely gardens. Peju is a boutique winery located in the Rutherford Appellation of the Napa Valley. My favorite wines were their Sauvignon Blanc and their Estate Bottled Cabernet Franc. For those looking for an interesting summer wine, their Provence is a unique blend of both red and white grapes including Cab Sauv, Merlot, Zinfandel, Chardonny and French Colombard. Peju is also probably one of the few places in the Napa Valley where you can try French Colombard. They source theirs from an old head-trained vineyard in Mendocino County.

A little further South on Highway 29, you will run into Sawyer Cellars. As someone who is a bit obsessed with old barns, I have always been attracted to this winery. The owners preserved an old barn on the piece of property that dated back to the 1930’s. We tasted through their exciting red wines sourced from Rutherford. My favorite is their 2004 Meritage.

Our last stop was Ehlers Estate located North on Highway 29 toward Calistoga. This is another historical estate dating back to 1886. Unfortunately we didn’t have time for their historical tour and tasting but we did get a chance to taste through all of their wines and learn more about the winery. They donate winery proceeds to international cardiovascular research in honor of the founders, Jean and Sylviane Leducq. All in all it was a great day of tasting in the Napa Valley. Stay tuned for notes from our next wine tasting adventure in Sonoma.


Written by Linzi

1 comment:

Unknown said...

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