The Helmet Goes to Sonoma and Yountville - days 3 and 4 in the Motherland.

Dateline: Santa Rosa, May 4, 2012 - Continuing the travels of The Helmet (TH) through the motherland (see The Berserker Helmet goes to Napa - - - with photos allowed thanks to our fearless leader. - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers for days 1 and 2)

May 4 dawned with clouds in the sky but no rain as TH saw the day before. The trip to Sonoma was uneventful. TH arrived at the Siduri warehouse in the not-so-picturesque industrial area of Santa Rosa. TH tried a handful of wines at Siduri/Novy. Due to the generosity of Adam Lee (who took time out from a computer disaster that saw at least one Dell tech arrive with replacement parts while we were there), TH was one of the first to try the recently bottled 2011 Four Mile Creek White – a fascinating blend of Gewurztraminer, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Chardonnay for extra body. A steal of an aromatic, fruity summer white for only $12 a bottle. The Gewurz Lychee, the guava from the Sauv. Blanc and the back end spice from the Viognier are all evident. The wine may not be cerebral, but it’s fun and a nice summer white. Adam, always the playful one, posed with TH in front of his stack of barrels, smiling despite the fact that his computer had transformed itself into a boat anchor while we were there.
Then on to Carlisle for a meeting with the man himself – Mike Officer. There was nothing in bottle to taste, but Mike went from barrel to barrel letting us taste many of his wines in their infancy. Blends were not yet complete, but the barrel tastings themselves presage another GREAT year of Carlisle wines. Mike, following the lead of President Kennedy at his inaugural address, is not the hat wearing type, but he still showed TH the barrels in storage. Unfortunately, the photographer goofed and the photo is a bit out of focus, but odd things have been known to happen in the winery.
A brief aside on Mike Officer – gee this guy knows a lot about wine. I have learned a lot about wine from a lot of different people, but we spent over an hour with Mike in his picturesque warehouse location in the industrial neighborhood and my knowledge went up by leaps and bounds. The difference between different manufacturers of French oak barrels and the effects of different types of grain on the flavor and aging process. The different and independent routes taken from Croatia for one grape that became primitivo and another that became zinfandel. Weather patterns throughout the region. The wonders of old vine vineyards and the need to protect them. The incredible number of varieties (I think he said 35) randomly mixed in to some of the field blends in his wines and his willingness to pay for genetic testing on some of them to figure out what they are (including one that even the testing company with the genetic database can’t figure out). And, last but not least, where to get the best roadside Mexican food in California. But more about that later after a stop at another new find courtesy of Jeff Shaeffer at Siduri.

Before leaving for Carlisle, we had asked Jeff where we should go for the one extra slot we had that afternoon if there was only one place to visit in the area. He suggested another new winery nearby called Benovia and he called ahead to make arrangements. After two consecutive tastings in industrial warehouses, TH really enjoyed the trip to Benovia, which took less than 10 minutes. It brought us to the middle of vineyard country down a gravel road that you would never find by yourself. TH was so happy, he jumped on the Benovia sign for a photo op.
Two chardonnays, one steel and one oak aged, both showed the character of the fruit in different presentations without being obscured by excessive new oak characteristics. Then a group of pinots from different vineyards throughout the county, each with different flavor characteristics but none with that pinot funk cola flavor that I am coming to like less and less. A very nice new find off the beaten track.

Dateline: Yountville, May 5, 2012.

It was Cinco de Mayo, but that’s not why people gathered for a pre-release drink and food fest, followed by a Kentucky Derby watching party, in Yountville. It was the wine (with a chance for pre-release ordering) and food from many of the best chefs in the area that brought 385 ticket holders (limited so it was not crowded in the tent) to Sense of Yountville. TH was advised to attend due to the recommendation of Samantha Sheehan of Poe Wines
, who saw our post HERE about a Saturday Dinner in Napa and recommended that TH come to this event.

This was an opportunity to taste a lot of really good wine. Entering the tent, there was Paradigm. That’s a Heidi Barret-made Cabernet that I first bought in about 1997, and that does not insist on an outrageous price, apparently because, as the proprietor told us, they’ve owned the vineyard for 40 years. They were pouring the 2006, which was excellent.

Where to start after that? We went over to Samantha to try the Poe wines – a Chardonnay and two pinots, and then we circled the room going first to Dominus, where a 2010 barrel sample was outstanding – but my wife said not $149 a bottle outstanding. At Blankiet, the 2009 Prince of Hearts “second” wine was excellent and we bought some.

At Cliff Lede (now I know for sure – it’s pronounced Lay-dee, as in Lady), the 2009 Stags Leap cab was delicious and approachable, while the 2008 was still tight. The top of the line 2008 Poetry was intense, tannic and extremely tight – there’s a lot there but I’ll be 75 years old before it is ready.

Clos Val Mi, another winery we knew nothing about, had a very good 2009 cabernet that was also approachable at this stage.

We really enjoyed the Kamen 2008 Cabernet, which had some bright red fruit evident in the flavor profile – perhaps the most fruit forward of the Cabs we had that day. The proprietor said that he wanted to make wine where you don’t have to go searching for flavor. Sounded a lot like my own motto – If you have to search for flavor in your wine, buy a different wine. We bought some of his.

The Outpost guys were there, and TH remembered his friends from Thursday so he insisted on showing off their wines.
We let other people taste their wine, since we had already partaken of the outstanding zinfandel two days earlier. Next to them was Realm with proprietor Juan Mercado, who we had met about 5 years ago in NY. Very well-made and really really nice right bank style merlot-based Tempest blend that we have had aging in our cellar for the past 5 years. Maybe it’s time to open it.

We were also able to taste Rombauer (eh, I thought the chardonnay was OK for a restaurant wine and my wife affirmatively disliked it); Tom Scott Barn Burner (way to tight and bitter for my taste); Vineyard 7 and 8 (nice 2009 Cab); Charles Krug (a very nice sauvignon blanc); Gemstone (after that much wine, I remember that Gemstone was red, further deponent sayeth not); and some more that I do not even remember what they were.

We ended the day with Scott Lewis, the organizer of the event and the producer of Pneu (that’s right, French for tire) pinot noir. After a raucous Kentucky Derby party next door with people who probably knew nothing about the horses screaming as the race was won, appropriately enough, by “I’ll have another,” Scott, who hails from County Limerick, ran back to his store, grabbed a bottle of his wine, and insisted on outdoing the famous Poppy Davis Avatar photo.

And if you want a great place to get roadside Mexican Food, there’s Mike Officer’s find . . . El Molino Central on Route 12 just north of the town of Sonoma. I order Mole Poblano whenever it’s on the menu and this was the absolute best. No frills, serve yourself your own water, but delicious food that rivals the fanciest high end restaurante Mexicano. TH marvelled at the humble exterior sitting astride his steed.

Jay, nice job. And, the photo evidence shows you even got 3 Falltacular supporters to enjoy time with TH, too. Very clever post, looks like you’re having a great trip.

Anyone know why these pictures are not visible in Tapatalk?

We call this place El Gringo Central. After Mike made the same recommendation to me, I looked it up on yelp and found a review that said something like, “if you like eating Mexican food at a place where no Mexican people eat…”

Well, being the white-bread midwesterner that I am, I went to check it out. Definitely a must-stop on the way up Sonoma Valley. The food is phenomenal!

That review is Bull$h*t. There was a hispanic family (I didn’t ask them if they were Mexican or from Costa Rica) sitting two tabloes away, which is very far away since it’s only about 5 tables.