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January, 2010
On a rainy January day, my wife Cary and I with friends Ed and Ginny Barnett visited St. Francis Winery, Chateau St. Jean Winery, and Kenwood Vineyards. Here are a few photo's to share...
St. Francis Winery is one of the first Sonoma Valley wineries that you will meet traveling from Santa Rosa going East toward Sonoma on Highway 12... The St. Francis property has estate vineyards with a beautiful winery equipped with a chef and fancy reserve wine rooms. They have estate vineyards adjacent to the winery but also source grapes for an extensive wine portfolio. The photo's above illustrate the winery and vineyards. A photo shows St. Francis Winery Hospitality Manager Monica Smith with my good friends Ed and Ginny Barnett.
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We had the opportunity to taste some St., Francis wines with the help of Monica and Wesley... They were both very enthusiastic, friendly, and knowledgeable. My favorite wine was the 2008 Pagani Vineyard Sonoma Valley Zinfandel while Ginny, who has a tremendous palate, tapped the 2005 Wild Oak Zinfandel as her personal best...Ed commented to Monica that he was very impressed that all of the wines were very good- quite the complement from one of the best analytical football coaches in California!
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Chateau St. Jean was established in 1973 and has been one of the leading destination points for visitors to the Sonoma Valley. Chris and Dan in the tasting room were extremely friendly and helpful during our visit. Once again, Ginny and I differed on our picks on our favorite Chardonnay... I tabbed the 2007 Robert Young Alexander Valley Chardonnay (melon with hints of minerality) while Ginny preferred the rich and creamy 2007 Carneros Durell Vineyard Chardonnay... My wife liked the 2008 Sonoma County Fume Blanc...
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When I first came to the Sonoma County scene as an agriculture instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College over twenty five years ago, my fellow viticulture instructor colleague Rich Thomas, would drag me to local wineries for my immediate educational "literacy" of the industry. I remember fondly Kenwood winemaker Mike Lee pouring me barrel tastes of individual vineyard blocks of Sauvignon Blanc in which he would eventually blend into America's favorite Kenwood Vineyards Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc. Even though the ownership has changed over the years, the wonderful hospitality at Kenwood vineyards sure hasn't changed a bit- as you will see with the photo's we will be sharing...
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The "heart" of the hospitality in the tasting rooms of Kenwood Vineyards is the long tenure of Clay and Toni- over twenty years for both of them... The warm smiles, hearty humor, and depth of information- how can you beat it? Clay Beeson also gave us the special treat of tasting the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir in the barrel... And, then comparing the same wines with the 2007 and 2008 vintages in the bottle... What an experience!
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I think Clay poured the full arsenal of the Kenwood wine portfolio...He and Toni are surely on my list of the best "Pro's" in the business... My wife and my favorite wines, of course, was the 2008 Kenwood Sauvignon Blanc (one of America's finest) and the 2007 Jack London Vineyard Sonoma Valley Zinfandel...I just can't resist the wolfhead etched in glass... Ed liked the Kenwood Pinot's while Ginny liked the cab's so much, that she left with a case... We all had so much fun at Kenwood and all the rest of the Sonoma Valley wineries... Again, we only visited a few but will visit the others in a later "Bob Fraser Wine Travels" in the near future....
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