Sonoma, Day 2

Today I went tasting with my friend, Kristi, and the groom's cousin, Melissa. Kristi and Melissa are both partial to sweeter, white wines and though I'm partial to reds, I certainly have my favorite whites (Moscato D'Asti, which I'm always raving about). Plus, I'm always willing to try something new because I never know what I may stumble upon. In any event, I picked a few places that were known to have some good dessert whites - Trefethen and V. Sattui. We also stopped in at VJB where I had a free tasting coupon and Wellington which the woman at VJB recommended for their whites.

11am, VJB
It looks like more of a tasting room than a vineyard property. We specifically asked for lighter, sweeter whites and they were very accomodating. The last wine we tasted was a fragrant, slightly sweet, floral white port. Though port is usually fortified with brandy and tends to have a long, sweet, alcohol-y finish, this port didn't have any of the brandy taste. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes dessert whites and/or wants a nice after lunch or after dinner wine on a warm day or evening.

11:30am, Wellington
It also looks more like a tasting room. Again, my favorite wine was the white port. This one was also very light and sweet and had a nice nuttiness on the finish. The guy behind the counter told us he enjoys it with cashews.

12:30pm, Trefethen
Thanks to the little woman in the GPS, we ended up cutting through one of the mountain passes to get to Trefethen. Despite the stomach turning drive, we were all ready to taste when we got to Trefethen. They had some lovely wines. My two favorites:
Quandry: A white wine blend of riesling and viognier and some other grapes I can't recall. Light and mellow with a little sweetnes, but a nice dry finish.
Late Harvest Riesling: A very sweet, somewhat viscous, though not too syrupy white that when chilled properly would be a great after dinner drink. Late Harvest Rieslings make great dessert wines and can be really fun - even for someone who loves their reds, like me!

1pm, V. Sattui
I've had V. Sattui's wines before and have always enjoyed them, but I've never visited. I've heard they have a great deli and a good picnic area for lunch so we decided to grab a bite and then do a tasting. Unfortunately since it's the weekend, the place was ridiculously crowded, but we still enjoyed a nice lunch of cheese, bread and almonds. Then we went in for the tasting and the wines didn't disappoint. Their Gamay Rose has always been a favorite of mine. It's like drinking chilled, liquified strawberries with a hint of sugar. The guy pouring surprised us at the end when he gave us a "white port" that upon tasting I said tasted more like a Moscato D'Asti. He smiled and then pulled out the bottle and showed that he had poured us their new release muscat. Of course I loved it and woul dhighly recommend it! V. Sattui is available in a lot of places so look for it.

O.k., I better get ready for the wedding because that's why I came here in the first place! Off to Chateau St. Jean.

Cheers and happy Sunday,
Alli