There has been a new article or blog post on Wine Berserkers titled ‘Ferrari-Carano - perhaps the most beautiful grounds in Sonoma’ by tfrench
Click http://www.wineberserkers.com/content/?p=1178 to view the entire article. The full text is also incuded below.
Most wine lovers have enjoyed Ferrari-Carano wines, possibly quite frequently, as their Chardonnay, Fume Blanc, Siena, and Tresor have rather wide nationwide distribution, but if you have not yet had a chance to head far northward in Sonoma County to visit the tasting room, reward yourself with a visit, as the grounds are nothing short of spectacular, and you’ll likely not find anything else like it in Sonoma County.
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Perfectly manicured, and nestled amidst a small mountain range, this winery is worth a visit even if you don’t drink wine. One could simply drink a bottle of water while standing or sitting almost anywhere on the grounds and experience a new joy with the beauty of nature. Wine tasting is, to many people, just as much about the experience of the event as the wines tasted, and Ferrari-Carano has ‘the experience’ honed to a science.
The winery is located at 8761 Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg, surrounded by many other fine wineries, so your visit north could easily take weeks, if you visited a majority of the wineries just in that section of Healdsburg.
Inside the meticulously arranged tasting room/retail room, the staff is universally professional, friendly, and efficient. There are two tasting areas, the Villa Fiore tasting room (main floor), and Enoteca, downstairs, for the Limited Release and Reserve wines. I highly recommend both tastings, as the tasting fees are so small as to be insignificant, and the experiences are refreshingly unique. Of note in Enoteca is the stemware used, where the staff (many are sommeliers themselves) supplies the guest with very high grade crystal stemware, chosen for each varietal. (Riedel Vinum, Sommelier, etc) This detail is not to be discounted, as it is quite rare in a tasting room to have world class stemware, and it truly adds to the experience, as well as bringing the most out of the wines, as is their intent.
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Our intent in visiting was both a long-term desire I had to see these legendary grounds and a chance to sample some limited release Chardonnay choices that Jen was very much looking forward to. Of note in the wines poured was 2012 Bella Luce - the least expensive wine on the list, at $13 retail - which is a crisp, floral blend of 11 grapes. Fans of Viognier simply must try this wine, as well as those who typically enjoy Sauvignon Blanc. The choice of grapes used in the blend really compliment the specific qualities of each, so there are no ‘empty spots’ in terms of nose, palate, acid, finish, etc, as it is well blended. It is an extremely refreshing, crisp and sweet summer/warm weather wine, and for the price, I highly recommend it if such wine is of your stylistic sweet spot (so to speak).
Also of note were the Limited Release Chardonnays: 2010 Emilia’s Cuvee, 2011 Fiorella, and 2011 Dominique, which Jen liked enough to be sure we left with some for our own enjoyment at home. My standout red wine was the 2011 Sangiovese, as I very much enjoy Italian varietals as grown in California, for their uniqueness. Certainly more fruit-driven than most Italian bottlings of the grape, this wine had a pleasant richness, and a more tannic structure than a Chianti-style Sangiovese, which is more acid-driven. Still, a bottle now sits in our cellar, and I’ll enjoy sampling it with some slow cooked meats or stew, I’m sure.
We designed our trips that day around the Ferrari-Carano visit, which started our tour of the area. Go. Simply, go.
Link to article: http://www.wineberserkers.com/content/?p=1178